OMG -- Son of the Return of the Street Mattresses.

Again?

Perhaps they migrate via this adjacent tear in the fabric of the streetscape.

Have you seen the saucers? Every month or two like clockwork, street mattresses blossom at the "DRIVE" sign.

Off in the distance you can see Break Wind Lofts at Duggins Flats, where apartments millennials can't afford will assuredly lead to a ripple effect that submerges this and other street garbage -- unless we've reached "peak millennial," and the "business of residency" once again will be gauged by mattresses on the street, not in decrepit slumlord properties.

What's to become of us, Uncle Jeff?

Craig's revenge? Attack of the Killer Zombie Street Mattresses shifts to a rental property on Market.

Twelve days later, that mattress is still right there, justified and ancient, on the Elm Street curb.

Yo, Warren: "Unless a city prioritizes basic service, people will not want to build roots in it."

Craig's revenge? Attack of the Killer Zombie Street Mattresses shifts to a rental property on Market.

This is Market, not Elm. We believe it's a different mattress.

Last week, we visited the Mattress Corner of 5th & Elm.

Twelve days later, that mattress is still right there, justified and ancient, on the Elm Street curb.

Finally on the 23rd, it was gone. Is the third time a charm?

Meanwhile, the street mattress explosion shifts to Market Street, within eyesight of the Break Wind Lofts at Duggins Flats, the posited "ripple effect" of which never mentioned going to the mattresses.

The pride, the glory ... the Craig Block.

Today's street mattress comes to us courtesy of Ron Craig, who recently testified at council against any form of regulation pertaining to his rental properties.

Those protests go back a few years. I can find no follow-ups, either at NAC or local media. Does anyone know how the Great Vinyl Siding Hairball of 2012 turned out?

November 10, 2012
Deal proposed in preservation case regarding vinyl siding on New Albany building, by Daniel Suddeath (N and T)

June 3, 2012

Terminal ignorance of the law: Four years of vinyl siding sideshows ...

May 20, 2012

Too many cooks spoil the broth?

Twelve days later, that mattress is still right there, justified and ancient, on the Elm Street curb.

Photo taken at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, March 21. 

The last time I looked, it was March 10, and this mattress was there. The ones before it were there for three weeks, since the middle of February.

Off in the distance you can see Break Wind Lofts at Duggins Flats, where apartments millennials can't afford will assuredly lead to a ripple effect that submerges this and other street garbage -- unless we've reached "peak millennial," and the "business of residency" once again will be gauged by mattresses on the street, not in decrepit slumlord properties.

Meanwhile, I'm thinking that "physically cleaner" encompasses this mattress, too.

Tale of a month's Elm Street street mattresses.

The photo above was taken on March 9. The ones below, in mid-February -- and those mattresses had been there a while.

I'm beginning to believe that the word "DRIVE" has deeper significance, perhaps an urban variant of "DUMP"?

And why mattresses and not electronics?

Ah, but off in the distance, see the emerging shiny symbol of all things Gahanesque and possible ... it's the job site for Break Wind Lofts at Duggins Flats. Once built, there'll be no more street mattresses, but there'll be a chicken in every pot and a Democratic Party chairman on every redevelopment board (rinse, repeat).

Yo, Warren: "Unless a city prioritizes basic service, people will not want to build roots in it."

In a perfect world, political functionaries charged with basic infrastructure would be delighted to learn of eyesores ripe for cleaning, as with mattresses dumped within eyesight of Break Wind's intended upscale millennial pizzazz, but when informed of this on social media, Warren Nash advised against encouraging the sort of person who would bring this to his attention -- after two weeks of it moldering there.

Imagine the immediate reaction had it been suggested that the mattress was a public art installation.

If the notion of human rights embraced health and safety, then basic infrastructure is one guarantor of rights and freedoms. Have you ever heard Nash, Adam Dickey or other local paragons of "democratic" propriety talk about such a topic, even once?

The Not-So-Secret Secret About Growing a Healthy City, by Anna Clark (Next City)

It may not have as much placemaking pizzazz as a new bike-share or downtown arts district, but unless a city prioritizes basic service, people will not want to build roots in it. From safe drinking water to solid public schools, brass-tacks urbanism is the not-so-secret secret about growing a healthy city ...

... Reese and Sands are not arguing against all the innovations in today’s urbanism, per se, but they do suggest that projects like riverwalks and casinos are isolated initiatives that can’t make up for a city’s inconsistent trash pickup or broken street lights. Compare it to an old house: New windows and a fresh coat of paint are great, but it won’t compensate for a sinking foundation and ragged roof.