Having moved to Mineola 14 years ago, I have sadly watched this cute little village slowly decline. Recently, I found myself looking at houses in different towns before realizing that I couldn't move. I couldn't leave my beautiful English Tudor.

I think there are several reasons for Mineola's downward slide, but at the core is the renting. Both the legal and illegal renting has become Mineola's cancer. Greedy people who don't even live here are purchasing homes and renting them to anyone for their own economic advantage. Renters do not take pride in their home, do not invest in it, do not treat it as their most precious asset because it's not theirs. Unfortunately, like a cancer in its last stages, there is not so much that can be done to treat Mineola's problem and there is definitely no cure.

Francesca Bieniek