The key to victory is to “know thy enemy,” as Sun Tzu wrote more than 2,000 years ago in the seminal “Art of War.” That stratagem could not be more relevant today as Cleveland and Cuyahoga County battle back against zombie properties and vacant lots that afflict neighborhoods … 

A challenge of that magnitude requires a diverse response that combines strategic use of limited demolition dollars as well as innovative rehab tactics such as the loft-conversion initiative that Plain Dealer reporter Olivera Perkins wrote about Sunday.