Neighborhoods go down the tubes in small but final ways. First, a fence falls and isn't fixed. Then graffiti are scrawled and aren't rubbed out or painted over. Then cars show up on blocks or sit unusable on front drives. Soon the neighborhood is no longer headed up. It's headed down.
This column deals with just such a place.
An anonymous tipster wrote me a recent e-mail complaining about the neighborhood just to the south of Golden Valley High School in Merced.
Merced Sun-Star - An abandoned car with a pool of oil under it, and has flat tires, sits in a driveway on Dinky Creek Avenue. The house is vacant.
"We in the neighborhood have become frustrated with homeowners that have left their homes due to foreclosures and have left behind abandoned automobiles, appliances, etc.," read the e-mail. It went on to note the realty company selling some of the empty homes said it couldn't do a thing. "What's a neighborhood to do about eyesores?" asked the e-mail.
With that in mind, I headed to the area.
While the development looked relatively new -- there were even empty lots at its edges -- in some spots the place looked as if it had seen better days.
Two locations, right across from each other, looked the worst. The homes at 2256 and 2239 Dinkey Creek Ave. were the neighborhood's tarnished jewels when it came to junked cars.
First, let's deal with 2256. The house was for sale and unoccupied. An abandoned two-door car sat in the front drive. At least two of its tires were flat, the radio was missing and the tags were from April 2005. The license plate read: MC RENZZ. I called the realty company selling the house, McCoy Realty, and didn't get a call back.
The other house with a car in front of it, 2239, looked as if it were occupied. But it wasn't looking good. A car that appeared less than operable sat in the front driveway, and several tires littered the front yard.
When I called the city's code enforcement division, I was told that there were no complaints about either house. But Kelly Roseman, a code enforcement officer for the area, said that junked cars are a common complaint.
She said that a car without tags or that doesn't run can't be out in the open.
In such cases the city will give the property owner and tenant a 10-day notice. If the situation hasn't been changed, after another 10 days, the city will come with a tow truck to remove the vehicle.
"Nobody in that area has called me," said Roseman. "But I can go out tomorrow and open a code enforcement case on it."
What is wrong: Junked cars are threatening to deface an area south of Golden Valley High School.
Who is responsible: The people who leave their cars in driveways.
Tip off the Tip List. To pinpoint things in need of fixing on our new interactive map, go to mercedsunstar.com/tiplist. Just follow the links.
If you see something broken or in need of repair in your neighborhood, call the Sun-Star Tip List reporter, Jonah Owen Lamb, with your tips at (209) 385-2484 or e-mail jlamb@mercedsun-star.com.
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