Papago Vista Neighborhood Association

A LETTER FROM YOUR VICE CHAIR

May 11, 2004

I was just at an estate sale at the home of one of our departed neighbors. The house is 60 years old but is in good shape, has several additions and a nice yard with a super tree in the front yard and it is now for sale. As I looked over items I heard one of the estate salespeople tell another that the house was great but she would never live in this neighborhood, it was not nice looking. I have stopped defending the neighborhood I live in to passersby. If she doesn?’t want to live here then I would not want her to. But it sets me to wondering.

Why did she think this was not a desirable neighborhood? We have nice people living here. We have great trees and yards. All but a few houses are attractive buildings. In general we have good-looking streets with no graffiti and no seriously derelict houses. We do have our share of nagging little problems though. If you walk or drive the neighborhood, look around with a visitor?’s eye. Trash pickup was weeks ago but there are a few yards with trash at the curb or in the alley. Almost any day you can find old toys or furniture there too. This encourages ?“collectors?” to roam our streets looking for goods and they do. We have vehicles (this includes boats and trailers) illegally parked in the front yards on dirt and grass.

As we have lost some of our senior residents over the years we have also lost some of the people who took the best care of their properties. Taking care of your house and yard are good for the neighborhood but it is also good for your security and property values. Please take care of your home. Do not park in your yard, store abandoned vehicles in your front yard, driveway or on the street. Do not block fire hydrants. Pay attention to the loose trash put out and pick up dates. Keep up with weeds, dead growth and trash in your front yard. Screen stored items in your back yard from view.

You might have noticed large trash containers on the streets recently. One of our neighbors requested this delivery. Those were for neighborhood use. We received the containers much faster than we thought they would be available so we did not get a chance to get out the word. We can ask for containers anytime, so let us know if you think they are needed. We have had many cleanup events where help was available and we can do it again if you need it. We just need to know the effort is worth it. Let us know if we need to hold another clean up event.

I really enjoy this neighborhood and plan on living here for a long time so I have a reason to be interested in keeping it a great place to live. Join me in making sure we have a safe, pleasant community.

Thanks for being a neighbor, Suzanne!