Community, Part 2

Elise and I have no need to watch The Wire. We prefer to gather around our bedroom window around noon and watch the drug dealers peddle their wares across the street. Our original goal was to help the police interrupt their unscrupulous transactions, but law enforcement proved too slow and our patience proved too short. I put on my best Eastwood persona and made it clear we were wise to their wicked ways. My brazen show flushed the quarry. The roaches have regrouped beyond the view of our bedroom, but probably not beyond walking distance of our house. Most of their customers are too young to drive.

The drug deals weren’t the first sign of trouble around our home. Check out this lovely piece of guerrilla art someone left just 25 feet from my home–on the same corner as our pushers run their black market pharmacy no less!

Local Graffitti, Banksy it ain\'t

Our first instinct was to move north to a more sterile suburb. Urban planners call this “white flight”. The idea frustrated me. By no means do I live in “the hood” but I like the social, cultural and economic diversity of our neighborhood. Lord love soccer moms, but I’d like my kids to be exposed to something more. I’ve since learned that reasonably priced homes and less diverse neighborhoods suffer from the same crimes.

That is when it occurring to me that a neighborhood watch works best as a preventive measure. We had best start our own while the problem is small. This week we are canvasing the neighborhood to rally the troops. So far the idea has been well received, which is a relief because we need 124 of the 165 houses to participate if we are to secure premium services from the police. It will take a few months before our posse ramps up to it’s full momentum, so until then we are encouraging people to:

  • walk, jog or bike through the streets
  • foster community privately: get to know your neighbors
  • foster community publically: support neighborhood events like holiday parties, chili cook offs
  • arrange your home so you’ll spend time around windows that face the street

| July 12th, 2008 | Posted in family, homeowner, rant |

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