Graffiti in Royal Oak - Concern for Property Values and Increased Crime

My Letter to the commission. If you are also concerned please contact the city as well.

http://www.ci.royal-oak.mi.us/portal/contact

Dear Commission,    

I am writing you all, to voice my concern over the recent string of Graffiti vandalism that seems to be popping up all across the city. If you have not noticed, you could easily drive up and down Washington, Main, 4thStreet, and 11 mile roads and see multiple points of vandalism. This is all very visible to anybody visiting our city.

I understand that it is in all of our best interests that we have a low crime and high property values. In order to have this we need to have a high quality brand. Intuitively one would infer what graffiti will do to a cities property values and what affect it has on crime or our brand. In the reports (links) below it suggests that Graffiti can reduce the nearby proper values by 15-25% and serve as a catalyst to perpetuate crime.

As a city and a community we need to rectify this immediately before things start to get out of control, and Royal Oak loses all the momentum we have developed as of late.

Again, I encourage you to investigate strategically placed cameras to catch these vandals and deter any further degradation to the city’s image. However, I understand if you ever consider this at all it would take quite some time to implement.

In the mean time I hope that you can work to have this vandalism cleaned up immediately. If we don’t address this now, it will only get much worse in a hurry, and it will only catalyze the increase in petty crime that is usually associated with spring and summer months.

I understand the city and downtown authority are very concerned with our “brand”. There is nothing more that hurts our “brand” than the perceptions that Royal Oak is a littered, vandalized, high crime area. The figures may suggest a downward trend in crime, but if people see litter and graffiti at every turn it won’t matter. Then it’s only a matter of time before people start fleeing the city rather than flocking to it.

Thank you again for your attention.

http://www.livescience.com/7599-graffiti-triggers-crime-littering.html

http://www.ncpc.org/programs/catalyst-newsletter/catalyst-newsletter/archives/february-2005-catalyst/graffiti-facts-and-figures

http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4578332_graffiti-affect-property-value.html