Sometimes I wonder about the attention span of homeowners, no matter what their age group. I live on the outer ring of Detroit suburbia, and any veteran of that area will tell you that more houses should be declared "condemned" than there already are. Lawn maintenance is one thing, but when you have shutters falling off the windows, gutters & downspouts draining nothing, shingles out of place, porch foundations crumbling (I can attest), and paint peeling from every visible spot, this points out the homeowner who doesn't take pride in what they own.
Outdoor decorations make me wonder further about their priorities. Coming home from work tonight, I saw a huge light display on top of a 60-foot tree outlining a ghost in orange. Never saw anything like it before, and it was easy to mistake for Christmas lights. But then you look at the house, as I've seen it during the day, and what's special about it? Nothing much.
This harkens all the way back at least fifteen years. The houses in my parents' subdivision were barely ten years old, but one house stood out as an eyesore. No maintenance work had been done on it since the people moved in. Never mind the underwear on the floor, the graffiti written through the dust on the garage door - we tried in vain to get these people out, or to get the city involved. Nothing was done for all those painful years.
All of a sudden, one Christmas, voila: a rather elaborate light display complete with all those cluttering lawn displays of reindeer. These people took no pride in their house, but they painstakingly made sure that their optional display looked perfect?
First off, I do believe in freedom of expression. As long as displays conform with code, you should be able to celebrate holidays as you want. I also understand that some residents are elderly or disabled, and may not have immediate help nearby with family, friends, or other handyman contacts. But the people cited above had no medical issues & had kids running around all over the place.
It must have taken them hours to put together all the display pieces. Couldn't a similiar amount of time have been used to actually spruce up the property and keep the city out of their hair? Painting the gutters, for instance, may have taken one afternoon, but that would have been a start.
Lining a property with colorful, flashing lights may dazzle, but they do not increase the property worth. Regular home maintenance does. Would you not go through with minor repairs if it would impact neighboring property values in a positive way?
I'll be watching this Christmas: Betcha not one reindeer or tin soldier will be out of place.
