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Current time: Sep 08, 2010 5:51 am |
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 Posted: Jul 12, 2009 8:01 am Post subject: Washington Post negative comment about Huntington |
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MichaelA
Joined: 03 Apr 2006
Posts: 10
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On July 5, the Post ran an article that asked if Fairfax County should become a city rather than a county. The article said that Fairfax is a rich county with a few blighted areas like Huntington and Kings Park. This was an unfair slap. Kings Park wrote back.
Letter to the editors of the Post:
Kings Park Is Just Fine
Sunday, July 12, 2009
The July 5 front-page story "To Be or Not to Be Fairfax County?" said: "Old neighborhoods such as Kings Park along Braddock Road or Huntington along Route 1 have been struggling with decline. Unkempt rented homes and falling property values dot these landscapes."
I object to that characterization of Kings Park. Just because the homes are around 50 years old doesn't mean that people here don't care about the neighborhood and are letting it decay. To the contrary, residents are clearly involved.
The Kings Park Civic Association organizes many events throughout the year and works closely with the police department in our Neighborhood Watch program. Our recent Fourth of July parade was well attended and concluded with a lovely concert by our Kings Park Concert Band. More than 500 people turned out for our annual spring potluck this year.
Yes, a handful of folks need to take better care of their homes, but any drive through Kings Park will show that the vast majority of residents take care of their properties. Moreover, my fiance and I spend hundreds of hours (and dollars) mowing, trimming, mulching and planting, and I defy you to look at our place and be able to tell whether we own it or not. The article's inference that all renters are slovenly was uncalled for.
JOHN FIGLEAR
Springfield
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MichaelA |
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| Posted: Nov 29, 2009 10:08 am Post subject: |
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HuntingtonRay
Site Admin
Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 54
Location: Fifer Drive
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My experience is that part of the problem in Huntington is Fairfax County itself due to its lax enforcement.
A slumlord who owns three rentals on my street bought a fourth a few years back. While working outside readying the house for rental, I went up and asked if business was good since he found enough money to purchase another house. He said no; he had sold a house in Del Ray, City of Alexandria. He complained that due to the city's constant stream of citations for property maintenance issued to him, he decided to sell and bought another house in Fairfax County with the money. He mentioned broken glass in window, falling fence, and paint. He thought that since he did not break the fence, he should not be responsible for repairing it.
The message I took away was that the City of Alexandria enforces property maintenance regulations, but Fairfax County does not, and therefore is a safe haven for slumlords.
On my street, we have two houses with illegal apartments in basements; more than one family living in a single family house. Each house generates several cans of trash each week, and due to the excessive number of cars for the extra families, is now starting to create a shortage of street parking. If this problem is multiplied, it could be one cause for the overcrowding in our schools, and why the school district population forecasts have been so far off.
Poor county enforcement of regulations in Huntington only reinforces the degradation of our neighborhood, and probably other neighborhoods as well. This encourages good residents to move out, and discourages good residents from moving in. |
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| Posted: Dec 03, 2009 10:14 am Post subject: |
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jason4424
Joined: 19 Mar 2007
Posts: 7
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| HuntingtonRay wrote: | My experience is that part of the problem in Huntington is Fairfax County itself due to its lax enforcement.
A slumlord who owns three rentals on my street bought a fourth a few years back. While working outside readying the house for rental, I went up and asked if business was good since he found enough money to purchase another house. He said no; he had sold a house in Del Ray, City of Alexandria. He complained that due to the city's constant stream of citations for property maintenance issued to him, he decided to sell and bought another house in Fairfax County with the money. He mentioned broken glass in window, falling fence, and paint. He thought that since he did not break the fence, he should not be responsible for repairing it.
The message I took away was that the City of Alexandria enforces property maintenance regulations, but Fairfax County does not, and therefore is a safe haven for slumlords.
On my street, we have two houses with illegal apartments in basements; more than one family living in a single family house. Each house generates several cans of trash each week, and due to the excessive number of cars for the extra families, is now starting to create a shortage of street parking. If this problem is multiplied, it could be one cause for the overcrowding in our schools, and why the school district population forecasts have been so far off.
Poor county enforcement of regulations in Huntington only reinforces the degradation of our neighborhood, and probably other neighborhoods as well. This encourages good residents to move out, and discourages good residents from moving in. |
I'd be willing to bet that all the County cares about at this point when it comes to Huntington is that it doesn't flood again any time soon. Other than that, they're not about to expend additional resources to enforce such codes. Throw in the down economy, and they're definitely not. Of course, they likely wouldn't do it in good economic times either, so that would be just a convenient excuse. |
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