There is a principle in policing known as 'broken windows' where it is a matter of policy that if a window is broken it gets fixed. A building gets tagged, it gets fresh paint. This discourages crime and the results of such policies are well documented. It is one of the reasons you feel safe in parts of large cities like New York. Thirty years ago this was not the case.
Now look at the situation at the top of Rockfish Gap. Burned out motel units with the plate glass long broken out leer ominously from the edge of what is a popular parking spot for hikers.
Lynn and I have written repeatedly about the condition of things up there and we even have a realistic vision for What Could Be [click to read].
A recent letter writer to the Staunton newspaper laments the decaying Afton complex but it is but one more in a long line of such laments. My hope is that somehow a group of private investors will partner with, do a land swap or buy the project outright from the present owner. Sadly the present owner seems to have little interest in doing anything beyond what necessity forces him to do.
My Jeffersonian ideals want this to be one of those good ideas that happens because the private sector makes it happen. Unfortunately, I think the 'potential hazard' case has become too big to ignore. The fact that something horrible hasn't happened there already should not lull anyone into complacency. Thus I would welcome some sort of 'official' intervention as a last resort.
More on the Concept of 'Broken Windows' [click to read].
Village at Afton Facebook Page [click to read].
Burned out motel units are open to the elements and potential intruders.
