There was a small article in Mcall
"Allentown residents and community groups can play a role in improving their neighborhood.
The city is looking for project proposals to transform public vacant lots in the 1st and 6th wards into welcoming, community-centered spaces.
Applications should be for small-scale improvement projects within the area bounded by Union Street, Riverside Drive and American Parkway.
Ideas include:
-- Improving seating or recreational features
-- Installing community garden beds
-- Creating public art installations
-- Organizing community clean-up efforts "
Okay, I somewhat like the idea, but lets be real.
Community garden beds?? So people can grow community weed? Great idea. If we grow mushrooms 🍄 we can have zombies like Kensington walking around.
Public art installations? Do chalk lines count as art? Or bullet holes?
Organizing community clean-up efforts? Who in the hell is going to get people to clean up the trash that they litter themselves?
Guys Allentown is not ready for community gardens for people to steal from or wreck. We dont need benches or spaces for homeless to congregate since the city wrecks any tents they put up. I think these open lots could be used to put snow, or turned into parking spaces. Not some dumb donkey art or something.
"Tuerk Ross"
I will say the drawings on the sides of buildings is pretty cool. Not the graffiti either. I support that type of art. Maybe come up with something that each ward is known for or a well known past restaurant that was once there. I.e. like the old yoccos at 600blk of Liberty St. Idk but think more outside of the box.
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11 comments:
This post isn't it. The money is coming from a grant, and giving community members a chance to involve their community and make it a bit better, and I applaud that. I think we know that growing weed wouldn't happen in a community garden, and the mushroom comment is out of left field. The drug issues in Kensington aren't mushrooms. Plenty of things to criticize in Allentown other than this.
I think the idea behind this project is great, but I do agree the citys ideas are dumb. A garden in center city?
I like the art paintings on the buildings. Gives a philly feel
It will just create another hangout area and a target for vandalism and destruction. It has been done and that has been the result. Question.... who will maintain, clean and otherwise care for these projects?
This is a perfect example of our tax dollars going to waste. Who really thinks this largresse will lead to real neighborhood improvement? I certainly don't. This is nothing more than a job creation program for grant writers and administrators.
Another feel good program that does nothing substantial. We already see fading, grant paid for public murals still surrounded by the same blight and litter that was there when the painting was fresh. If you want to improve the neighborhoods enforce nuisance crimes, encourage people to leave porch lights on after dark, pick up the litter on their sidewalks daily. No grant money is required to do this.
You sure do need to be a glass half full politician or administrator to have enthusiasm for projects like these. They will be celebrated with press releases, the politicians and City staff will have press events with shovels and hardhats and Mayor Tuerk will do a promotional selfie video. But when you've lived in Allentown so long, you can be forgiven if you are pessimistic about the viability of these projects, their real value and how they may very well be neglected, vandalized or trashed by the local residents over the years with no press coverage or selfie videos.
Scott 85% of any grant is administrative costs and if 15% goes to the recipient they would be lucky. Judging from the limited ability of the grantors and there self commitment of self obsorbsion.
Exactly!
I've seen many grant sponsored efforts come and go with always the same result, nothing. You build community from within, (West Park prime example) not from without. It must be indigenous to succeed. Presently Ripple Communities inc is attempting to build community with paid organisers from outside the community in the Franklin Park area of Allentown. Money is being spent on this and the result will very likely be a repeat of previous paid for efforts. Wash, rinse, repeat...Yes, living in Allentown provides a master class in pessimism.
These same grantors give grants for those that do the very chaos they claim recidivisms on. Take for instance the old funeral home on 6th st,the ones clamoring the most are the ones that hired agents to burn the entrance, now passing through different venues with in the city, ooopzy now it is county owned and slated for allentown housing to build?
The whole oxymoron is the grantors are the very ones hiring there nightshift agents to dirty work and than the higher level of hell qwashes facts of zoning falsification, scotty and meganhart?
Who and what kind of criminal acts have they and will they keep covering for?
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