How is it that one week an area is neat, attractive and you drive through 5,6,7 weeks later and a very definite change has taken place – you can see the difference?????
Trash visible in both back and front yards, sidewalks dirty, torn screens ragged venetian blinds, alleys trashy, garages in disrepair, gates and garage doors loose from hinges, rubbish in yards, and so on.
So, one gate loose from hinges — is this blight? THIS IS THE BEGINNING.
Individually, separately, these do not appear to be so important but here begins the blight and left uncorrected we have creeping blight: more and more things left undone.
To help prevent blight from our area a ‘Touring Team’ will call to the attention of dwellers conditions that need correcting in order to keep our neighborhood arr attractive. Certain offenses are covered by law and if left uncorrected a fine may be levied — these we certainly hope to appraise you of before the city does — and hope in the interest of a blight-free neighborhood that we will have YOUR cooperation!
Oftimes a problem or a ‘nasty’ situation might have been avoided if the parties involved could have just had the opportunity to consult with someone who could give an ‘outside’ opinion.
Would it be of value to our neighborhood if we had a representative group, a kind of mediation group, to which residents and business owners of the neighborhood could go with various problems — landlord problems, neighbor problems, civic problems — any type of problem????
The group possibly, hopefully, would be composed of business woners, lawyers, political persons, residents, religious leaders (ministers, etc.) home owners, and others.
People usually prefer solutions rather than problems, don’t they?
Originally published in The Paper, June 1970.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
