Comments on: Renfroe Community Garden Vandalized

By: Susan

Susan — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:48:58 +0000

I completely agree with the broken windows effect Karass.

That is why it is so dispiriting to see some houses in such poor condition (for example the vacant house on East Lake near Oakhurst Village next door to the Big H property that looks like it had a fire and has open windows and the fence falling down into the property) and not condemned. This house in particular has been sitting here like this for close to a year and while there are notices of code violation on the door, nothing has been done.

Why does it take so long for Decatur’s codes department to have this eyesore condemned and torn down?

By: karass

karass — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:49:15 +0000

While I’m not necessarily a supporter of all of the policies of NY City’s ex-mayor Guiliani, I do think that he had a good grip on changing the criminal environment of a city. He had the police start cracking down consistently on all crime, including petty crimes. The idea was that serious crimes are more likely to occur in an environment where petty crime is allowed to flourish. E.g. a neighborhood full of trash on the streets, lots of graffiti, illegally parked cars, and where residents are nervous and stay inside barred doors and windows is more likely to attract serious drug dealing, prostitution, and gang violence than a clean neighborhood, with local police ticketing illegally parked cars, and people sitting out on their porches, noticing what’s happening to their neighborhood.

So I think that the reason to have concern about petty crimes in Decatur isn’t just because we have nothing better to worry about. It’s because we want to convey to our children that we won’t allow certain kinds of behavior in our community and they can feel reasonably safe and secure; in addition, if they are influenced or otherwise motivated to behave inappropriately, they will be apprehended and punished .

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:44:27 +0000

There’s some truth to that, Susan, but at the same time, I think the general premise suggests that we’re somehow “blessed” by our circumstances, as though the years of hard work, contribution, commitment, entrepreneurial passion, willingness to take a role in something larger than one’s own individual circumstances, etc., never happened.

Decatur suffered for many decades with similarly numbing crime issues. The fact that, today, we live in a community where our higher expectations actually have a basis in reality, was no accident. Yes, sometimes comments here and elsewhere reflect this bubble we’ve created and, if that’s all there was, it would be worthy of ridicule. But in Decatur, at least in my experience, annoyance with something is often the first step towards action. And that’s how community is supposed to work.

By: Susan

Susan — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:09:37 +0000

I certainly think I get Andy’s point.

4 people were shot and 1 killed at a block party in East Point over the weekend.

We worry about garden vandalization and the color scheme of local businesses.

While petty vandalism should not be tolerated and should be stopped in its tracks before it leads to other stuff (i.e. the broken window effect), if in Decatur people were getting shot while having block parties, I don’t think many people would be so worried about some kids pulling out some swiss chard of a community garden. So, indeed, we are very fortunate to not have to worry as much about major crimes and we can focus on petty vandalism.

By: MrFixIt

MrFixIt — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 03:35:22 +0000

I like people. However, I like most animals better than most people… My animals tend to vandalize my garden too though.