New Iberia tackles blight in neighborhoods
NEW IBERIA, La. (KLFY)- Delores Lewis is renovating a blighted property in New Iberia. The lot across the street from her home is abandoned, and the grass is as tall as her.
“People can be hiding in there. That is very scary for a woman that is single and by herself,” Lewis said.
Lewis says while it is frustrating to see high grass and abandoned homes around her, she loves her neighborhood. She says people who live here take pride in their neighborhood too.
“I think the neighborhood is really nice and it’s comfortable. It’s friendly, real nice people, family friends, relatives,” Ava Johnson, a nearby resident, said.
New Iberia City Councilwoman Sherry Guidry of District 5 started Project Front Yard to inspire residents and stress the importance of keeping up with properties.
“The mayor is doing a great job bringing developers to this city, and we have to do our part internally within our neighborhoods,” Guidry said.
Guidry says crime is down, thanks to the Neighborhood Watch Program. She says now the community can focus on other things like blight.
“Now is the time to come together, to build together and just live together in peace and harmony, and at the same time clean up, build up and maintain what we have already,” Guidry said.