Decor is good for your neighborhood

Ever wonder why it is that some neighborhoods are “better” than others? It’s not always a matter of money or class.

Picture what a “good” neighborhood looks like. I’d be willing to bet your picture of a “nice” neighborhood has more to do with neatness and cleanliness than it does any other single factor. Add some flower pots with blooming, green plants, some door decorations and perhaps a seasonal flag in the yard. Now you KNOW you’re in a “nice” neighborhood.

Now picture a “bad” neighborhood. I bet there’s trash strewn about, doors are unadorned and the yards are bare or a mess. Perhaps the windows are obviously covered by sheets or left entirely bare. It looks like no one cares, right?

The fact is, if a neighborhood looks like that without exception, no one does care, though some residents probably lament the fact that their block has “gone downhill.”

Funny thing, rich or poor, neighborhoods that look neat and clean, like they are being taken care of, usually suffer less crime than ones that look a mess.

A “nice” neighborhood immediately says to potential criminals, “This is a place where people take care of things. They are concerned with what happens here.”

Potential perpetrators mostly try to avoid neighborhoods like that. Instead, they stick to places where it looks like no one cares.

When I first moved to Easton, one of my first acts was to place flower pots on my porch and a nice wreath on the door. I got a sturdy doormat, too.

Before my new decorations were out for a week, most of the block went out of their way to tell me that I’d made a mistake putting nice things outside; the general consensus was that they’d be stolen within the week.

But I said, “Let them try. If someone needs a doormat, a floral wreath or a flower pot badly enough to steal one, well, I guess they’ll get it. I’ll just have to replace them, because I like having these things around my home. And, if I catch them, I’ll have to prosecute. After all it’s my home, and that sort of thing just can’t be allowed to happen here.”

In the four years I’ve lived here, only two items ever went missing. And, interestingly enough, both were returned.

The first was a cement garden plaque. The theft was caught by my neighbor, who intercepted him. He confronted the perpetrator with, “That’s not yours and I know who it belongs to.” The thief gave it to my neighbor, and then literally ran away.

The second was one of three beaded Christmas trees I had on my steps last year. I never caught who did it, but they must have had a bout of conscience, because two weeks later, it mysteriously reappeared.

But more miraculous than that reappearance, was the reaction from my neighbors. It took a little time, but I started to notice other folks sprucing up their residences. One neighbor got a wreath and hung it on their door. Another mentioned their new doormat. Several added flowers. Those seasonal banner flags started appearing too, along with decorative garden spikes, plaques and a stepping stone or two. The trash in one neighbor’s yard disappeared and others were seen seeding grass and then actually mowing.

Suddenly, most of the block was interested in how their houses looked, at least from the outside. Seems that cleaning up is contagious.

When I moved last year from the West Ward to the downtown, my apartment building had a curtain on the door that hadn’t been washed for sometime, though it wasn’t terrible. One day I decided to replace it with some curtaining left over from my old house. I added a floral wreath.

My downstairs neighbor noticed and told me she liked it. Her boyfriend noticed too, and went out of his way one day to tell me how much it “improved” the place.

Since I did that, I’ve NEVER come across anyone hanging around our entranceway, which, when I first moved in, was a bit of a problem. It would seem that “undesirables” are easily scared away by a nice curtain.

This morning, on my way to work, I found one of my other neighbors scrubbing her entranceway. She stopped me to show me the new fabric she was planning on using for a new curtain for the door.

“Since I saw what you did with your door, I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind that my door needed something too.
Do you think this fabric goes with the building?” she asked, holding a silky plaid.

Good neighborhoods are contagious. Want to improve your block and live in a safe neighborhood? Improve your residence, whether you rent or own it. It doesn’t take much. Make the place clean, neat and your own.

It’s a great way to say, “This is a good neighborhood. Good people live here, people who care what happens here.”

See if it doesn’t make a difference on your block too.

(Originally published in The Easton News, April 20, 2006)