Whispers From The Woods: Friday, January 27, 2012

Abandoned Homes In My Neighborhood

The following is a speech that I delivered at a B.R.E.A.D. Nehemiah Action Assembly about the problem of blighted neighborhoods in the City of Columbus. My perspective on this issue is from one who lives in one of these quickly-decaying neighborhoods. Here is the clincher....the date of this speech was May 2009. So... now going on three years and what changes has this city seen after countless promises from various politicians? This can be summarized as follows:

Some things never change ... other things just get worse since nothing constructive is ever done.

Thirty (30) years ago, my young bride and I began searching for a church where we might feel “at home”. After a brief search, we were led to a small parish on the South Side of Columbus... Saint Ladislas, affectionately known in the neighborhood as St. Lads.

Then, about ten (10) years ago, we had an opportunity to purchase a home right next to that wonderful little church. With this move, we truly felt like we had finally “come home”.

One day something horrible happened to our wonderful neighborhood. It seems as though it all started on one day with one (1) broken window. That one (1) window went un-repaired ...and, in a “blink of an eye” ...then there were two (2) broken windows ...and so on…. It was as if a horrible cancer had started to viciously devour the once-healthy tissue of our neighborhood.

Now, 1 in 5 houses in our neighborhood are vacant and abandoned. The sad news is that this problem seems to be growing all the time. In one short block from my house there are four (4) vacant homes that are abandoned and boarded ...but there are many more just like those in my immediate neighborhood ...but there are many more just like those in my immediate neighborhood.

Two (2) houses down from my home is a structure where every window and door is boarded. Right next to that house is another vacant, boarded home. Several doors from that house there is yet another abandoned home but the difference here is that many of the boards have been removed from the windows, revealing broken windows that now expose the house to the elements. These are just three (3) examples but there are many more on my street and on the streets in my immediate neighborhood. The real problem is that many of these vacant homes remain in this state for several years.

These abandoned homes attract criminal activity. One house a couple of blocks from my home was completely stripped of everything of value including all of the copper wiring and plumbing within days of being boarded. Another home was stripped within one day of becoming vacant. On the street to the south of my home there are three (3) boarded-up homes that have become home or “places of business” to drug users and prostitutes. The SWAT team and the police have had to visit some of these supposedly vacant buildings several times to apprehend the drug addicts and prostitutes.

With little effort, these folks manage to get by the boarded–up doors and conduct their business inside the abandoned homes. Once the criminals find their way into an abandoned house, they create a potential open door for curious children. I have seen garbage, used needles and used prophylactics strewn around the outside of these boarded houses and I can only imagine what curious children may find once they enter the house. I’ve seen raccoons and opossums in and about these vacant homes. Once I even had to chase a opossum with a broom from my back door. Creatures like that belong in more rural areas… not near the center of the City. The strewn garbage is an “invite” for cockroaches and rats. Huge rats have been found outside some of the abandoned homes in my neighborhood that could easily compete with any sewer rat of New York City. So, you can see that we have a problem with disease-carrying rodents. It should be easy for everyone to realize that we have a huge Health and Safety issue with each abandoned house. I believe that there is a direct correlation between the increased numbers of abandoned homes in my neighborhood and the health and safety of my neighbors.

The overall crime rate in our neighborhood has increased in the last few years and the crimes themselves have become more violent in nature. Though law-abiding citizens in my neighborhood are quick to react when they hear the sound of automatic and semi-automatic weapons being fired... the criminal activity continues. The most recent shooting incident happened in the wee hours of the morning just ten (10) days ago …and only a block away from my home. It is a horrifying feeling to wake out of a dead sleep… hearing gunfire or hearing the sirens from fire engines and smelling smoke. Since the beginning of this year there have been 19 fires on the South Side of Columbus… in my neighborhood. Most of these fires were set on these abandoned homes. The last fire in my immediate neighborhood was just two doors to the north of my home less than a month ago. My neighbors and I now get very nervous if we smell *any* smoke. Sometimes it only turns out to be someone having a bar-b-que or burning something in their fireplace ...nevertheless these smells tend to raise the hairs on the back of our neck. No *one* in this City should have to live in a state of fear due to hearing gunshots or smell smoke. No one… especially our children... should have to live in fear. Our belief is that much of this crime would be curtailed if these homes were either restored or torn-down.

In conclusion, let me share with you something on a more personal note. Recently, some of my friends and relatives have asked me why I just don’t count my losses and move my family to another neighborhood. My answer to them …and to you is simply this…