"intensive single day problem-solving"

Oxymoron plus non sequitur. Good luck with one day problem-solving. Those problems didn't happen in a day and won't be solved in one day.

What I don't get is why the Parkridge Community Organization doesn't find a way to pitch in and help their neighbors who may have some financial challenges instead of this method. This seems like pitting neighbor against neighbor. If the choice is paint or rent, rent is the decision. Who really expects people with serious cash flow problems to do repairs because the City writes a citation? Of course the normal refrain here is slumlord renters and/or redneck tenants are the problem. But in the crossfire homeowners in a bind will be put into a bad spot also.

The City has $7.5 million dollars to rehab the 5th Avenue Hotel into the most expensive homeless shelter in the State but has no money to help working people who are between a rock and a hard place? The "help" will come in the form of a citation?

Moyers indicated that the Neighborhood Cleanup visits aren’t designed to be punitive expeditions with inspectors trying to write up as many violations as possible.

Nice PR. Translated, clean it up or face liens against the property. We don't give a damn that you were laid off or you are under water on the mortgage.

Stop helping, you're doing it wrong.

If I remember correctly Mayor Haslam wants to spend the Federal stimulus money on the South Knox Waterfront and street front projects. Hey Mayor, looks like this would be a better place to spend some of that money. Always there for the homeless and the developers but working people have to fend for themselves.

http://www.ci.knoxville.tn.us/development/ezhomerepair.asp

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/oct/21/citywide-blight/

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/jul/01/re-dos-for-residences/

I hope my machine gun nest in the front yard is not a codes violation!

I certainly don't want to run afoul of the zoning laws.

"If ignorance is bliss, why aren't more people happy?"

"What we’d really like to do is address problems before citizens call them in."

We, the government, are going to go looking for a problem your neighbors may not see as one. At a time when "don't tread on me" has become vogue in a way it hasn't for years, this move is simply ignorant to the mood of many.

This should be attempted from the basis of encouragement, not mandate. You simply can't dictate pride.

Nine, do you even know where Parkridge IS? Have you spent time there? Do you know what it's like to live in a neighborhood where your property values and quality of life are constantly threatened by blighted properties (many of which are owned by absentee landlords who don't give a damn about keeping them up)?

If not, may I suggest that you just STFU.

(I apologize to the rest of you for my grouchiness.)

Been told the codes folks were in the the Fort
the other day.

Weren't some homes in the Fort leveled several years back because the owners said it would cost more to bring them to code than it would be to build new?

"The city’s 311 Call Center answers between 12,000 and 13,000 calls related to codes enforcement annually."

Can anyone direct me to any empirical data on the 1,000 homes the city is currently dealing with a month? Are fixes being made? Is there resistance? Is there a process to appeal? If an offender is forced to mow, is there data showing the offender continues to mow?

Before this idea is expounded on, it should be proven it works.

Yes there were some properties condemned
in the Fort a few years back & torn down pdq.
Highland & 16th?

I believe that what happened in the
Fort is unrelated to the front page
post.

However,I've been told there will be a codes
sweep in the Fort soon.

Futhermore,I understand the properties in
question with respect to the Fort are on
Highland & 17th.

I have no direct knowledge of the circumstance
concerning Highland & 17th but would not be
suprised if those properties are not torn down
pdq.

I did not make clear what I meant.

I meant to say What happened the Fort this week
was unrelated to the front page post.

Sorry.

I honestly think most neglected properties belong to slumlords who want nothing except to squeeze every penny out with no investment. If true, then this could prove to be a "good thing."

Speaking of slumlords, where exactly does our favorite crazy GOP TN House representative have properties? Seems I remember some controversy about his not taking care of some houses. Would be a good place to inspect, eh?

"If ignorance is bliss, why aren't more people happy?"

Yeah right. I'll believe a kinder and gentler codes enforcement when I see it.

_________________________
more construction, less politics

Most of the codes problems in Parkridge are NOT related to economic status. They are about absentee slumlords (many of whom own multiple properties) and people who are too LAZY to put their trash out on the right day, to clean up their yards, or to mow their grass. People simply do not care that the trash they leave out in plastic bags-- many days before the trash pickup-- will be scattered by animals and attract yet other animals--namely RATS. So, please stop trying to protect people who are a menace to society. Codes DO need to be enforced. The City has been negligent in doing so.

