The website – City of La Crosse – is a valuable tool for people to find a good place to live. From the website, people from La Crosse, especially for students, could know and check the house conditions and living environments.
The Department of Building and Inspection conducts inspection program around La Crosse areas, including building construction, property maintenance field operation, and residential rental inspection operations.
Reinhardt suggests that tenants contact the Department of Building and Inspection to ask for suggestion and inspection before renting. But he says tenants need to go to the landlords first, then can come to the DBI. Inspector will come out and look at the problem and write an order to correct or citation which will give landlords time to fix the problems.
"We won't call the landlords and tell them we're going to do the inspection," says Reinhardt. The reason is there are some legitimate complaints, like the tenant issues and the landlord issues. Even though the DBI is to write the orders to the landlords, they sometimes reject to fix the problems before renting.
"Every year we do tavern inspection; look at extension cords, open electrical boxes, furnace, water heater, things like that. It's hard to inspect what you can't see, like wires in walls," says Dave Reinhardt, the chief inspector of the Department of Building and Inspection. He also mentions that "life-safety issues" are most important, like lighting, heating, ventilation.
The website has a zoning map; it helps people who live in a unit related to zoning. Tenants can use this tool to check the conditions around the houses and apartments, or the general conditions of inside.
People can also use the website to find some valuable information about La Crosse, like where to eat as a visitor, where to find a job as a resident, where to find the important office buildings. It is a valuable tool to improve residential life in La Crosse.
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