Communication Among Residents
The residents of Addison are able to communicate with each other and stay updated on what is happening in the town by a monthly eNewsletter, social Media (Twitter and Facebook), and the local newspaper.
Community Strengths and Citizens Perceptions of the Town
Through talking with residents in various locations, Addison has proven to have many strengths. There is a variety of housing affordable for all families; balance of housing types, with 58 percent single-family homes, 9 percent townhomes, and 34 percent multi-family homes. The location is seen as a huge strength by many. It is located right off of 355 with easy access to both industrial and commercial areas. The Village Services, aside from the snow removal of this winter season has proven to be a favorite of the community’s members. There is an immense amount of diversity within the town with good schools and local colleges. Overall the residents of Addison find it to be a good, family oriented community that has a strong and friendly community spirit.
Current City Plans
During a phone interview with Joseph Block the city’s current plans for improvement were discussed. Most of the main concerns for the Village are to create more single and multi-family homes for families and senior citizens. The empty lot on Mill and Army Trail Roads is the front runner for creating these homes. A section of the lot cannot be utilized due to flood zones, but the remaining area would be ideal for single-family senior housing.
There is a 20-acre lot located on Lombard road that is currently being used by schools, the park district, and recreational clubs as a park. The Village hopes to develop a new residential area here or improve the community open spac...
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...lice Department’s webpage was the overall breakdown and the rate of crime in the town. Addison has an overall crime rate of 21 per 1,000 residents, making the crime rate here near the average for all cities and towns of all sizes in America. Addison's crime rate is lower than approximately 31% of other Illinois communities. The most frequent cases of crime in 2012, were theft and burglary at about 85% and common traffic violations.
There has been an alarming increase in the crime and scams against the elderly in Addison. People that are classified as “gypsies” are attacking the elderly through the use of the, “driveway scam, counterfeit cash, and the ruse burglary, which is where one person distracts the home owners while another sneaks through the back or front door and steals from the home,” not much is being done as far as education or awareness (Scams, 2014).
Community elected home owners association officials are constantly involved in complex decisions regarding the state, safety, and welfare of the property of our small community and solving community problems. Effective ways to solve problems faced by Deer Crossing Homeowners’ is to conduct a needs assessment of the community in an effort to provide feedback for the community elected officials.
Roder, David, and Spielman, Fran. “Condo, town houses planned near Cabrini-Green.” Chicago Sun Times. 30 May 2002.
The Crossroads development has dominated the local conversation in Mahwah for the past 9 months. Over the past few years, the Crossroads Developers had put forth various proposals for development of the site, only to have them rejected by the Mahwah Township Council. This past March, the Developer once again came to the Council in order to ask that their property be rezoned from office use to mixed-use/retail to allow for the construction of a complex of retail stores, restaurants, a movie theater, hotel and office space. Over 400 residents attended the March 31 meeting to express their opposition to the development. This unprecedented turnout by Mahwah residents, unlike any the Council had seen before, should have been enough for the Council to realize that a decision to rezone the property may not be in the best interests of Mahwah residents. Instead, the Council voted 4-2 to allow for the property to be rezoned.
Lately I have noticed numerous abandoned buildings around the Battle Creek area; the sight makes our city look run down and cheap. I believe something must be done about this issue such as turning the buildings into new city attractions. Two vacant buildings that come to mind are the run down State Police Station and the dilapidated Family Fare store.
In conducting this assignment we visited the neighborhood of Washington Heights. During our visits we interviewed several of the residences; so that we could get a first hand prospective of what it is like living in the community, why they settled in the community and the many changes that they have witness durning their time in the neighborhood.
An aging population, a younger generation who prefer walkable places, economic shifts, and the environmental impacts of suburban development are all contributing factors” (Beatz 141). Reshaping Metropolitan America gives an argument, as well as a blueprint, on how we can transform our infrastructure and housing demands by 2030.
In recent years, the shameful subject of elder abuse has gained more awareness among community members. In particular, the complexity of elder financial abuse often makes manipulative dealings by fraudsters difficult to identify and separate from actual permissive transactions made by older victims. The result is that these cases are very rarely prosecuted and many other undetected cases continue to fall far below the radar of society. The consequences of financial exploitation of older adults are reaching far beyond the immediate distress of financial depletion. Victims may also experience declines in physical and mental health as well as the risk of a decrease in life expectancy (Kemp & Mosqueda, 2005). The purpose of the following studies is to address the issue of financial exploitation of elder adults through the means of intervention, prosecution, prevention, and correlation between different forms of abuse.
