Blight in Phoenix

I sat here for 10 minutes trying to come up with the best opening line for this blog, and this was the best I could do.

I live in a neighborhood where 90% of the properties violate at least one of the city of Phoenix's Blight Ordinances. At least 80% violate more than two!

As I drive through my neighborhood to get to my home, I wish I could close my eyes. People don't seem to care about the look of their home and I am tired of looking at it. I considered selling my home to get away from the blight but love the area I am in.

So instead I decided to begin reporting the violators. Why should I suffer with having to look at the blight and why should my property value be effected by my neighbor's laziness?

The city of Phoenix has a Neighborhood Service Department that handles neighborhood issues such as blight. They can be reached at mailbox.blight@phoenix.gov. (Since you are reading this online, I would assume you have email access also. If not, check out www.msn.com)

The Neighborhood Service Department's policy states the following: "It is the intent of the city of Phoenix to promote the health, safety and welfare of the residents of Phoenix, Arizona. Part of this responsibility includes protecting neighborhoods from blighting and deteriorating conditions that have a negative impact on area property values and encourage social disorder and crime. This is achieved through ordinances and by establishing a policy to guide enforcement of the ordinances."

The following are the most common code violations:

• Overheight weeds/grass or dead/dry bushes, trees, weeds and/or other vegetation
• Inoperable vehicles
• Junk, litter and/or debris
• Open/vacant buildings and structures
• Outside storage
• Fences in disrepair
• Vehicles parked on non-dustproofed surfaces or in non-permitted areas of residential front or side yards
• Graffiti

You can view the entire policy by visiting: ftp://phoenix.gov/pub/NSD/code.pdf

Don't ignore this growing problem and don't think someone else will report it! My neighborhood has already begun looking better than it ever has, and it is all thanks to my efforts in getting the violators reported!