On Friday Waterbury began to tackle a dangerous problem in a unique way. It started to fight blight with a new campaign, to show the community these eyesores won’t be tolerated.
The boarded up homes have plagued Waterbury for decades, and neighbors have had enough.
”You know it does not look good for the area,” said Carmen Randall.
The abandoned properties have been dangerous too. They’ve become a magnet for criminal activity and the homeless.
“It makes you want to move away from this place,” said Suvalu Jones.
The city created a Blight Task Force earlier this year, and it has already torn down several hazards, and tracked down landlords to force them to clean up.
“We mean business in this blight effort,” said Lt. Dan Lauer with the Blight Task Force.
Local
Now it has gone a step further, and made a new campaign called “Fight the Blight Day and Night.” Local students designed the slogan that aims to transform this place.
“The youth of our city need to be involved they're going to shape the future they need to understand what were' doing in cleaning up the city,” Lauer explained
In just a few weeks the slogan should get posted across Waterbury. People will see it on billboards and city buses. The goal is to show this community the city won’t accept blight anymore.
“We want people to be involved they need to be involved to make it a success,” Lauer explained. He added that involvement will help neighbors learn how to keep their properties clean and set an example for what the city should look like.
“By getting it out there and cleaning it up, it’s going to attract more business more visitors to the city,” Lauer said.
Now, with the public's involvement, the city will thrive and become a safer place to live.
