Kingswood Parke, Countryside, and Sundial, do any of these names sound familiar to you? How about West Pointe, Greenway Parc, or even Ashton Ranch? These are just some of the communities in which so many of us here at Dysart live. The problem is that so many people are taking a lackadaisical attitude to how they treat them.

Within the last 10 years, many housing developments have sprung up between Surprise and El Mirage. These are master planned communities from some of the nation’s top homebuilders. Our neighborhoods are dotted with parks and our homes are designed uniquely compared to many other places throughout the country. So why are our neighborhoods getting trashed and why are so many only adding to the problem?

One of the first problems in our neighborhoods is littering. It doesn’t have to be blatantly visible to be wrong; it just simply has to be where it shouldn’t be. One person who knows very well about this is Candice Eaton of Surprise. Candice owns a home in Countryside at the 154th Ave. and Acoma Drive bus stop. Ever since the home was purchased, Eaton has noticed trash in her yard that is continuously left there by students at the bus stop and they’re all Dysart students. “I see them do it every day,” stated Dysart Junior, Tanya George, whose bus stop is outside of Eaton’s home.

According to Eaton, she has gone and picked up trash out of her yard before, but she was never able to catch anyone in the act. “The neighbor’s do their part to keep up, I know it’s the kids,” stated Eaton on a recent interview at her home.

Problems in the neighborhoods extend beyond just having trash on the ground. When someone is going to the extent of vandalizing public and private property, we have a huge problem. Every homeowner’s association has their rules for a reason. Jim Mowery of Jomar Association Services stated, “These rules are enforced to maintain property value. Think about it, you wouldn’t want to live in a neighborhood with trash everywhere and ratty old cars up on the lawn”. If you were to try and picture the type of neighborhood he described, you would probably end up picturing something that’s nothing at all like the communities throughout Surprise and El Mirage. Yet, in reality there are people around here that are treating the communities as if they were the ghetto. The vandalism ranges from minor destruction in common areas, to major destruction of resident’s personal property and “careless” teenagers are getting blamed. But people wouldn’t blame us unless they had a reason. A recent letter in the Surprise Independent talked about a Kingswood Parke resident whose truck was so badly vandalized that he was persuaded to install security cameras in his yard to try to catch the culprits and ensure that that sort of thing never happened again. He ranted in his letter about how this sort of action would not be tolerated. A week later another letter was written to the Surprise Independent implying that the vandalism is being tolerated, and how when the Surprise police were called about neighborhood teenagers spraying graffiti on a sidewalk, no one showed up. The graffiti is not just a mere result of vandalism; it is involved with gang related tagging as well.

Kingswood Parke is a great example of the reckless vandalism occurring in the valley. Recently, Kingswood Parke spent thousands of dollars to put in a new basketball court with fences, lights, etc. Two days after construction was finished, someone vandalized the common area where the new court was located, wrecking fences, busting out lights, and tearing up hoops.

The vandalism also has spread to neighborhoods such as Countryside and West Pointe, in which the monument signs at the entrances of the subdivisions have been repeatedly damaged. Patty Garman, Senior Property Manager for City Property Management Company stated, “For instance, one letter on a monument sign costs upwards around $300. West Pointe alone has had to repair letters six times in the last four months”.

This sort of behavior in our neighborhoods has led to residents in many communities setting up block watches in order to stop the vandalism, or to completely prevent it from happening. But there is no such luck. Not all neighborhoods have the much needed block watches. Plus it is so hard to catch someone in the act of vandalism because many commit the act in places that are “more or less” out of sight where they wont easily be seen. According to Officer Mark Ortega of the Surprise Police Department, the vandalism is carried out this way because it is a “cowardly” act and teenagers don’t want to get caught, even though they think they’re being big and bad.

Aside from a neighborhood block watch, what is actually being done about the problem? It was hard to get an answer. In order to make a difference, residents need to start taking a part in prevention. According to Jennifer Rewerts who works with the communities of Ashton ranch and Mountain Vista Ranch, some residents are starting to volunteer just to tackle the litter problems. At a recent homeowner’s association meeting for Ashton Ranch, a homeowner suggested a clean-up day. At the moment, the plan is still in the works. If made into a reality, residents of Ashton ranch who volunteer will devote a day to clean up neighborhood parks and streets.

When asked if she would ever take a part in a volunteer group to help out in her neighborhood, Dysart Sophomore, Afton Ellis stated, “Probably. Because it would count as community service and that looks good for college. Plus, I want to have a nice community. I don’t want to tell people I live in Ashton Ranch and be all like, don’t tell anybody”. Yes community service looks good for college, but her statement makes a good point. We should all have the ability to take pride in our community.

Are residents in Surprise and El Mirage willing to get involved and work to make the best of our communities? Hopefully they will because there are many opportunities that residents and teens have. In the long run, it makes things better not just for ourselves, but for everyone else as well.