Stay ACTIVE in Your Neighborhood Watch

Most folks prefer to live somewhere where neighbors are looking out for one another. I feel like Cedar Pointe is DEFINITELY such a neighborhood, otherwise I wouldn't choose to live here myself. However it's not perfect and there is always room for improvement.

 

Imagine one of your neighbors sees someone carrying a new flat screen out of your apartment. Well you don't know your neighbor and he or she doesn't know you. Therefore when they see an actual crime taking place, they aren't aware of an issue and don't report it. Consider how quickly that potential burglary could be stopped if your neighbor realized that was suspicious activity and immediately reported it? This is what the Neighborhood Watch asks of you.

 

If more people are paying attention to our community, there's a greater chance that any criminal activity will be squashed before it even begins.

 

Your participation in the NHW provides you with information about local crimes, not only at Cedar Pointe but our surrounding area. You will learn about crime patterns and trends to know what you can do to keep yourself from being a target. The NHW discusses the proper recourse if you are a victim or see suspicious activity. It's also a fantastic way to meet your neighbors.

 

Join us for the next Neighborhood Watch Meeting on

Tuesday August 9th at 7 p.m.

The Importance of NOT Being Trashy

When you move into an apartment it becomes a part of you. You take ownership of your space and want it to reflect your personality. However, most people don't consider this about the outside of their apartment. People clean their car out in the parking lot, leaving trash everywhere. They throw cigarette butts on the ground and throw candy and gum wrappers where ever they stand.

Consider taking ownership of your surroundings whether in your apartment or outside your apartment. Please don't litter our community. This is not a pleasing sight for you, your neighbors, or your guests.

Gathering the litter is nearly a full time job for Felipe. There are so many other useful tasks he could perform to better our community if we ALL worked together to keep it clean.

Energy Efficiency in an Apartment

We may not have solar power, digital thermostats, or tankless water heaters to minimize your electricity use, but there are several things that you can do to save on your electric bills.

 

Energy Efficient Bulbs: Replace all the bulbs in your apartment with these compact florescent lights. Especially in the bathrooms...it may not be as attractive, but you can replace all four of your larger incandescent bulbs with only one CFL.

 

Water Heater: Turn the breaker to your water heater off when it's not in use. This way you're only heating the water you need when you need it. But, you do have to get in the habit of remembering to turn it on and off. That's the hard part for me.

 

Thermostat: Don't turn your air conditioning OFF, because this will make the unit run twice as hard when you turn it back on. Instead turn it up or down five or so degrees when it's not in use.

 

Heat/Air Efficiency: Don't heat or cool a room that is not in use. Simply close the vent to that area. Also leave bedroom doors open when possible. This helps the heat or air circulate throughout the apartment.

 

Window Treatments: Mary says curtains are what makes a home say hello. Help your home say hello and stay cool by adding black out curtains. They make an incredible difference in the temperature of your home.

 

Phantom Electricity: Unplug EVERYTHING when not in use. You could also do what I do and put your cell phone charger, television, dvd player, etc. plugged into the top row of outlets. This enables me to be able to flip my "extra" light switch off and kill the power to these items.

 

These are just a handful of tips that you can use to help maintain a lower electric bill. Do your own research and find tips that are useful to you, but be sure to share them with the rest of us!