This letter is in response to Jim Violette’s column in the Oct. 4 American Journal. Westbrook may be a good future home for businesses, but as a longtime resident of Westbrook, I would not recommend it for anything else.
Has anyone seen their property taxes reduced because all the new businesses? My husband and I both grew up here and we wanted to raise our daughter here. We live in the neighborhood that Mr. Violette says he and his family outgrew. In the 20 years that we have lived in this area, we have seen our neighborhood steadily deteriorate. Homeowners are being sacrificed on the altar of the revitalization plan.
In an attempt to get out before it’s too late, families are trying to sell their homes and if that fails they put their house out to rent. Then the once-cared-for homes are neglected by renters, who have no stake in the neighborhood. In the middle of the night we get woken up by loud, cursing drunks. Trash and alcohol containers are thrown everywhere. In the past month our property, as well as our neighbor’s, has been vandalized several times. To deter these night-time vandals we installed a sensor light, only to have the window in our shed broken in broad daylight by two young men who had nothing better to do on a beautiful fall afternoon.
Houses are being built in the back yards of homes and rental and subsidized units are springing up everywhere. For those who live outside the city, or escaped in time, like Jim and his family, it doesn’t really matter, but I welcome you to take a drive or walk through my neighborhood.
In trying to decide whether to send this letter, an incident occurred just this morning between midnight and 1 a.m.. A speeding cruiser screeched to a stop just one house from ours. The next thing we heard was an officer yelling, “Get on the ground, get on the ground.” More cruisers came and went, officers with flashlights looked for the perpetrator(s) in back yards and we spent the next hour or so awake and wondering if our home would be broken into in their attempt to escape.
This is my home Jim. Glad yours is better.
Ida Bilodeau
Westbrook
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