Thanks to you and Tony Lehew for your article on gangs and crime in Murfreesboro. My wife and I also came to Murfreesboro after spending two years looking all over the country for the place we wanted to be.

We moved here from Southern California and know what gangs and crime can do to an area. I am an urban planning consultant and still do 99 percent of my work in Southern California. I travel there once a month for several days. I work in the “War Zones.” We have been successful in turning around the worst possible neighborhoods with lasting results. It is not easy, but it can be done.

The problems are significantly worse in California than here, but California got that way because corrective actions were not taken until they became severe.

You may visit fleenerassociates.com and check out some photos of what can happen to a middle income neighborhood if corrective actions aren’t taken. You can also view photos of the areas today after years of work.

?Richard Fleener

richard@fleenerassociates.com