Neighborhood Stabilization For Free

The recent economic downturn has caused an epidemic of foreclosures in neighborhoods around the country. This is hardly news.  This is an opportunity for us to bring our attention to our neighbors who can use help and participate in stabilization efforts.

Perhaps the biggest challenge is that we barely know our neighbors. We live on cell phones, the Internet, and in a media age. Frequently, we have friends in neighborhoods miles away, and yet we don’t even know the name of the residents two houses away.  An important component to the stability and value of our neighborhoods is the sense of safety and security for ourselves, our families, our elderly, and our children.

Accordingly, consider the following actions which will not add to the Federal deficit, but will make your neighborhood a better place:

1. Cut the grass of your neighbor’s yard.
2. Hold a block party, and get to know your neighbors.
3. Shovel the snow from your neighbor’s driveway.
4. Watch and feed your neighbor’s pets when they are out of town.
5. Clean up any vacant lots.
6. Keep watch over any vacant homes. Pick up any trash, newspapers, or mail.
7. Invite your neighbors over for dinner.
8. Check in on any elderly living in the area. Run errands for them.
9. Stage a neighborhood work day to clean up trash and improve landscaping.
10. Bring cookies to your neighbors.

It’s the residents of a neighborhood that give it both life and value. Areas where people care about one another are poised to be the kind of locations that others will want to move into. Rather than allow our neighborhoods to fall into a state of disrepair and neglect, let us step up our efforts as neighbors to care for our neighborhoods.