The city is coming down on me and my neighbors like a ton of bricks. Literally. They're going to rip out all of the streets for 350+ homes, destroy 120+ trees that have been here since the 1930's, rip up all of our front yards, put in gutters and curbs that none of the residents want, and keep this going for TWO YEARS.
They're going to rip out all of our streets, and all of our alleys. They're going to tear the streets down to the base which, if you've ever seen that done, means big machines, lots of noise, and lots of dirt and dust. It also means busted computer hard drives and cracks in the walls of the house because of the impact. Thank God I make most of my living working on my computer at home. Now I face the prospect of ever lesser income!
99% of the people in the neighborhood are in Condition White. They don't even know what's coming. And all of this was pre-ordained five years ago.
We had a citizen/committee meeting last Tuesday, where the Board of Public Works basically laid out what they've had planned for us for years. They didn't tell us that the full city council would be voting on the whole package this coming Tuesday. We were lead to believe that a vote wouldn't take place until the end of November.
They didn't even tell us about the worst.
How nice of them. We had hoped to distribute flyers telling residents what the full impact would be.
Too late.
We will not have garbage pickup. Instead, we will be able to take our garbage to dumpsters at a central location.
We will not have mail pick-up or delivery. Instead, we wil be able to go to a central location to pick up our mail.
There will be no parking for vehicles. Since most folks in the area own older homes with one-car garages (that can't even fit a modern car into it), I have no idea where people are going to park.
We will not be able to access our homes from either street or alley.
It is very likely (based upon what I've seen with similar projects) that emergency vehicles--ambulances, fire trucks, etc---will not be able to access homes if necessary.
The Board of Public Works said that they would "try" to assure mail delivery. They would "try" to assure garbage pickup. I think the chairman used the word "try" at least 500 times during the hearing.
Where does all this come from?
The Public Engineer. This guy has a hard-on for his own legacy. He wants to build streets, curbs and gutters that will outlive him.
Well, eff him. I'll chip in $50 for a portait of him on the wall of the city hall.
All of the above is whining. This is on such a fast-track that the residents can't even get out flyers. As I mentioned, probably 90% or more residents don't realize what's coming. It's going to look like Beirut.
Here's the part I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around: the entire area affected is represented by one councilman. But he's not part of the public works board. So he gets no vote.
Come the vote of the Council, he has just one vote. Everybody else voting is from outside the district. They're going to vote to rape our neighborhoods, and they won't even be accountable at the ballot box, because nobody will know about it.
At one time or another, many members of TFL and THR have talked about SHTF scenarios, or situations in which they would stand up to government.
This is coming awfully close. The city engineer wants to rape our neighborhoods, cut down roughly 33% of the mature trees, install gutters and concrete curbs that will require the virtual destruction of everyone's front yard, and do whatever else seems to satisfy his perverse interests.
These elected officials are nuts. They're on a power trip that I hope ends soon.
