It's taken me a week to arrive at a juncture where it strikes me as obvious that beating these dead
By "dead
The thumb prints of article "contributor" Chris Morris can be spotted all over this piece, as ostensibly written by the rookie.
Consequently, three superannuated white men and a self-interested heavy equipment company provide the requisite "against" testimony to scratch Morris's itch, while two (2!) reporters can't muster the gumption between them to locate an owner or manager of one of downtown's younger, newer generation businesses and ask them what they think about it.
This lapse alone justifies suspicion. Only Al Knable appears as a local "for" witness, and overall, the "cons" handily outnumber the "pros." That's no coincidence. Morris is cancer when it comes to fairness, balance and the power of ideas.
Bob Caesar's and Irv Stumler's fact-allergic and forever opinionated drivel has long since sagged to the level of bile and self-parody, yet there they are, for the umpteenth time, convenient go-to sources for Morris's oft-stated bias against street grid reform. Yet, a cursory search of the interwebz reveals voluminous countervailing testimony to their misconceptions.
As usual, no one at Stenography Central is willing to ask a follow-up question. Maybe the new CNHI editor will take an active interest in the world outside Jeffersonville. Maybe I'll win the lottery. Maybe David Duggins will spend economic development time thinking about jobs. Verily, anything is possible.
Now for the truth.
The Board of Public Works and Safety is charged with making these two-way walkability decisions. As such, the Jeff Gahan is pleasantly insulated from the inconvenience of taking a coherent stance and being accountable.
Of course, Gahan appointed BOW. It's his as much as the article below is Morris's.
We inhabit an imperial mayoral fiefdom.
The rest of us have had no say, and will have no say, unless one wishes to smear lipstick on the pig and pretend that last year's public meetings actually mattered.
But this is top-down city, isn't it?
SATURDAY SPOTLIGHT: As cities convert one-way streets, is New Albany next?, by Danielle Grady (I Heart Jeffersonville)
Assistant Editor Chris Morris contributed to this story
NEW ALBANY — Towns across Indiana are revamping their downtowns to attract and keep residents, and street conversion is an important part of some of their plans.
Warsaw, Whiting, Jeffersonville and New Albany all have been making an effort to improve their downtowns, said Matt Greller, executive director of the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns.
4 comments:
Two quick thoughts:
1) Why interview and quote Bob Caesar regarding downtown streets and retail? He gave up, quit, sold the store - his actions say everything - he gave up trying to retail "his way."
Apparently, the one way street in front of his store didn't work well enough to justify his staying in business and no one was interested in continuing to retail jewelry there, even though Mr. Caesar was offering a retail space served by a "handy" one way street.
2) When Mr. Stumler claims “...But putting obstacles in the streets is no way to slow traffic” - has he forgotten the multi-million dollar Main Street project where obstacles were placed in the middle of Main Street to do exactly that?
Very poor interviewing skill and fact checking in that Jeffersonville newspaper article.
I spent a morning itemizing rebuttals to the idiocy, but found myself overwhelmed by a soul crushing weariness. Knowledge simply isn't rewarded here.
Rewarded? You must mean "acknowledged" or "understood", don't you?
"A factor."
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