Phillip Cantrell is no stranger to the blight problem in Walker County. He’s chair of the county’s Planning Commission. He’s also a resident.
Cantrell sees the charred remnants of burnt-out houses during his commute. Catches glimpses of the broken down cars rusting in yards. Spots roofless mobile homes rotting away.
The clutter has become so commonplace, some days he doesn’t even notice it, and he’s not the only one, he says.
“I’ll bet you if you drive to work and you really look at what you’re looking at, you’re going to be surprised at how much stuff is scattered out there,” he said. “It’s been there for so many years, people just don’t recognize it anymore.”
That indifference by some toward keeping Walker County clean is at the heart of the issue that Cantrell and fellow members of the county’s Vision 2030 Advance Team have indicated may be the toughest challenge of the group’s long-term planning efforts.