You simply can't dictate pride.

Hah, neighborhood covenants! That's the ticket.

Rental property can cause issues in a neighborhood, but not always. We owned rental property for 13 years, many years ago. Our property was not the problem. Once we tried to sell, but nearby owner/occupants were such slobs it was impossible to get a decent price. We waited 10 years and apparently the nearby slobs no longer mattered.

The following was forwarded to me by a reader:

PRESS RELEASE

Two nationally known experts in the field of vacant and blighted properties, Dan Kildee and Amy Hovey of the Genesee Institute, will be in Knoxville next week to meet with citizens and city and county staff to discuss "best practices" across the country for effectively confronting the negative impacts of vacant and abandoned buildings and lots.

A public meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, November 5, at the Cansler YMCA, 616 Jessamine Street at East Fifth Avenue.

Their visit to Knoxville is part of a joint city-county-neighborhood effort to identify the scope of vacant, blighted properties in the city and county, and to consider strategies to reduce the number of such properties, thereby improving neighborhoods and commercial districts, as well as stabilizing property values.

Which code are you referring to?

_________________________
more construction, less politics

I had no idea where Parkridge is located. After doing a little review of the Parkridge neighborhood, I now know I used to be quite familiar with the area, it just wasn't called Parkridge at the time. I have no idea what it was called, we just knew the area because my older sister attended Catholic High School at 1610 Magnolia and many Catholic families lived in the area at the time, around 1965.

This walk-about is a pretty ambitious project for five and one-half hours.

As described on their website:
The boundaries of the Parkridge Community Organization shall be defined as Magnolia Avenue to the south, Southern Railway tracks to the west, Interstate 40 to the north, and Cherry Street to the east. All residences and businesses within this boundary are included for possible membership.

In looking at the area on KGIS, it appears there could be over 500 residences (single family homes) in the Parkridge neighborhood.

The City of Knoxville’s Neighborhood Codes Enforcement division will send all its field inspectors on foot through a single neighborhood on November 4, as part of a pilot program aimed at proactively addressing blight and neglected properties.

The City of Knoxville goes on to say they have 9 field inspectors.

I'm sure someone must have narrowed down a certain area in Parkridge.

One other thing I noticed in reviewing about 50 properties in Parkridge, there appear to be a high number of non-owner occupants. Is there some way to easily determine the number? Does it matter? Even though landlords can (and many do) take good care of properties, many times tenants just do not have the vested interest to make a rental a home with the appropriate upkeep. In addition, is it possible the lower the rent the lower the vested interest in the property or the area?

I hope satisfactory results are received from this effort. I have not been in that section of town for many years, except to visit Caswell Park last summer for a few minutes. It used to be quite a nice neighborhood.

I will be interested to see what neighborhood is selected for the next walk-about.

I was referring to the post immediately before my response.

____________________________
more construction, less politics

To all, thank you for the discussion of neighborhoods and codes/zoning enforcement. We hope the codes walk through Parkridge that is coming up in a couple of days will be a beneficial tool for the city to use to help neighborhoods throughout Knoxville.
I think that I noticed in the post that there may be a misunderstanding about what this walk through will do. It is my understanding that they are not citing homes with codes violations at this time. I understand that they will be educating the residents/owners with violations via personally talking to them and /or using a flier to alert them to a violation. This will give everyone an opportunity toward voluntary compliance if they have an issue that needs to be addressed. Codes/zoning enforcement is always the last way that we want to resolve a neighborhood issue. Getting to know your neighbors and working with or talking to them personally is always the first step to resolving any issue.
No one in Parkridge believes that all renters or all landlords are a problem. We have some very responsible landlords and some really good renters. We are fortunate in Parkridge to have a very diverse population. This makes our neighborhood a wonderful place to live and we think we have the best neighbors in the city. We are working very hard to restore our neighborhood homes and make it a safe, family friendly place to live. We applaud the city for helping us with this positive step toward making neighborhoods safer, cleaner and better for all residents of Knoxville.