Trash and code enforcement concerns continue on South Bend's west side

Derek Dieter, former South Bend police officer and councilmember and current county surveyor, showed ABC57's Annie Kate more spots on the west side where code violations run rampant.

He pointed out dozens of cars with expired license plates, weeds growing underneath them as they sit on the road. There were many cars parked on yards, a code violation, and on the wrong side of the road.

"Whose fault? It's the people who live there or used to live there, and just walk away from it," Dieter said. "But at the end of the day, all taxpayers should have a nice neighborhood to live in, and all of this stuff should be addressed."

He went to spots like Vassar Avenue, where one vacant property had about four cars left out front.

"I walked to school down this street every day in the '60s," Dieter said. "It was clean. You didn't see trash, garbage, you didn't see all the stuff. You didn't see cars on the street, expired plates, this type of dump yard."

One neighbor, Zechasia Redmond, lives near an abandoned home on Wilber Street, where a downed tree has been covering that property's front yard since it came down during severe weather in April. More debris can be seen littered around the condemned home.

"Tree being here, they probably feel like, 'Oh, they don't care about it, I can just throw my trash over there,'" she said. "If they moved the tree, other people, the neighbors, get their trash, and so on and so forth, it would be like a domino effect. And everybody just starts cleaning up. I just feel like, if the city don't care, the people won't care."

She said the problem is much deeper than what people may be able to see from their cars driving down these streets.

"I've seen people, they'll take their trash, and like i said, they'll put it in the back alleys, like in the back of abandoned houses. They'll litter in the middle of the streets."

And she believes it gives the community a bad look.

"People ride down here, and they are like, 'Man, South Bend is full of trash,'" she said, "and it really shouldn't be like that, because this is a nice place."

While city officials did not make themselves available to talk to ABC57 Monday, neighbors say they want to see more investment in the west side to prevent these eyesores and improve public health and safety.

"Anytime you have more lighting, you have more attention given to making sure the grass is cut, making sure the trash is picked up, that's always going to help," Dieter said. "Because you want people to have a good quality of life."

There are city services available. Residents can call 311 to schedule a pickup of large trash items or to report code violations. There are also programs such as a reimbursement grant for homeowners who take on curb and sidewalk repairs.

For reimbursement program information, Visit. 

Request an Extra Pickup for Appliance, Bulky Item or Yard Waste, Here. 

For St. Joseph County’s Household Hazardous Waste Center, Visit. 

ABC57 requested an interview with code enforcement and the mayor Monday, and were told no one was available.