Opinion:
Amidst all the turmoil with”progress”,”jobs”, the pork plant and all other discussion of progress of Mason City, people need to look at how we are perceived by other communities. We have two main highways running through town and intersecting. 65 to the north and south, 18 to the east and west. The city needs to start mowing the medians and ditches along these routes. Upkeep, improvements on these main routes are important. Take ques from other communities. Also, look at all the rundown properties lining these routes. Take for instance across the street from the globe, that boarded up, spray painted, multiplex. It is horrible, that guy killed his girlfriend there, drug her in and out, and there it sits. All the uproar about other properties, if you where to come into town from the north, to enjoy the cultural cresant, you would have to drive right by it. Just something to think about if we want to attract business and tourist alike, we have to look like we are better than a slaughterhouse town if we are going to act like it! Thanks.
Tim Eisenlohr of Mason City
Landlords too! If tenants don’t mow them, landlords should be required to.
… and fortunately they very much are! don’t hesitate to turn them in to the city! the legal obligation to keep up a property unconditionally falls on the owner. the rental contract may require the tenant to mow the lawn but if he fails to do so its still the owner who is criminally liable.
which slumlords are we looking at? dick mathes? russ hardy? any specific properties?
Criminally liable? How much jail time will a person get not mowing their lawn?
I agree. The DOT needs to do a better job mowing along the highways. City owned properties are just as bad. The mowing of the banks along 12th NW between the car wash and Penn is neglected. The new dog park is not very inviting. Last year there was a lot of talk about North side revitalization. People are watching and nothing is happening. I have inquired about these boarded up and abandoned buildings and have been told that as long as they are not in danger of collapsing on some one they can stay that way forever. There is nothing in city code that addresses this. It seems to depend on who owns these neglected properties and where they are at. If I have grass a foot tall the city will have it mowed and send me a bill. Why doesn’t the City follow its own rule. I love Mason City and I take pride in my property and try to make it look nice. It would be nice if every one that owns properties in Mason City felt the same way.
Good comment.
“Slaughterhouse town” Austin MN has a downtown far more lively and less slummy than Mason City. In fact, a little secret–most towns with a high number of immigrants usually have a far greater variety and number of local businesses than Mason City.
Cerro Gordo lost more population than any other county in Iowa from 2000-2010. No one wants to live here, immigrants or locals. It would actually be an encouraging sign if immigrants wanted to come here. But they don’t, and who can blame them.
The downtown area has turned into the town slum area due to all the apartment houses there and the abandoned property in disrepair. The mowing of State Roads like Hwy 18 and 65 is up to the state for the most part. We pay a extra $0.10 p/gal to maintain the roads and that is part of it.
Gentrification is class warfare, often with a racist element.
I view all gentrification with suspicion because I understand that it is usually based in class warfare. That is the dilemma in gentrifying the older part of downtown.
The underclass and the working poor are not going to stay out of downtown and the gentrification forces want them out. The nouveau downtowners don’t want to mingle with those failed by the education system and a job market shrinking by the day.
They see the underclass as a threatening reminder of an unpleasant economic reality in 21st Century America. The under- class will not become invisible and they will not go to hidden locations to expire quietly.
Coo-Coo
one of the funny things about newspeak is that when an original population is displaced by white professionals moving in (and the area gets fixed up in the process) it is called gentrification and is bad, but when an original population is displaced by minorities moving in (and the tax base evaporates while crime skyrockets), then its called diversity and it is great.
You learned a new word today didn’t you