Editorial

With the coming of spring, the venerable tradition of “spring cleaning” is still practiced in many homes in West Haven and elsewhere. This could include indoor and outdoor tasks to cull out things that may have collected, or to repair damage, or blemishes that occurred during the past winter. Either way, spring cleaning is an annual task to make things a bit brighter and newer to go along with the revival of life dormant through the cold season.

We are seeing it all around as residents have used the (barely perceptible) warming to begin getting their grounds in order. Repairs are being made, touchups applied where needed and, now that the crocuses have appeared, yard work is becoming a weekend task again.

While many do take the opportunity to make their homes and spaces better, we find that in our little corner of the universe, many do not. This is particularly the case for many places where absentee ownership is the rule of the day. Over the last couple of decades properties have become accumulations of investors, rather than owned by those who would live in them. Many use property management companies that do regular maintenance as part of their contractual obligations, but just as many smaller clusters of properties, owned by individuals or consortiums, are too concentrated on collecting rents than making sure their properties are well maintained.

One example of this, and one we have discussed on various occasions, is the allowance of tenants to use front lawns as parking areas. One needs only to travel along any major downtown thoroughfare to understand what we mean. The parking of vehicles on front lawns depreciates the area, not only the particular property.

Property ownership includes a responsibility to maintain one’s grounds as well as one’s building. While many take this responsibility seriously, too many do not.

Keeping the city clean is a combined effort. While the city and its various departments have tasks to accomplish, such as rebuilding sidewalks and streets, property owners must do their part.

This includes business properties, not only those along major thoroughfares, but those in every part of the city. While it is only anecdotal, it seems in those places where businesses and industries fail to properly maintain their areas, homeowners follow suit.

Prior to the end of last summer, an announcement was made by the Borer administration that various departments would be included in aiding prod property owners into keeping up their areas. We encourage the administration to enter this new season with renewed vigor in this regard. For most a letter or notice is all it will take, while others might need something a bit more stringent.

Keeping the city clean, maintaining its neighborhoods and businesses, and engendering an attitude of city pride are a joint effort of the private and public sectors of the city. Expecting the city to do its part while failing to make individual private properties at their best will not accomplish the goal.

This is a citywide effort, requiring resident property owners, absentee owners, businesses, and municipal departments to work together.

We all want a cleaner, brighter city. It can only come about if we work together.