http://www.myfoxdetroit.com...cement-20110304-wpmsSouthfield Officials Defend Blight Enforcement
Updated: Friday, 04 Mar 2011, 9:33 PM EST
Published : Friday, 04 Mar 2011, 9:33 PM EST
By COREY WILLIAMS
Associated Press
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (AP) - Officials in Southfield, an inner-ring suburb just north of Detroit, on Friday defended their aggressive blight enforcement as a way to maintain neighborhoods as the city works through the national foreclosure crisis that has caused home values to plummet.
Those actions, which include tickets and fines for residents violating municipal codes, are not intended to make newcomers to Southfield feel unwanted or unwelcome, Mayor Brenda Lawrence told reporters at City Hall.
The media briefing was called in response to a recent Associated Press report on how the housing market collapse has put home prices and rents in Southfield within reach of lower-income families and individuals who -- before the economic downturn -- may not have been able to afford living in the largely middle class community.
Some longtime black Southfield residents complain that some newcomers from Detroit don't keep their property up, allow their children and teens to walk city streets at all hours, and occasionally block traffic in neighborhoods by walking in the middle of streets or stopping their cars to chat.
That behavior often is linked to large, mostly black urban areas, like Detroit.
Lawrence said Southfield is color-blind when it comes to who lives there.
"We are a city that embraces everyone," she said. "We don't care where you're moving from into our city. We don't care about your ethnicity. What's important is that you are a resident of our great city.
"But once you move into the city of Southfield there are high standards and expectations. We're very proud of our standards, and we work very hard on a collective level in this city to enforce those standards. It's not about the color of your skin when you move in the city of Southfield. It's about being a good neighbor."
Neighborhood associations in Southfield are frequently updated and educated on codes, Lawrence added.
Residents also are encouraged to call and report "anything that they see in their community that does not meet the standard," she said.
The city practices community policing which solves "social ills before they become law enforcement incidents," Southfield Police Chief Joseph Thomas said Friday.
That includes attacking "nuisance-type activities," he added.
"That is -- playing basketball in the street," Thomas said. "We don't care who you are. Walking the streets and won't let people pass. We don't care who you are. We ask you not to park your car in the street. We ask you not to repair your car in your driveway."
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