Good Stuff on the Eastside

The Hays Street Bridge opened up again after 28 years of being closed. Kudos to the Hays Street Bridge Restoration Group for their vision and tireless efforts to save the old lady.

A couple of articles appeared in the newspaper this week regarding the impressive progress the police department has made in lowering and preventing crime in District 2. Problem oriented policing seems to be making a considerable dent with the bad guys in our neighborhoods and businesses. This is truly encouraging as public safety is a key piece in sustaining revitalization.

I recently attended a meeting of business owners of the New Braunfels Street corridor. The biggest topic of discussion was the gate closure at New Braunfels and Grayson streets. The gate has been closed since 9-11 and has adversely impacted many of the businesses along this stretch of New Braunfels street. Not sure if the gate will re-open anytime soon but I was encouraged by the willingness of the business owners to work together for a common cause.

In the meantime we need to explore creative ideas to bring traffic to that corridor. At the last Ft Sam Houston Avisory Board a proposal surfaced that VIA should look at developing a trolley loop route from Walters street through New Braunfels street to bring much needed customers down to New Braunfels street. I like that idea and it could be an effective and creative way to partly address a continuing frustrating situation.

We still have a lot of work in front of us but it feels like the momentum is starting to swing around for the Eastside.

Long as I Can See the Light

Now that summer is upon us I like to take my walks in the neighborhood in the evening just as it's getting dark. It's a good time to get out...it's relatively cooler and there's something about taking a walk as the day is phasing into night. As I'm walking about I like to take note of how many of my neighbors light up their front porches. There is something about a front porch with the light on that is welcoming. It's also a good crime deterrent. There are many parts of the neighborhood that have dark areas because the street lighting falls short of providing more than adequate illumination. Our cops like to see properties well lit....burglars and other bad guys typically do not like working with lights shining on them.
So light up the ol' front porch and do your part to light up the neighborhood.

From the Credence Clearwater Revival song "Long as I can See the Light":
Put a candle in the window, cause I feel I've got to move.
Though I'm going, going, I'll be coming home soon,
long as I can see the light.

POP on the Eastside

The recent article in the newspaper about using Problem Orient Policing (POP) on the Eastside gives me hope that the cops and the city have discovered a way to work together to really make a difference in cleaning things up. The cops on the Eastside generally do a good job but other city departments have historically lagged behind in enforcing code violations. But things seem to be changing for the better. This approach to policing is has been around for some time and has been used in other cities with success. But as the chief of police noted in the article, this is only a piece of the work that needs to be done. And he's right. If Eastside neighborhood residents really want to see change then collectively we need to do our part in the clean up. We need to continue reporting code violations, keep our properties cleaned up, work closely with our cops, report any criminal activity, hold our city officials accountable and take the attitude that our neighborhoods really matter.