Urban Compass reader and downtown Springfield resident Maggie Tucker sent me her thoughts on recent posts here, and gave me her permission to share it with other readers. Here is an excerpt of what she has to say.
I’m glad that you are willing to receive my comments on the blog through your email. I’ve tried twice more to respond to the blog and yet nothing happens.
One item I tried to comment on was the entry concerning the study (PDF) about people not connecting in areas of urban density. In Springfield I’ve noticed that people are often afraid to talk to others, especially if they appear different from themselves.
When I first moved to this neighborhood, an 80-year-old rather patrician lady told me that she spoke to everyone, and I noticed that she truly did. This has always been my approach, and I was glad to see that someone else felt the same way and she felt safe.
I talk to the drug dealers, the prostitutes, the office workers on their lunchtime power walks, the BID people, the homeless, the shopkeepers, my neighbors… As a result, I feel connected and unafraid. This has worked to my advantage, as on occasion, a street acquaintance has helped me by warning me when a gang is about or simply helped me carry heavy groceries.
I feel embraced by my community and I enjoy the varied people who live here.
Another repeating frustration with this city that I frequently see reported in your blog is the eternal studies of various city issues. It seems so wasteful to spend yet more money on studies that provide advice that we continue to ignore or cannot implement.
The most recent Urban Land Institute study seemed an exception to this observation. David Panagore seems a powerful force to get things done with a practical understanding of how a city runs.
The recent work done concerning the homeless also seems promising but really a bit obvious. This city has been studied to death. Apply that little bit of money that we can scrape up to action.
Allow me one more curmudgeonly comment on something I read in your blog. I live downtown and have no trouble walking about. The new plans to spruce up the downtown area just seem frivolous. When I am on Main Street I notice the interesting architectural details which will not be enhanced by fancy light poles or expensively paved crosswalks.
Even when I was on crutches for a few months, I did not find Springfield’s streets or drivers to be intimidating to me. The BID does an excellent job keeping the streets clean and the planters pretty and thriving. We live in a city that should apply what money we can to more helpful projects.
I registered for that god-awful early event in Boston on February 8. Does anybody want to carpool with me? I’ve got a Prius and it seats four comfortably. What I need is a navigator.
Why would anybody want buttons that suggest that our city is not beautiful? This seems rather a negative way to state a positive idea. I’ve lived in Houston, Texas and seen ugly. Springfield is beautiful!
Always know that you have lots of us out here reading, learning from and enjoying your blog. Keep up the good work.
