As many of you already know, I grew up in Georgetown, attended Floyd Central High School and Indiana University Southeast, lived in Floyds Knobs for a time, then finally moved into New Albany, where I’ve been ever since.
In other words, being “here” is a lifelong thing for me, adding up to almost 45 years of continual residence in Floyd County (excepting time spent abroad), and 15 years within the New Albany city limits.
I fully intend to remain in New Albany for so long as I own a home and a business here, although I’m not ruling out retiring with Diana to a thatched cottage in Ireland or a flat along the Mediterranean in the south of France.
Dream on, Roger.
Growing up in Georgetown, long before the attractions of Guinness and bouillabaisse were manifested, I was instructed that the city of New Albany regularly caught all the breaks, while the remainder of Floyd County received paltry leftovers and bitter doses of condescension.
Now that I’m living in New Albany, I’ve heard it said more than once that Floyd County catches all the breaks, while New Albany is forced to make do with crumbs handed over grudgingly with a rosy-cheeked sneer by folks who need to be taken down a notch.
All of which would be palpably absurd even if residents of city and county alike weren’t living in the Andorra of Indiana, a county so small that perhaps our best recourse to losing Caesar’s was (and is) suing Harrison County to force our immediate annexation to them – and the Boat.
Of course, all this can be explained by looking briefly at post-WWII patterns of residential development, with a smidgen of Indiana’s legal framework thrown in to spice the proceedings.
The distribution of power is the traditional aim of all politics, and not unexpectedly, it is the origin of the many turf wars and cat fights that have flared between Floyd County and the city of New Albany.
It’s far past time to put an end to all this, for the achingly simple reason that there’s far too much to be done to let the voices and attitudes of the past continue dictating needs of the present and plans for the future.
This perpetually recurring city/county debate is senseless, tedious and counterproductive, especially given the presence in the city and in the county of so many of the necessary factors, albeit in embryonic stages, for growth in the coming economic conditions.
To my friends in the county, permit me ask only that you ignore the discredited remnants of the ancien regime in New Albany. Rest assured that sensible, forward-looking citizens here in the city are outraged and embarrassed by the ward-heeling political antics of our Kocherts, Coffeys and Prices.
We’re finally coming together, trying belatedly to organize and to dispel fear and misunderstanding borne of decades of torpor and underachievement, and as our Councilman Jack Messer noted last Thursday, it’s going to take sacrifices, belt-tightening and hard work for us to succeed.
Scribner Place is a big step in the right direction – for all of Floyd County, not just New Albany.
Scribner Place will be good for city dwellers and county residents alike, and to those of you who’ve offered support, we’re appreciative that you can see the benefits as clearly as we do, and glad that you’re considering making a pledge to help get the project started.
I believe we’re being offered an opportunity not just to jump-start downtown in a manner never before attempted, and one in keeping with sound economic principles, but also to inaugurate a new era of cooperation between the city and the county.
There cannot possibly be losers in this scenario, with the possible exception of the nay-sayers who are more comfortable living in the squalor they know rather than join in the attempt to lift the community and to move it forward.
A new generation of non-partisan community leadership has arrived on the scene, and while no one denies that the previous generation still has cards to play, we all should ignore their desperate political gambles, undertaken owing to the dawning realization that for them, the game’s nearly over -- unless they pay attention to the changing rules.
Progress: It’s too important for bluffing. We hope you agree.
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6 comments:
Roger, a bit off topic, but would like to share some information I have gathered over the past few days.
I have been talking with some elderly gentlemen that have been around these parts for 80 plus years, we have discussed many issues, politics, women and weather, not necessarily in that order!
On the topic of growth, I asked about the climate of business back in the 60’s that would be when the subject of the Greentree Mall was being played out in the local media. At last weeks council meeting one of the Four Amigos made a comment that the city lost the mall because they were against growth and process. At that time the big industry in the New Albany area was the veneer business. Hoosier Panel, Stem Plywood there was probably half a dozen or so, and they were the ones that did not want the mall in New Albany, they did not want shops and stores that would put pressure on them to pay more than minimum wage, which at that time was almost nothing. How strange, most all of the big veneer companies have passed on or moved their operations south of the border, they are gone and we are still here.
Now if you want to say that the veneer businesses had the city administration or government in their back pocket, who is to say? I just thought these gentlemen had a different view of our city history.
Your idea of about suing Harrison county isn’t far off! How about we do what the Mayor of Key West did back in the 60’s. Key West succeeded from the Union, declared war on the United States, surrendered, and promptly requested aid! Maybe we can do the same with Ceasers and Harrison county!
Not off topic at all, Rick.
That's extremely interesting, and points to the dangers of over-simplification when considering causes and effects.
I've always thought that another reason we didn't "get the malls" was that we're simply not placed for them. I-65 is a major artery surrounded by flat land, while I-64 originally led off into the wilderness, and there would have been no place to build until Georgetown.
Perhaps that is a blessing in disguise ("losing" the malls). NA is not a mall kind of town, and now, decades later, big empty boxes stymie development of the type of retail space consumers want to see.
While one trend is the upscale Summit-type developments, more and more sprawlmeisters are realizing that they missed the boat on creating unique spaces in a central core.
Did you read about the developer who wants to build a suburban center that mimics downtown Louisville buildings, albeit at reduced scale? Call it a historic theme park, recalling the day when people east, west, north, and south converged on a central city and maximized the tax returns without debilitating the service budget of the municipality.
Tim's too modest to own up, but he actually has a patent pending on his invention, which is called the "Random Objection Generator," a digital improvement on the old "spinning wheel."
Click where indicated, and the Random Objection Generator will throw out a whole new Brambleberry sound bite -- first environmental contamination, then the corruption of city officials, then Wst Nile, then low-paying jobs ... well, you get the idea.
No professional oppositionist should be without one. Available soon at Wal-Mart and other Trog havens.
Can you get a Tim's Random Objection Generator (T.R.O.G.) on eBay?
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