Enhancing Cape Girardeau's neighborhoods

Our city council, with the assistance of staff, is researching possible additions to our nuisance ordinance that would strengthen our staff's capability to assist in our city's beautification efforts. I am hopeful that a new ordinance can be adopted by our council before the end of this year.

An important part of this process is the scheduling of a public meeting to get input and reaction concerning the issue. I attended a part of this public meeting recently and was struck by the number of times that citizens mentioned the words neighborhood and neighbor.

A majority of our citizens truly are interested in the appearance and safety of their neighborhoods. Also, many times when a rezoning request comes before the council, citizens appear to communicate their desire to protect their property values and their neighborhoods.

Neighborhoods may be in many forms and configurations. It could be an entire subdivision, a smaller cluster of homes or comprise only an extended street.

Our city has several neighborhood watch groups. I also am reminded of a couple of groups in the downtown Old Town Cape area that are or have been organized to protect and promote their individual area.

The Boulevard Local Historic District is an organized and functioning neighborhood group. Its area is well defined and it is active in maintaining property standards for the well-being of all the residents within its boundaries. It has gone so far as to place beautiful signs adjacent to streets leading into the district.

We are in the initial stages of a thought process on how city government can encourage and assist citizens of an area or neighborhood to take greater interest in their specific neighborhood. This neighborhood group could develop enhanced beautification, nuisance control, safety and other areas that might pertain to their individual area.

I write this column this month with the desire that any citizen or group who might be interested in this concept contact me to discuss specific thoughts or recommendations.

The best way to contact me is through our Cape Girardeau city website, cityofcapegirardeau.org. I look forward to your input as together we work to maintain and improve the quality of life in our great city of Cape Girardeau.

The home page of the website has an area listed as "most requested."

Click on "leave a comment" under that heading and follow the instructions.

Harry E. Rediger is the mayor of Cape Girardeau.