As previously stated, there is blight all across the City. Everyone in their own particular neighborhoods should be concentrating on their own homes, the area around them and their own streets, helping to clean it up. You see yards, nothing but weeds...dead trees...dead palm fronds, shrubs that haven't been pruned, paint peeling, mildew, etc. Boarded up and foreclosed properties are everywhere. Just a little TLC would go a long way. People have become lazy and complacent and even mowing the "grass" has become a "drag."
There is nothing much we can do about blight that has been caused by the City itself and/or those who use City/County property or a City that has not or can not act on code infractions. It's not our job to clean up after every park user who has thrown down a paper cup as that would be a full-time endeavor. Perhaps the neighborhood associations can suggest block captains to organize residents to get some of this work done on their own streets or as a group, start knocking on doors of their neighbors.
It used to be the CRA's mission to eradicate blight. Now they seem to be concentrating solely on building and grabbing federal cash. Half the city is in the CRA district...When you have a commission that feels it is perfectly a-okay to give the CRA the downtown tax base, then we have a problem. Everyone was giddy about the Gulfstream Hotel selling but it appears from the CRA map that the city will NOT get any of that tax when and if the investor is lucky enough to find a buyer or whatever his intent. They tell us that spending $23 million on 138 houses across the city was a big start...home ownership. For the most part, owner occupied dwellings help eliminate the blight but a once pristine perfect neighborhood that has few rentals has also fallen with the times. When you have a commission only concentrating on the tax base and voting in affordable rentals, this eventually adds to the slum, blight and the crime.
7 comments:
It's true. Blight is all over even in Mr. Blackman's neighborhood. Those who live in glass houses shouldn't be throwing stones.
That brown grass is hideous. We could avoid having these brown grass lawns in our city if people would stop planting grass lawns to begin with. You're not in Ohio anymore. This is the subtropics. Grass doesn't work well here. Plant bromileads instead, or some other ground cover that will stay green and beautiful no matter what.
What crappy neighborhood is this ? They probably don't have a neighborhood association.
xeriscaping is an owner's excuse not to take care of his yard. Eventually, and more times than not, it turns into one big gigantic weed patch.
Grass is unsustainable as shown by all those dead lawns. Better to reduce grass and plant natives and tropicals. Looks so much better and better for our planet.
As for the boats, I think folks are allowed to park them in their driveway. But I've got two guys who park them in the street, a no -no, and of course call PBSO and they do nothing, call the city and they do nothing.
They are NOT Allowed to park them in their driveways. They must be located behind a fence and unseen by a passer-by.
Grass is unsustainable because a lot of people can't afford to water, thanks to the WCE that raised rates 2 years ago.
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