Enlightened neighborhoods
Pilot program for LED streeetlights initiated by the FLOC Homies Union could now benefit all of Toledo.
The Editorial Board
Wed, 22 Jan 2020 05:00:00 GMT
link -- with images
A little bit of light can do a lot of good, it seems.
Toledoans have complained for years about broken and missing streetlights and usually gotten no satisfaction for their effort.
Then, in 2017, a pilot program initiated by the FLOC Homies Union in the Old South End resulted in the replacement of 200 old, conventional high-pressure sodium lamps with new and improved LED lights. The new lights — brighter than traditional lights, longer lasting, more energy efficient, and better for the environment — did wonders for the up-and-coming neighborhood.
The streets were illuminated and looked better, and neighbors felt safer. And neighbors were safer. The lights were credited with a drop in crime overall and a nearly 25 percent drop in major crime in that neighborhood in one year.
So now the Kapszukiewicz administration is following through on a pledge to replace all the city’s conventional streetlights with LEDs, beginning in the central city and East Toledo — neighborhoods that could use the same boost that benefited the Old South End.
Officials expect the conversion will cost about $5.8 million, down from an initial estimate of $9.6 million that changed when the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio in December dropped the replacement cost per fixture from $344 to $207.
It may not be easy, but it isn’t complicated. Projects that improve livability in a city’s neighborhoods are often like that. Consider the impact of well-maintained sidewalks and clean alleys, of city-owned parcels where the snow is regularly cleared in the winter and the grass is regularly cut in the summer.
Also a lesson from the streetlight improvements: There is tremendous value in supporting neighborhood groups already doing much of the heavy lifting to maintain and lift up their communities. The Junction Coalition, as well as similar groups in the Old South End, have been active in prioritizing problems in their neighborhoods and coming up with solutions.
Neighborhood associations citywide are eager to partner with the administration to clean up and protect their neighborhoods. Too often they don’t get the support they need. When neighborhood groups call for help cleaning up trash, the city must call them back. When residents complain about neglected properties, Toledo should send a code-enforcement officer. When residents invested in their neighborhoods point out a problem and offer a solution, city officials must listen.
Toledo’s continued revival hinges on whether the redevelopment blossoming downtown and along the river spreads outward through the residential neighborhoods — particularly long-neglected areas. Toledo’s future is in those neighborhoods.