Chris Morris offers a jeer in today’s Tribune:
JEERS..... to those responsible for vandalism on the New Albany riverfront. For some reason, there are a few bad apples in our community who find enjoyment out of tearing up private and public property.
There’s a simple and painfully obvious corollary to these sentiments. In fact, much of the city has the appearance of having been vandalized, and while it would be redundant to insert yet another recitation of unkempt properties, dilapidated housing and denial of responsibility, the squalor deriving from neglect that we take for granted on a daily basis promotes the overnight variety occurring on the riverfront.
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7 comments:
I agree. I am a transplant to Floyd County, and there is so much about it that I like. I want to be proud to live here, but when I drive out-of-town visitors around, I am pretty embarrassed by what they see. I don't understand why people here don't have more pride for their hometown and do a better job of taking care of it.
I find this very depressing and troubling. We as a city have expressed our desires for so long to take advantage of our cultural and historical connections to the Ohio River, and when we FINALLY are able to make steps to make our riverfront more enjoyable, this is what we get!
I would hate to think that CCTV cameras are the best solution to this recurring problem, but unfortunately, it would appear to be the most viable solution, as we have long since done away with the position of a parks department police officer.
Outside of those fiscally unobtainable deterents, all that is left is Joe Citizen armed with a cell phone and a camera, a situation where instead of reading of lamp post being broken, it would more than likely be Joe Citizens head broken....
I walk my dog along the flood wall daily. I see vandalism here and there but what I notice most regards the new lights installed along the top of the wall. Glass and bulbs perpetually are broken. Lately, someone had taken to knocking down the entire three foot cylindrical fixtures. You will always have some vandalism. But since vandalism invites more vandalism, it troubles me most that these items often go many months without repair. Last fall someone (presumably from the city) spray painted the “Welcome” rocks and surrounding grass with a nice fresh coat of white paint. Other than that, I’ve notices no other maintenance work.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I recall someone saying that the Greenway contractor holds responsibility for maintenance issues and that the city only takes over at the project's completion. For clarification, I did not mean to imply above that the city necessarily is derelict in its Greenway maintenance duty.
1. Three years ago I'd proposed a community based mounted patrol, not only to deter vandalism, but as branding opportunity for the city. Chief Harl thought it was a great idea. Last I ever heard of it.
2. The only disturbing thing about this post is people being surprised our new greenway is being trashed like the rest of the town. Thank you for noting the "broken windows" link Roger.
3. I'm wrong, the most disturbing part of this is the Mayor, who I read has had a few months off, hasn't found 20 minutes to issue a stern warning about the consequences,...shoot, I always get to this part and then laugh at myself and remember I'm in NEw Albany - the town that's actually proud it's an ignorant ghetto.
4. We could form a "crime-watch" on Main St, I watch most of the "punk" travel walk up and down outside all day, no doubt on their for some vandalism, when they not selling drugs...
Mounted patrols carry cost for insurance, but mostly extra man power for an all ready undermanned police force... But I really like the idea.
Cheaper solution would be find a good electrician and make the light posts somehow deliver one hell of a shock when rocked hard...
Of course the city would get sued, but add in the CCTV cameras, and it would be an instant viral video to see some punk-ass have his butt lit up like a christmas tree when he tried to knock a post down! :)
I don't understand why people here don't have more pride for their hometown and do a better job of taking care of it.
On a drive through New Albany's older neighborhoods, roughly half the property one encounters is not owned by the people who actually live there.
Many out-of-town owners don't care about any concept of hometown. They care about a profit center to be drained of every last resource, including the slow but purposeful destruction of property.
People who come of age in that environment typically see two things: Their own often struggling families and, in opposition, owner/vandals making a nice living.
Destruction has a long history of being profitable here and as long as that remains the case, it will be a rational choice and normalizing into the mores of one's hometown will mean making it.
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