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<DIV>I have to agree with Danielle regarding the</DIV>
<DIV>looks of our town & area along the </DIV>
<DIV>highways. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>My customers over the years have </DIV>
<DIV>commented on the vacant buildings & have</DIV>
<DIV>said many times - if you want to draw </DIV>
<DIV>business & tenants to the Town Center </DIV>
<DIV>you have to clean up the town & highways -</DIV>
<DIV>they have said Riverdale has so much</DIV>
<DIV>potential BUT nothing is going to advance</DIV>
<DIV>if we do not clean up and make the place</DIV>
<DIV>look great - keeping grass cut, trees </DIV>
<DIV>trimmed, planting lots of flowers & </DIV>
<DIV>small evergreen winter time plants to </DIV>
<DIV>keep the gardens up and watering them</DIV>
<DIV>regularly, fixing the sidewalks, curbs, fixing the</DIV>
<DIV>concrete waterway down 410, would be a</DIV>
<DIV>great start.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I think giving tax breaks to homeowners &</DIV>
<DIV>landlords to keep up the properties, tax </DIV>
<DIV>breaks for landscaping some & keeping it </DIV>
<DIV>up - is an excellent idea. I have been to </DIV>
<DIV>Germany at least 3 times, that countryside</DIV>
<DIV>is soooo clean & beautiful. All the little towns</DIV>
<DIV>are clean (buldings, houses, yards, roads etc)</DIV>
<DIV>because they get special tax breaks for keeping</DIV>
<DIV>properties up, making repairs immediately, </DIV>
<DIV>keeping all their flowers, yard gardens, window</DIV>
<DIV>boxes, lamp posts etc with regularly watered</DIV>
<DIV>flowering plants. You can tell they take PRIDE</DIV>
<DIV>in their towns. It is such a pleasure to visit</DIV>
<DIV>Germany.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>We are a town right outside our Nations Capitol</DIV>
<DIV>and we are a town of wonderful HISTORY. We</DIV>
<DIV>should be valuing this and making it priority. </DIV>
<DIV>When potential businesses see how beautiful we</DIV>
<DIV>keep our town, they will come here to fill our </DIV>
<DIV>buildings. Outsiders do not want to see a town</DIV>
<DIV>arguing about whether or not to put money into</DIV>
<DIV>ourselves, money into showing our history etc.</DIV>
<DIV>They want to see/know we are serious & will </DIV>
<DIV>follow thru & keep this town & our whole area </DIV>
<DIV>cleaned up all the time & beautiful.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Over the years I have had my shop in our Town</DIV>
<DIV>Center - if I could have had a tape recorder so </DIV>
<DIV>you could hear what my customers from all </DIV>
<DIV>around the beltway say about our Town Center</DIV>
<DIV>& town - It has ambiance (sp), history, cute, </DIV>
<DIV>quaint, parking, BUT when they approach us we</DIV>
<DIV>look depressed - not inviting - etc. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Outsiders say we have great potential which makes</DIV>
<DIV>me feel proud BUT then they say their comments</DIV>
<DIV>and I have to agree. I have lived here 40 plus yrs</DIV>
<DIV>& NOW IS THE TIME TO CHANGE OUR </DIV>
<DIV>WAY OF LOOKING AT OUR AREA & DO THE </DIV>
<DIV>WORK THAT WILL MAKE US STAND OUT IN</DIV>
<DIV>A POSITIVE WAY. Spend the money & clean</DIV>
<DIV>up. Stop hasseling. Maybe if we clean up - we</DIV>
<DIV>could find some volunteers to become dedicated</DIV>
<DIV>& help and work together with the paid help.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Emily</DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">See what's free at <A title="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" href="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" target="_blank">AOL.com</A>. </FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>