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Going to bat for Union Park Jim Craven photo By Jessica Smith A west Medford neighborhood wants to fight blight in the community, but residents there say they can�t do it without the city�s help. "We want to turn this into a viable community," said Bev Power, who lives near tiny Union Park, at the center of the neighborhood. "We would love to help the city help this neighborhood." But two years after residents and city officials developed a plan to clean up the area, neighbors and others say it�s time for action. "The neighbors are up at bat and they�re ready to play the game," said Gigi Michaels, who heads up the West Medford Coalition, a nonprofit agency working with Union Park neighbors. "Now they want the city to do its part." People who live in the area want better roads. More traffic signs. Less vandalism. Fewer abandoned cars. City officials pledged their support after neighbors took their concerns Thursday to the Medford City Council. "We�ll sit down as a team and see how we can help," said Greg Jones, parks and recreation director. Work has already begun to target some of the problems identified by Power and others, officials said. On Friday, the city installed a stop sign at Plum and Prune streets that was approved last year. The work was delayed, officials said, because of a misplaced work order. Also Friday, community service officers from the Medford Police Department marked abandoned cars and warned residents against keeping vehicles in the public right of way for extended periods of time. Neighbors can expect to see more officers for the next several days as police attack some of the worst violations, said Lt. Tim George. "We�re going to stay on it until they�re satisfied and we�re satisfied that the problems have been dealt with," he added. That all sounds promising, neighbors say, but they�re quick to point out there�s more work to be done. Kids play in the streets, cars travel too fast, dogs roam freely and some residents pile trash, including junky cars, in their yards and along the roads. Union Park isn�t the only community with these problems, residents acknowledge. But the neighborhood, with its various dead-end streets, is seemingly overlooked, they say. "It�s isolated," said Michaels. "It�s like a closed community. Unless you�re specifically going through it, you�d never see the problems." Joe Tatro, a construction worker who lives on Plum Street, said he could understand his neighbors� concerns. One of several residents warned for parking a disabled vehicle along the roadside, Tatro worked Friday to replace the wheels on his pickup truck and park it inside his apartment complex�s parking lot. "I can�t really blame them for complaining," he said. "It looked crappy." And it doesn�t have to, Power and others say. The neighbors have requested new crosswalk markings, traffic signs where 11th Street meets Plum and Union, and improvements to Union Park�s tennis and handball courts. The courts, hidden from the road, are high crime areas, neighbors said. Residents also would like new curbs, sidewalks and gutters on Plum and 11th streets. Red Talbott, who�s been working to fix up his 11th Street home, said road repairs and improvements would also encourage residents to take more pride in their neighborhood. "It kind of makes people feel like it�s not a hopeless cause," he said. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA