Lighting on porches improves streets

by Matt Kastner

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A drive down the streets in the City of St. Louis after dark can be a telling thing. Some streets that seem great during the day show a different face at night. One of the most telling things about an area during the night is not the curb appeal of a house, but the quality of  lighting along the street.

As a property owner, you don’t really have much too say about the streetlights, but lighting your own property is totally within your control. Having a reasonable wattage light fixture on your porch and/or in other places in your front yard can do wonders for not only your property, but the entire block. The more houses on a street with good lighting, the safer the street feels.

Better lighting also makes it harder for would-be burglars and robbers to hide in the shadows. I encourage you to leave these lights on all times after dark, whether anyone is home or not. Perhaps install a light sensing fixture that turns itself on. If you use something like that it conjunction with a florescent light bulb, the costs will be low too.

I tried to take some example pictures of this affect for comparison, but nighttime pictures are a little tricky to get perfect exposure-wise. If you won’t take my word for it, drive through a few neighborhoods after dark for yourself sometime. I think you’ll agree, a few lights make all the difference.

Vacant property security

by Matt Kastner

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Last night at 2am I got a surprising wake-up call: the alarm was going off at my rehab project in Tower Grove South. The police were already there and requesting a key-holder to come over. Upon arriving on the scene I witnessed the sobering site of a backdoor kicked in. Read more

Modern flair with translucent walls

by Matt Kastner

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Every now and then I see something implemented in a rehab project that is so simple, yet so effective, that I just wonder why more people don’t do it. About a year ago I was at a furniture store that had a series of translucent walls as the backdrop for their furniture displays. It really caught my attention and I thought it could have some interesting “real world” applications. Read more