John's Blog

I got in a run yesterday in an effort to get back to my old fitness level. It's been a long time since I've let myself get this out of shape, but in all fairness it's not entirely my fault. Last summer I was walking around barefoot in a room with hardwood floors and got a splinter. The splinter then led to an alternating series of bouts with a planters wart and a knee injury which prevented me from maintaining my usual running routine until recently, when I started to slowly head down the path to fitness.

My run was my longest one this year, and ironically it was the route that I used to take as my "short" runs in the past. You can imagine my surprise when I found five new McMansions where there had been more modest dwellings only last summer. I had seen two of them coming, since the "for sale" sign on the older house was from a real estate company that is known for tearing down old houses and putting up new ones. Many times they take modest houses on big (and some not so big) pieces of land and put two where one had been before. They thoughtfully don't put windows on the side of the house so you aren't reminded just how damn close your new neighbor is to your home!

Although I'm glad that I live in an area that is desirable enough to warrant new development, I regret seeing the neighborhood stripped of diversity (since it's the older "pre-development" homes near "the tower") that usually are the prime candidates. It also saddens me to think that homes, which would make nice starter homes for young families continue to disappear in favor of these cookie cutter monstrosities that are probably not built well enough to last as long as what they have replaced. But, hey; we live in a throw-away society, so why not include housing on the list of disposable commodities as well?

I was kicking myself, that I didn't have the foresight to document the "before" and "after" with pictures, but once again, that's hardly an original idea. When Googling the topic, I see that it's been done before. But I imagine I'll be given more opportunities to document this in the future, so I'll have my camera ready.

Since I'm just rambling on about development I have to mention another local landmark, the old Ford plant which they are in the process of tearing down. Reflecting current trends where companies shift production away from rustbelt states to other areas, Ford decided to shutter and walk away from their factory after 56 years and a production run of 7 million vehicles, taking 900 jobs and a $70 million payroll out of the local economy. It's hard to not feel a sense of loss for those who lost their jobs, and I just hate seeing us turn our back on the segment of our economy that actually "makes stuff". I'm not sure what happened to the guy who just a day or so ago was rambling on about the necessity of accepting and embracing change? Do I have a point to make? Probably not.

I find it odd that while the demolition process continues they have erected a big fence around the entire property within the existing chain link fence. The new fence is apparently just a visual barrier to prevent the prying eyes of the public from seeing what is going on. This probably was a good idea on the Rt. 1 side, where rubbernecking motorists on a busy highway would have added even more fender benders to this treacherous stretch. But when they did it on the back streets, you really have to wonder what their motivations were. Were they somehow ashamed of the process? Someday, hopefully something good will emerge here but for now it's just a reminder that change isn't as easy as "Sim City" portrays it.