"Our House..."


"...Is a very, very, very fine house". We don't have two cats in the yard (they're indoors), but as the song by CSN&Y continues: "Life used to be so hard". Well, people....around here it pretty much still IS (hard, that is). And this really isn't "our" house...just one that looks a helluva lot like it. A modest Cape Cod nestled firmly in the crotch (or is that the armpit?) of the city's southeast side is where we reside.

Take for example the job the NCE (neighborhood code enforcement) has to do every day. I don't envy them their task. The officers assigned to the department have to go around our streets, looking for violations to city codes pertinent to housing. And in OUR area anyway, that task is nothing less than daunting. Many would call them the "code nazis", with their sole mission being to inflict angst to homeowners whenever the mood strikes them. Such is NOT the case.

NCE has 12 officers to cover the entire city (including the recently annexed Aboite area), and these people are charged with noting complaints initiated by neighbors against properties that are in need of some sort of maintenance. Now, as a homeowner, I'd be the first one to say that ANY house is NOT self-maintaining...not by a country mile! We always called it "sweat-equity". You usually get (something) out of what you put INTO a house. Unfortunately, it's not a dollar for dollar trade-off. Say you blow about $3000 for new windows. The up side is that the house is more energy-efficient, ergo your utility bill will drop (sometimes significantly). It gives the house more "curb-appeal", and makes it easier to keep the windows clean (with tilt sashes). The down side is that it will not automatically RAISE the value of the house by that initial $3K you spent. It "might" jack the price up by $1K...maybe. And we won't even get into what the "assessed" value might become...the county's "guess" is as good as yours!.

So NCE might cite you for a broken window that hasn't been replaced. Or they might take some pictures of a junked up yard, a broken fence, crumbling steps or sidewalks...well, you get the idea. And I know many of you live in areas where things like this NEVER occur. Good for you...consider yourselves fortunate. We're not as lucky.
As I like to say regarding the way we keep OUR property: "We set the standard for others to ignore"...LOL!

We happen to have a house where even NCE says: "That's a nice house you have". I appreciate the compliment. That seems to mark us as one of "those" families...the ones that are trying to keep the neighborhood nice by doing just what comes naturally to US, while others around are pissed that "we" won't let the area devolve into a full-blown ghetto. To that I say: "Tough Shit, Sherlock!"

The landlords around here are not interested in upkeep to their houses. It's all about the MONEY (in their pockets). Occasionaly you DO find a landlord that will put new vinyl siding on a house, place new doors and some windows in it, only to have the next group of savages move in and trash the place. And that costs the landlord some scratch to have to redo things all over again. One landlord had to shell out over $1500 for interior repairs when some problem people moved out. And they're not even held responsible for their acts of vandalism.
Let's just write it off to POVERTY, OK? Well, that's B.S. and you know it as much as I do. But that's the nature of the beast around here when very few people OWN and LIVE in a house. The whole "It's not MINE, so why give a damn?" mindset is in full play here. And in some "rare" cases, these people are trying to buy the house (thanks to HUD or section 8 housing), and STILL have the same (lack of) regard towards the neighborhood.

So our problem is partly the landlord's fault (he needs to screen the prospective tenants), and mostly the renter's fault (anyone ever teach you to respect and take care of OTHER people's stuff, moron?) which makes the solution a rather easy one...IF it were properly employed.

Some of the particular issues NCE has to deal with around here are garages with SO much clutter, they pose a fire hazard, improper storage of flammables (we had one guy that had TWO really good fires in one year), chop-shops operating out of garages (with auto carcasses being dumped in alleys), peeling paint (on the WHOLE house), broken doors and windows, abandoned dwellings (which can precipitate condemnation proceedings), inoperable vehicles on the property (on the street is a parking control issue), and items such as fences, concrete work (walls, steps, etc.), roofing, gutters, and even lawn maintenance (the city WILL mow for you if you're too damn lazy, but it WILL cost you). And in some areas, all the items mentioned seem to be fine and dandy with the residents, regardless of city codes and ordinances.
The backlog in certain parts of the city is staggering. Other neighborhoods roll along, relatively unbothered by such issues, as those people have no qualms about the upkeep of their property. The city even has programs whereby you can get paint for your house. In our part of town, there are SO many houses that need it, but still go without, year after year. And each year, we see a few more sprout up, so it becomes never-ending cycle of decline.

Personally, I can't say enough about the department's boss, Captain Tom Bandor. He's good people, has great focus on the job, is fair, and will assist in any way he can, rather than shove you off to someone else. You have any question...he's the one to contact.

Trying to keep an area that seemingly WANTS to slip further into decline is a monumental task, and NCE is there to ensure that these areas do NOT. It's that simple. They're not "out to get you"...they're there to maintain the residential infrastructure of our neighborhoods. But even they can only do so much...
The rest...is up to every citizen to do THEIR part to have a neighborhood they can be proud of.

We're ALL involved to some degree....or rather we SHOULD be.