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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Monday, June 06, 2016

Ten Ways To Make Your Neighborhood Better

Easton Planning Director Tina Roseberry was among a trio of Easton officials who introduced themselves to Northampton County's Economic Development Committee on Thursday night. She was there to discuss Easton's landlord training program, which I must confess strikes me as just a tad condescending on the surface. But then she explained it, and even provided copies of a manual that City officials give landlords who take their course.She went on to say that landlords who take the course end up with much better tenants and are involved in much fewer evictions. So I've been transformed from skeptic to supporter.

What really struck me was some a portion of the manual entitled :"Twelve Ways to Improve Our Easton Neighborhoods Right Now."  The suggestions really could apply anywhere and make your community safer. So below, with apologies to Easton, are 10 abbreviated tips on making your community safer.

1. Report crime promptly. - Don't assume someone else will call. Do it yourself. Police are unable to act without knowing there is a problem.

2. Report nuisances and other noncriminal problems promptly. - If you see something and think that someone ought to do something, then you should call and report the problem.

3. Take away opportunities for crime. - Lock your car and don't leave valuables inside them, Trim your bushes and trees to make it difficult for a person to hide and make sure you have a clear view of the street. Police will often perform courtesy safety checks of your home.

4.Make a list of the names ans phone numbers of every neighbor on your block. - It's not society's fault that no one knows their neighbors. It's yours.

5. Meet the kids who live in your neighborhood and know them by name. - Naturally, you want to do this very publicly or in the presence of their parents.

6. Turn on your porch light. - Keep it lit from dusk to dawn. Neighborhoods that are well lit have less crime.

7. Walk around the block every day. - Neighbors benefit when responsible citizens walk in the community.

8. Drive slowly on neighborhood streets - This tends to slow others down, too, especially if they are behind you. And it might save the life of a kid darting out to get a ball.

9. Pick up litter near your home, even if you don't live there. - People litter less in areas where they see no litter.

10. Stay where you are. - Long-term residents make a community more healthy.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't worry about my kids. Stay away form them they are none of your concern. Too many creeps out there.

Anonymous said...

"...If you see something and think that someone ought to do something..." This is exactly why this country is circling the toilet bowl. Why not be a mature, hard-working, productive member of society and do your own work to achieve your own wants and needs? Don't expect someone else to do the work, do it yourself!

Anonymous said...

Thank You Bernie,
Very Good and Timely advice....Also join your local Neighborhood Assoc...You'd be surprised how much you can learn....
Paul J. Fiske "The Old Allentown Curmudgeon"

Dave said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Bernie O'Hare said...

Dave, If you want to post an OT comment, do it at Opinions Online. It is very insulting when someone attempts to hijack a thread with another topic.

Anonymous said...

Bernie,
This being a very intresting topic of descussion?! Home ownership is in fact the only cure?! ($

We have some expert explaining how a property managment LLC hadles it away from said owner?! ($ In turn the lieabilty twistZ are on, then said tenant rents said room to more dehabiltate an allready inhabited uninhabitble tenament?! ($ In turn transfering deeds to yet another said owner when in fact the owner is crated out of thin air very similar to the American dollar devaluiZation?! ($
The same old circus circle jerk continues on and on with no authority or even managment LLC addressing the true mechanics of any and all issues just some chalk and paint to make a taint what it ain't?! ($
Get the picture weather it be between an asshole and a sack or an asshole and a foofoo its all the same lame to say the lame to say the least gender spcifics?! ($

Anonymous said...

11) carry a big gun

Anonymous said...

"People litter less in areas where they see no litter."

This is a derivation of Giuliani's broken window theory i.e., "where you permit one, you'll soon see more." Charges of racism prevent broken window crackdowns through community policing (a micro-agressive term, these days) in neighborhoods that need help most, however. Snitches get stitches. I suggest organic policing through legal, responsible gun ownership - even, and especially in, public housing. Law abiding Americans shouldn't be denied their rights because of their address or socio-economic status. Just like good fences, good guns make good neighbors.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Your comment is absurd. There are already 270 million firearms in the US, according to the pro-gun Guns in America webpage. If "responsible" gun ownership is so effective, there would be no need for any of these suggestions. Contrary to what you think, guns are not a panacea for every societal ill.

Anonymous said...

... another racist trying to keep legal gun away from people of color. No surprise here. The enlightened hate black people.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Because i disagree with your absurd view and point out correctly that 270 million guns have done nothing to stop the deterioration of our communities, you anonymously call me a racist. These personal insults are the refuge of those who are unable to argue and who are better at yelling. My guess is that if you want to see a racist, you'll find one in your mirror.

Anonymous said...

I like this.Simple common sense neighborhood etiquette. The way it used to be.

Anonymous said...

so , are the local , country and state tax payers funding this amazing advice ? really ?

Bernie O'Hare said...

Nobody is paying for this advice. I took some of the tips in the landlord handbook, abbreviated them, and gave them application to everyone.

The landlord training is paid for with CIPP funds. It is not money from the table games revenue at the Sands, which can be used for anything deemed to be in the county's interest.