average joe
13th July 2005, 04:46
I recently had the opportunity to attend some local city meetings discussing the blighting of local homes in a specific area of the county. (St. Louis - the area is Dogtown - a historical neighborhood). It's turning into a pretty messy ordeal and they're(some local residents) are getting together an organization to fight back against the intrusion and coercion.
The alderman of this specific area is responsible for putting well-kept, just momentarily unoccupied, homes into the bills that are going up against the Neighborhood progress committee. The homes are still owned by residents, yet some are unlived in. So really, the issue is imminent domain. The developers want to blight and buy the homes they can.
The estimated value of the neighborhood homes are around 70 - 120 k. The developers are planning to construct 290 - 320 k houses. Now - I believe Black's Law Dictionary is the correct version to use in matters of court - I think the definition of "blighting" is basically condemning structures that drastically lower the value of the surrounding area. So with this in mind, A few quarter mill. houses pop up and, sure, these peoples' homes are going to start bringing the value down.
I'm trying out a few ideas and thought I'd run them by you people. I don't know how much I can accomplish because I am only 22 male, headstrong(you know how us revolutionary types are :)) and the others forming the group are mid-late ages and senior citizens. My grandmother being one of them. All criticisms and suggestions in this matter are appreciated and welcome.
I was thinking that we could put together a petition for emergency vote to get the alderman off the bench. They guy really won't see reason or tell the truth. He had people's homes on the bill without realizing it until the day of the vote(this is what the dolt says to us!). The only problem I see is the actual vote. Not many people turn up for emergency votes. Most of the neighborhood is seniors.
Secondly, since the developers have to approve their plans and bill pleas directly through the alderman, I was wondering if we couldn't enable some way for our own group to have a person there with them when they negotiate. That could help with the resident's feeling that they're in the dark about things.
Third - you guys. Any ideas?
The alderman of this specific area is responsible for putting well-kept, just momentarily unoccupied, homes into the bills that are going up against the Neighborhood progress committee. The homes are still owned by residents, yet some are unlived in. So really, the issue is imminent domain. The developers want to blight and buy the homes they can.
The estimated value of the neighborhood homes are around 70 - 120 k. The developers are planning to construct 290 - 320 k houses. Now - I believe Black's Law Dictionary is the correct version to use in matters of court - I think the definition of "blighting" is basically condemning structures that drastically lower the value of the surrounding area. So with this in mind, A few quarter mill. houses pop up and, sure, these peoples' homes are going to start bringing the value down.
I'm trying out a few ideas and thought I'd run them by you people. I don't know how much I can accomplish because I am only 22 male, headstrong(you know how us revolutionary types are :)) and the others forming the group are mid-late ages and senior citizens. My grandmother being one of them. All criticisms and suggestions in this matter are appreciated and welcome.
I was thinking that we could put together a petition for emergency vote to get the alderman off the bench. They guy really won't see reason or tell the truth. He had people's homes on the bill without realizing it until the day of the vote(this is what the dolt says to us!). The only problem I see is the actual vote. Not many people turn up for emergency votes. Most of the neighborhood is seniors.
Secondly, since the developers have to approve their plans and bill pleas directly through the alderman, I was wondering if we couldn't enable some way for our own group to have a person there with them when they negotiate. That could help with the resident's feeling that they're in the dark about things.
Third - you guys. Any ideas?