Friday, February 11, 2005

'Bune says: It depends on what the meaning of "downtown" is

lame
adj. lam·er, lam·est
Weak and ineffectual; unsatisfactory: a lame attempt to apologize; lame excuses for not arriving on time.


In today’s Tribune, Harriet S. Goldberg of New Albany gently but incisively takes the ‘Bune’s Amany Ali to task for failing to note the existence of a bookstore in downtown New Albany.

Thank you, Mrs. Goldberg.

Unfortunately, appended to the letter is this editor’s note:

“According to Develop New Albany, the official boundaries of downtown New Albany are from the Ohio River to Culbertson Avenue, and from East Fifth Street to West Fifth Street. Destinations Booksellers is located at 604 East Spring Street, which is not in the downtown boundaries.”

This predictably lazy effort to enlist semantics in a rear-guard action to excuse the bungling of the City Editor bizarrely possesses a grain of profundity, albeit one that is entirely unintentional, for by defining the boundaries of DNA’s zone, it calls attention to what has (and hasn’t) occurred within them.

3 comments:

All4Word said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
The New Albanian said...

I have asked DNA to refer me to information that might clearly define downtown, and will post if and when an answer is forthcoming.

Vincennes Street and the Ohio River seem workable to me, but I believe the west end past I-64 deserves inclusion, at least up to Silver Hills. Northward, it's tough - perhaps the railroad track where E. 8th becomes Grant Line Road, curving east almost to Vincennes, and perhaps then Culbertson going the other way.

But that's just an opinion. Think I'll go out now and bike it.

Rick Carmickle said...

As the facilitator of the newly established Downtown New Albany Merchants Association, I want to express that when I started this project, I sent post cards to every business located in an area of Vincennse to West 10th, the River to as far North as Arni's Pizza. In fact I have paid out of my pocket mailing expense for two mailings inviting any and all business to attend these meetings. Our last meeting had over 20 merchants attending, the mostever for this type of event. We are an independent organization, seperate from any Govenment agency, and I damn well hope to keep it that way. This is an open forum for business owners and shop keepers, our goal is to get people talking to each other, let each other know what wares and services we have to offer. Downtown New Albany will never be what it was when I was a kid growing up six blocks west of State Street, but it sure as hell shouldn't be a ghost town either. I plan on attending the fourm on March 2, as I understand it is a panel discussion with out input from the public, all thought that is not what it was touted as in the paper a few weeks ago.
If any readers of this forum wish to attend our merchants meetings, they are an open forum heald the second Tuesday of the month, in the White House Centre. You are more than welcome to attend.
Sorry this post is long, but I to feel the fustration of the little city trying to act like the big city, and for the most we get Chicken Little, "the sky is falling, the sky is falling!"
Thank you for your time!