Ordinance 2921-06 - Laserfiche WebLink

CHAPTER 6 We used the image of broken windows to explain how neighborhoods might decay into disorder and even crime if no one attends faithfully to their maintenance. If a factory or office window is broken, passersby observing it will conclude that no one cares or no one is in charge. In time, a few will begin throwing rocks to break more windows. Soon all the windows will be broken, and now passersby will think that, not only is no one in charge of the building, no one is in charge of the street on which it faces. Only the young, the criminal, or the foolhardy have any business on an unprotected avenue, and so more and more citizens will abandon the street to those they assume prowl it. Small disorders lead to larger and larger ones, and perhaps even to crime.... In a report prepared for the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Crime in 1967, Alobert Biderman and his social science colleagues presented an important finding from surveys of citizens: feer of crime was strongly related to the existence of disorderly conditions in neighborhoods and communities. George L. Kelling and Catherine M. Coles: Fixing Broken Windows P-2 Continue cooperative maintenance and clean-up efforts. George L. Kelling and Catherine M. Coles, in their book Fixing Broken Windows, argue convincingly that maintaining a clean, well -cared -for physical environment can be an effective crime reduction strategy. Their point is that criminals are less likely to frequent a place that is well cared for and clearly has a cohesive order. Painting out graffiti, cleaning up garbage, maintaining building facades, and similar measures can help to reduce crime, increase civility, and add to residents', workers', and visitors' sense of personal safety. The Downtown Everett Association and BIA might be logical initiators of cooperative maintenance, litter removal, and anti -graffiti campaigns. The amount of effort can be geared to the extent of the problem at a given time. However, as other communities have learned, civic maintenance is like dental hygiene—consistent preventative care is better than trying to correct a problem. Additionally, the City might consider extending its minimum maintenance ordinance, which requires the repair of unsafe buildings, to cover unsightly facades in need of repair, cleaning, or painting. MAKERS architecture and urban design 0509_rpt_draft.doc - 6/29/06