Life in Lansing (MI) : Going to my first neighborhood association meeting at Averill Woods

Does your neighborhood have an association? 

Ours does--Averill Woods Neighborhood Association--and so do many of the neighborhoods here in Michigan's Capital City--Lansing.  We went to our first meeting last night of the association in the area where we have lived for the past eight years.

It was held under the overhang at a neighborhood school--Averill Woods Elementary--with maybe 30 people attending.  This included a local school board member, two city council members, three police officers, including the command officer for our area, and representatives from other neighborhoods.

There were two main items on the agenda for discussion:  Construction of a cellphone tower by Alltel in the neighborhood and crime and rowdyness at the Averill School playground and parking lot during the summer, especially late in the evening.

The cellphone issue revolved around aesthetics for the neighborhood and the potential for kids to climb the unguarded tower.

The most troublesome issue revolved around use of the schools playground by teenagers who smoke dope, drink, have sex, urinate in public and just generally act rowdy.  There were also comments about use of the school parking lot as a gathering spot for more kids who were disturbing nearby neighbors.

I think the meeting was helpful and my wife and I will go back again, I'm sure.  It was grassroots at its best.  Too bad there weren't more people there.

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