E-mail from Wade Kapszukiewicz…
In my e-mail box this morning:
Dear Lisa,
From time to time, I’d like to provide you with updates on issues affecting our community, especially when those issues involve work I’m doing to help make Toledo and Lucas County a great place to live and raise a family.
Today, I have an opportunity to provide such an update. After a great meeting with the editorial board of The Toledo Blade a few weeks ago, I was invited to write an opinion piece on a program that I think can help us address the problems associated with vacant and abandoned properties in our neighborhoods.
My column is in today’s Blade, and you can read it here..
He included a request:
If you have any feedback on the column, or if you’d like to share your ideas on how to make our community stronger,
To e-mail him but for the sake of our purposes here, you can share your feedback or ideas in the comments. Remember those of you who are commenting for the first time will have your first comment temporarily held in moderation, I will approve them as soon as possible when a valid e-mail address is used…It should go without saying but as a reminder, any of you who feel criticism is needed, to keep it on the topic not on the person…
Under this wonderful program will party insiders still line their pockets by doing drive-by appraisals and inspections? The current system has provided a lucrative income for people appointed by the sheriff to do nothing more than driving by the property.
February 14th, 2010 at 12:30 pmValid comment Ron given the prior practices. That said, this program is utilized in other areas of the country to benefit the the housing market.
February 15th, 2010 at 10:56 amMy concern will be implementation of the program.
What standards will be set? Who will do the monitoring? Is it going to me a numbers game or are we finally going to see a higher caliber of rehabilitation of existing homes that offer the amentites that the market seeks no matter where they are located or to whom is the final purchaser.
This program can be a linchpin to a greater quality of life for all income groups.
Will there be strategic planning with a more thoughtful approach to community development?
Instead of ramming in new units to increase density, we need to think. IMHO, people do not like to subjected to a warren type environment, where we are ontop of each other. We need space to breathe, privacy and decent sized yards for children to play.
Let’s use this program to correct bad zoning decisions of the past. Just because demolition occurs it shouldn’t mean we have to re-build. Richmond Virginia has an excellent program that we should emulate. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
Didn’t Ford Weber just return to Toledo from Richmond? Ask him.