In light of the recent "public disturbance" on my street, it has come to my attention that a majority of the neighbors were either in bed or completely unaware that anything was going on that night! This is simply unacceptable and as a parent and resident, I want to take the initiative to implement block watches for our sub-division. There are many other sub-divisions that have these block watches in place, their effectiveness remains to be seen because they waited until the situation was already a constant presence. I propose that we implement these watches BEFORE our neighborhoods spiral out of control! Tomorrow I will be handing out paper fliers for the residents on my street and the connecting two streets. If anyone wants to get onboard with this idea, you can message me and we can talk. It's time to go over the HOA's head and take matters into our own hands. These block watches will be for more than just "criminal activity", they will also be for neighborhood appearance and resident interaction. My thoughts are to unite all the residents in some way and maybe even start having "block parties" that will lend themselves to a sense of cohesiveness. We live in a world where "minding your own business" has become a way of life. I think that if we banded together, we could truly make Alterra a neighborhood reflective of years gone by, when neighbors knew each other's names and watched out for each other. They would get together in the evenings and talk about life in general. Let's bring that feel, which Maricopa touts excessively, yet is slipping away as we speak, back to our neighborhoods. When my family moved here, just under two years ago, we were greeted by the few other residents on our street. Now, we have new people moving in on a regular basis and we don't know a thing about them. I loved living here the first year, it was like a 50's sitcom and that was very appealing as well as comforting. Unfortunately, I have become fearful in the past 8 months and I really don't like it at all. While crime is relatively low, it is increasing. Let's nip this in the bud and tell those who want to disrupt our quiet streets with late night disturbances, vandalism and (possible) drug deals, that we will NOT stand for this in Alterra! Message me if you want to see some action taken by those who can make the most difference, US! |