Want Cleaner Neighbors? Try Peer Pressure

Over the past two months, our readers have left several comments about the conditions of some homes and yards in town. We agree that people should take pride in their homes. They should mow their grass. They should paint their house and, if money allows, landscape their property with trees and flowers. Regrettably, that does not always happen. As a result, we can cite a handful of eyesores in Dorchester.

Recently, a West Virginia newspaper editorial said this about messy properties in its area: "Most cities and counties have ordinances in place to deal with residences that are so unkempt they are a nuisance or health threat. Yet at what point can a municipality make an individual or family keep their home neat and tidy? ...Must code enforcement or police officers stand over individuals with the figurative whip in one hand and statute book in the other as they force them to mow their lawns and trim overgrown weeds. Obviously, it’s not realistic."

Many readers of the Times have written that the Dorchester Village Board must be more aggressive in implementation and enforcement of ordinances to crack down on dilapidated, unsightly homes. But we want to echo the sentiments of the West Virginia newspaper, which wrote: "Although we support codes requiring the maintenance of property — and we wish they were more strongly enforced — it is very difficult, if not impossible, for a governing body to force regular home maintenance habits on the general public.

"It is for this reason we are encouraged by the change in attitude within municipal governments and among many local residents when it comes to beautification of the region. We see the sparkle emanating from residential areas after cities and towns hold annual clean-up events and sponsor beautification efforts. ...And this, we believe, is the real key to code enforcement. It’s easier to neglect mowing the lawn if every home on your street is neglected and in disrepair than when your house is the only one on the block with an overgrown yard. While we do not want to downplay the importance of code enforcement, we believe positive results on the beautification front can also be achieved through peer pressure from others in the community."

We at the Times think most of our readers would agree that a strategy of "peer pressure" could achieve the same results in Dorchester. Instead of looking to local government to clean up our neighbor's yard, perhaps greater strides can be made in sprucing up the town by simply encouraging others to join in the effort.