Recent studies show that a neighborhood that is active and concerned about what is happening in there neighborhood can reduce crime and increase property values. A recent graffiti study showed that those areas that removed the graffiti quickly had less crime. Basically the study states that a neighborhood that is concerned with what is happening in the area will have a better neighborhood. Now is your chance to be active.
Reporting problems that you see to city government can sometimes seem like a big hassle. Getting a street light turned back on, filling a pothole or reporting loud noise from a bar. These problems and others are no longer difficult tasks. Yes we can fix these problems.
The first thing to do is know where to look on the Internet. Angela Hunt ,you city council person,has contact information on her web site. It is a very easy to use web page and she is always keeping it up to date . She is also a good person to contact when things are not as quickly as they should.
Oncor , the people that keep the lights on, now has a great way to report street light outages. On the web page it has a map with all the street lights that they are responsible for. They are supposed to have them working within 5 business days. They are very good at doing this ,but, they are not perfect. The map gives them the location and pole number which makes it much easier to find. It is incredible how many street lights we have in the City of Dallas.
When reporting problems to the City of Dallas you can call 311 or go to the web page . With budgets cuts in the city do not expect them to be proactive or quick. If you look on line you will find the many things that you can report. High weeds , damaged sidewalks , pot holes and traffic lights not working. One problem we have in Uptown is construction without a permit . happens in the neighborhood all the time and cost the city money. Usually means higher taxes for you and me . Permits are required at all stages of construction and there are rules for noise and how early and how late they can work. Again code enforcement is not proactive you must do your part.
A new fast growing problem is the amount of bars opening on Mc Kinney Ave. I am not totally opposed to them ,but, there needs to be some limits. Parking , late night noise and the trash left behind is starting to look like Lower Greenville. These problems are also a 311 issue and can be done on the web , but, may be faster reporting by phone.
Here are the web pages / www.311.dallascityhall.com / www.oncor.com / www.angelahunt.com / . Here is Angela Hunts email address at city hall. angelahunt@dallascityhall.com / hope this helps a little.
To make things better someone needs to hear your Voice !