West Philadelphia Landscape project has worked with the community for over twenty-five years to restore nature and rebuild the neighborhood through design, strategic planning and educational projects. They have worked in the Mill Creek neighborhood since 1987 and use their experiences to demonstrate how the human population can live healthier, more economic lives. The aim of the project is to make the Philadelphia community more sustainable, with the proposal to manage the area of Mill Creek in a way that would improve the local water quality. The project utilizes landscape literacy as a means to preserve the environment and develop community relations. During the twenty-five years that the project has been running, hundreds of citizens, students and even government officials have taken part in the project in an approach to restore the environment and make the community more sustainable.
A new phenomenon happening in our city is the rebirth of many of our older and rundown areas. One of the best examples of this is the "Soulard" area of town, which now has an established nightlife as well as exquisite historical antique homes. Lafayette Square has also enjoyed the same type of success as Soulard. It is still in the middle of a high crime area, but is populated by upper-class people with beautiful homes with elaborate wrought iron fences and intricate security systems. This trend of fixing up old flats is spreading out from the areas of Soulard and Lafayette Square to neighboring communities at a rapid pace. The Compton Heights area is coming back with rebuilt old Victorian styled houses and private gated streets that contrast the French styled flats of Soulard. The Shaw and Tower Grove area are also following the lead of revitalization similar to these charming old neighborhoods.
Glenn, Stacia. "Youths Push for New Park." Student Research Center. N.p., 22 Aug. 2006. Web. 6 Dec. 2013.
"Building Partnerships to Revitalize America's Neighborhoods." HBCU Central (Winter 2002): 1-6. Winter 2002. Web. 2 May 2012.
Within the next 20 years the population of older adults will likely outnumber the population of children in this country. The combination of this swiftly increasing population and the latest assessments of the increasing rate of established cases of elder abuse suggest that the issue of elder abuse will continue to grow without significant means for deterrence and intermediation. Due to age-related declines in cognitive functioning and other vulnerabilities such as difficulties with mobility, isolation, medication, and dependence, older adults are uniquely attractive to criminal predators (Lindberg, Sabatino, & Blancato, 2011). Elder financial exploitation is an especially cumbersome matter to address because of difficulties in identifying complex financial transactions as unauthorized (Greenlee, 2012). According to the MetLife Mature Market Institute (2011) the estimated national cost of financial exploitation of older adults was around $2.9 billion in 2009. Additionally, there are many forensic challenges to identifying and prosecuting cases of elder abuse or neglect in terms of mental and physical competence and the ability to give consent (Greenlee, 2012). There are insufficient programs to address the distinct problems of older victims and essentially “Elder abuse is robbing older adults of their safety, their health, and their financial resources” (Greenlee, 2012, p. 7).
Con artists are everywhere. They seem to sense when other are vulnerable, such as older people. Our elderly come from a time when people believed others. They truth their neighbors and friends. If they say they will do something, they mean they will do it. Our elderly are simply too trusting. It is hard for them to look another person in the eye and lie. It is hard for them to take something that does not belong to them. Unfortunately, the con artist does not have a problem with either lying to people or stealing from them. He has his chosen profession down to the art he has practiced. He is good at what he does because he works at being good at it. The con artist is an actor. He should win an Oscar for his performances. He is able to change personalities like a chameleon changes colors. The con artist can be anything he needs to be for whatever “job” he is working on at the time. He usually is a very likable person who is able to blend in with others on any occasion or any given situation. Sadly, if these swindlers had chosen to work an honest job, they probably would have been very good at what they did. It requires more planning and convincing to rip people off than it takes to work at a legitimate career.
One obvious thing that I know about the neighborhood when I am walking down the street or walking into businesses is the environmental condition which is poverty. This is Soundview, the South Bronx and while some areas are taken care of in comparison to others you cannot deny the need this neighborhood is experiencing. Passing housing buildings that are not taken care of, have a high rate of drugs, and no stranger to multiple crimes a day offers insight into what needs to be changed. According to
America's older population is growing at an alarming rate. Statistical evidence indicates growth amongst the very late adulthood age group. For instance, the CB (2011) found that, between 1960 and 1994, the population group 85 and older had risen by 274 percent in contrast to the general elderly population that rose to 100 percent. The upsurge of the elderly population could potentially escalate occurrences of ageism and abuse within the cohort. Greenlee (2012) states “silently under this data sits another truth: increased older people equals more elder abuse” (p. 6).