Recently an article appeared in The Bradenton Herald about the Holiday Heights neighborhood and how the residents there joined together to clean up and revive their community. The subdivision of Holiday Heights is located west of 18th St W and east of 25th St W, between 53rd Ave W and Cortez Road in Bradenton Florida. The neighborhood grew in the 1950s and 1960s with the building of single family homes, and in the 1970s when the housing market slowed some developers also started to build duplexes. Even though renters came into the community then, it was still neat and clean in appearance, as the duplex owners generally lived in one side of the duplexes keeping the properties well maintained. As owners aged and moved out or passed away, many of their properties were passed on to investors who were not as diligent and the neighborhood started to become a little run down. Recently the foreclosure crises left the subdivision with several vacant, foreclosed homes which led to over-grown yards and deteriorating exteriors.
To combat the effects of the foreclosure crisis, the residents revived the Holiday Heights Neighborhood Association and banded together to stop the decline. They organized several events and activities such as monthly meetings, community yard sales and hot dog block parties to bring back the sense of community among the residents. In an effort to revitalize the neighborhood, Manatee County Commissioner Ron Getman and Commission candidate Norm Luppino suggested they re-establish a Home Beautiful Campaign. Homeowners in the community would compete by keeping their yards clean, free of debris, trimming their landscape and keeping their yard and home in good condition. Judges from outside the subdivision choose a monthly winner who will get a sign posted in their yard declaring it the Home Beautiful of the Month and winning residents receive a gift card from a Home Improvement store.
The work of the Neighborhood Association and the Home Beautiful Campaign have already garnered results as the residents are seeing great changes in the neighborhood. As their Bradenton neighborhood cleans up, the residents are once more proud of their community and it is again becoming a desirable place to live.
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