Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Hilary Homer on September 23, 2009 at 10:32am

I agree that we need help. I tend to be unpopular with the "neighborhood activist" set because I insist that the relevant municipal governing bodies do their jobs instead of making excuses and shuffling the responsibility onto residents, and I am VERY resistant to taking that responsibility on myself for that reason. I do sometimes feel like there is a certain amount of manipulation going on--we bring problems to the attention of our local government, and in response we're told about these great thing we can do to solve them. Then if things don't improve, fault lies with the "apathetic" neighbors who "didn't participate." We all pay good money in property, income, and sales tax--some of that money is supposed to be invested in the upkeep of our communities. I invest in my community by working, supporting businesses, maintaining my property, paying taxes, reporting problems, and being respectful to my neighbors and their property. Many in our neighborhood invest far, far more. So where is the return on all those investments we've made? Where does our time and care and effort and money go?

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Permalink Reply by Anthony Fasolo on September 23, 2009 at 1:02pm

I agree with you totally on this. It is unfair because it seems that if residents in an area such as Park Ave, or the arts district get upset about something, there does seem to be much more "real" efforts made to appease them. We get window dressing, and no real resources to actually do anything with.

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Permalink Reply by Hilary Homer on September 23, 2009 at 1:30pm

And that is, unfortunately, a reality within which we have to work. Park Avenue, the East End, NOTA, and to a lesser extent the South Wedge are the biggest "bang for the buck" in terms of tax revenues. The assessed value of some of the houses in the 19th Ward would triple if they were simply moved to Berkeley St, which is a function of the perceived desirability of that area. Businesses naturally want to locate where they think the paying customers are living, further increasing the revenues generated by those parts of the city. Improvements there will thus bring larger revenue returns. On the flip side, it's a much larger potential revenue threat to the city if people there move or close up shop because they're unhappy. Businesses in our neighborhood need much more "incubating" before they start generating significant tax revenue for the city, and the coffers don't have nearly so much to lose if we all pack up and leave. On the other hand, we're not so badly off that elected officials are eyeing us as a public interest "special project" that will get them a news segment. I feel like a bottom-up, grassroots approach can only get us so far before we need to really "sell" our neighborhood to decision-makers as an area of potential high return. We're a diverse, mixed-income, mixed-density, mixed-use historical neighborhood near a nationally-known university--it's not as though we've got nothing going for us.

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Permalink Reply by Shawn on October 4, 2009 at 12:16pm

I have been trying to understand this phenomenon lately, and what it's all about. And what I have figured out so far is two things. The first is a lack of communication between the different groups and organizations, (ex. City between the 19th WCA between Sector 4 and so on). The second thing that residents do not feel like they are part of the solution. (ex. the new development at Brooks Landing. It was presented as a done deal, and a take it or leave it project.)

Resident participation is not THE answer. The Police alone are not THE answer. But I know that with proper communication between everyone involved, and a sense of belonging to the process. We can accomplish just about anything we set our minds too.

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Permalink Reply by Margy Meath on September 23, 2009 at 5:32pm

BRILLIANT summary Hilary and I agree 100%. We are NOT getting our 'fair share' of the resources and I am getting very, very tired of responsibility being shifted to citizens..... somehow it has become OUR job to clean the streets, deal with code violations, keep ourselves safe, etc. I am all for REAL citizen involvement, partnership with police/city officials, etc but don't feel that we really have that in this community. We have a lot of talk, a lot of 'stalled' initiatives, a lot of 'great ideas' and seemingly little follow through.
I believe that i recently learned that the 19th ward has the largest tax base in the entire city- if this is accurate, then we SHOULD be seeing more 'bang for our buck' yet we have constant trash on Thurston, are waiting 2 years (and counting) for extra garbage cans, have chronic housing code violations, rampant crime, etc.
We 'schmooze' with the Mayor and every now and then invite him for some 'wonderful event' but i don't think that he has a CLUE about how fed up some of us are with what's happening here.....

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Permalink Reply by MacClurg Vivian on September 21, 2009 at 11:41am

I asked David Hawkes why just now, his reponse: My guess is the consistent underage sales????

Makes sense to me (MacClurg).

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Permalink Reply by Shawn on September 21, 2009 at 12:08pm

Thanks for calling David, MacClurg.
-Shawn

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Permalink Reply by Anthony Fasolo on September 21, 2009 at 2:57pm

I just got back from the post office over there and saw that all the signage is down and their's a Ryder truck moving stuff out. Guess that's it for 7/11.

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Permalink Reply by Marian Boutet on September 21, 2009 at 3:24pm

More substantial information from the NSC/RPD would be a good thing. If they were consistently selling beer to minors, I can't imagine that would be confidential information. Were they also renting the porn DVD's to minors? Selling loosies? What!!!???

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Permalink Reply by Shawn on October 3, 2009 at 6:06pm

UPDATE:
I heard last night (10/2) from a reliable source, that there is something in the works to re-open the 7-Eleven on Thurston Rd that closed. It will be a convenience store similar to the 7-Eleven that closed on West Henrietta and Crittenden Road a while ago.

It is said that corporate has decided to close most of their urban locations. Whatever that means.
-Shawn

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Permalink Reply by Brenda Driscoll on October 3, 2009 at 7:15pm

A 7-11 has been at that location for at least 41 years. When I was a kid, my brother and I slept over at our aunt and uncle's house. Not having children.....my brother and I convinced our aunt that we NEEDED everything that 7-11 had to sell. I got a "footsie", he got some airplanes, we got bubbles, sidewalk chalk, crazy straws and probably 6 boxes of cereal for breakfast (we were only staying for 1 night). It is too bad that they are closing and I can only hope that something better comes in.

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Permalink Reply by Georgia NeSmith on October 3, 2009 at 7:53pm

Wouldn't it be nice if we could get a convenience store like the one on University Ave in the ArtWalk? I believe it is called "The Corner Store." Unfortunately I doubt the management of that one would care to have to deal with the problems endemic to Thurston.

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