AMAZING CITIES

One of the things that I committed to do when I began Amazing Cities was to give practical solutions to problems that affect cities and their leaders.  These solutions are sometimes the little things, the things that might seem too small to make a difference.  As I travel around the country, one thing that seems to be a major problem in cities, both large and small, is the deterioration of neighborhoods.  The signs are obvious, broken windows, graffiti, dilapidated houses and abandoned cars.  Can city leaders make a difference when faced with apathy, crime and the other obstacles that work against us?

I am going to tell a personal story and one that I hope resonates with leaders in any city in America.  My grandfather came to this country from Slovakia in the early 1900's.  He worked in a tinplate factory and barely made enough to feed and house his wife and four children.  One thing that he did have was the American Dream.  He scrimped and saved and finally bought a house at 431 East Pike Street.  It wasn't his home; it was his "investment" property.  He rented the house out and as his family grew and got married, they lived in the house until they got on their own.  I was born and raised at 431 East Pike Street and one of my last memories of my Grandfather was lying on his death bed at the house. 

The reason for this history is about what has happened to the neighborhood in the past 30 or so years.  The houses have gotten older and more deteriorated.  Most of the neighborhood stores have closed and crime and drugs are an everyday fact of life.  My mother inherited the clapboard house of her father and it became too much for her to care for as she grew older.  She asked me if I would help her sell the house.  I just couldn't see my grandfather's American Dream being a victim of the neighborhood decline.  I started cutting the grass and trimming the shrubs.  I started to notice that people would look at me when they drove past, wondering what a city councilman was doing mowing the grass in "that part of town". 

Slowly, I started to connect in the neighborhood.  People would come up to me and they would share their stories of windows being broken or bicycles being stolen.  As they spoke, I would make mental notes and later call the police or public works department to look into their concerns.  Occasionally, I would take my sprayer with weed killer and quietly walk down the street and spray the grass in the cracks in the sidewalk.  When the next door property became vacant, I cut the grass and started moving some of the trash to the rear of the property.  I would ask our public works department to pick up a load. 

A strange thing has happened.  People are taking a little more pride in their property.  They know who to call when something bad happens and they keep a lookout for each others property.  They also know that they will see their councilman about every ten days and can share tips on the latest drug house or neighborhood vandal.  We sometimes become very remote as we do our duties as elected officials.  Not everyone will have their grandfather's house to take care of, but maybe a friend or a constituent who can't take care of the yard anymore.  It does make a difference, if only that it keeps you connected to the "real" citizens.