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East Brown Acres is a model of revitalization

By Times editorial
Published September 10, 2006

It's an impressive list of upgrades: 14 paved roads, 51 streetlights and eight sets of speed bumps.

More importantly, 40 people got help buying homes and 33 received loans to do renovate their houses.

There is no park nor sidewalks, but the improvements at East Brown Acres in western Pasco County provides a template for increasing home ownership amid the west side's aging neighborhoods.

There is still one more statistic that should give pause to county commissioners, who, five years ago, questioned the finances if not the wisdom of a larger-scale redevelopment of the Tommytown area just outside Dade City.

One of their biggest concerns: How do you measure effectiveness?

Boosting homeownership is an obvious way to increase neighborhood investment, maintain a tax base and ensure vacant property doesn't slide into disrepair.

But, Times staff writer David DeCamp helped provide more tangible evidence by reviewing Sheriff's Office statistics for East Brown Acres from 2003 and 2005.

He reported disturbance calls were down 22 percent to 201; criminal mischief complaints were cut in half to 17; reports of assaults and batteries dropped 45 percent to 33; and burglaries dropped 17 percent to 28.

Put another way: East Brown Acres is a safer place to be. The drop in police reports is attributable to the corresponding rise in homeownership. When the county started the East Brown Acres effort in 2002, only half of the 290 homes were owner occupied. It is now up to 75 percent, significantly closer to the rest of the county where owners occupy four of every five homes.

East Brown Acres, north of Ranch Road and east of U.S. 19, is the first west Pasco neighborhood targeted by a county-led residential development. The nearly $3-million refurbishing is winding down with a neighborhood cleanup planned before the county officially ends the target area designation by the end of the year.

East Brown Acres and many of west Pasco's neighborhoods were developed in the 1960s and '70s to lure northern retirees. But, today those modest, concrete block two-bedroom homes are often occupied by younger families with school-age children. The area's median age dropped 15 years during the 1990s while the number of preschool children jumped 60 percent.

Making sure the aging neighborhoods remain viable as affordable housing options is the aim of the redevelopment. The unattractive alternative is the rapid decline of empty houses into health and public safety hazards leading to suburban slums.

One East Brown Acres woman suggested a simple improvement of simply picking up the unread newspapers tossed twice a week on each driveway. It's a modest step, but indicative of neighbors who want to keep their area looking orderly.

Other people offered differing opinions. Certainly, there is justifiable disappointment at the failure to acquire park land. Still, residents should take a larger view of East Brown Acres. Their neighborhood today is a significantly better place to live than it was three years ago.

Pasco County shouldn't hesitate to repeat this effort at other west side locations.

[Last modified September 10, 2006, 06:43:54]