Let's Get Our Act Together, By Gary Kuhl

We are hearing more and more residents comment on the condition of the houses and rental units in the village.  Recently we had a former resident remark on how the village looked worse than when they left just a couple of years ago. Of course it would be more productive for people to express their concerns to the Village Manager or at a commission meeting than to simply grumble.

The ups and downs in recent years with code compliance may account for some backsliding, but what about the conditions that have existed for years? The derelict cars that have been around for the better part of a decade.  What about the conditions that are blatantly obvious? The trash residents pile in the swale days before their pickup day. Why are we letting residents run businesses out of their front yards? These are just a couple of salient examples. Of greater concern is the general malaise of the village.

We need a grassroots, take-a-look-at-your-property campaign to start. Significant improvements can be made with just a simple cleanup. Cut the 5 year old dead tree down, weed the hedge out, stop parking on the front lawn, paint the front door, put the garbage cans away and so on. Some of the worst offenders are the rental properties. Some of them border on slums. Piles of outdoor stored junk on the front porches makes it look like tenants are in a perpetual state of eviction. The ordinance covering the permit for rental properties has stringent requirements and an effective means of enforcement, yet it appears little is being done to enforce compliance. We need the involvement of the Commission, the Village Manager, the code compliance team, the boards, we need to use the news letter and people need to express their concern at the commission meetings or to the Village Manager. The point is we need overall, general interest, improvement and code compliance.  People are less likely to do something when nobody is doing anything.

I was recently doing a project in West Miami. The homes and lots are smaller. Most of the homes are simple boxes and the average value is less than the average in Biscayne Park. The income level is less than Biscayne Park. 25% of the residents are over 65 vs. 14% in Biscayne Park. But as I walked down several streets I found the quality of the maintenance to be remarkable. The house paint was in good condition. The doors were in good repair. There was no trash in the yard or Right Of Way.  The landscaping generally was basic, but neat and weed free. There wasn’t an accumulation of unregistered cars, boats, RV’s or trailers in the front yard –and not one car parked on the front lawn. The empty garbage cans weren’t sitting in the driveway. And so on. While code compliance may have some hand in the consistently well kept residences, there was another overriding factor– pride. The residents obviously took great pride in their homes. They had respect for neighbors and their community. We in BP seem to have lost the pride that existed in years past. As one resident aptly put it, “we’ve become a safe haven for slobs”.

People may point to the weak economy or foreclosures as reasons for the decline in the village. This is only an excuse and a weak one at that since it is not a universal condition. Nevertheless it is why I point to the simple, least costly steps to start instilling pride in the community. The community needs to realize our apparent laissez-faire attitude is leading to a downward spiral in our property values.