I was delighted to find that the City Council passed the ordinance to help put “teeth” in the laws for those of us who want our community to look it’s best. I have been tired for a very long time of driving daily past houses upon houses that are in minimal condition at best. I could never understand why people would want to own so many residential homes and commercial buildings and not take an active effort in improving and maintaining them.
I’ve always been of the mindset that if you take care of anything you own, it will take care of you. Just these past several years, I have been on a burn to get my office building finished because I don’t like it not being presentable. I do try to make time each day to do at least something to improve it. Hopefully this year before the snow flies again, my historic downtown Mason City building will be finished. When working on it, it has crossed my mind of how many interesting stories my 1882 building could tell if only it could speak. In our time, it seems most people want bigger, newer, and better. Well, if only the general population of North Iowa would look at some of the well constructed but a little dilapidated homes and commercial buildings that are standing and waiting for someone to see the real opportunities that exist in them, our city would have a Renaissance. I had a conversation today with a person who has been keeping a keen eye on what has been happening in the 200 Block of North Federal. It seems this person considers me to be the anchor of the north end of the Central Business District. I asked why and the answer was, “Haven’t you noticed all the people looking in as they drive by?”
Let’s all start moving to get our downtown blooming!
