Read this in the Telegram , click here for the video link. I thought of Jahn immediately when I read it..
Reminds me alot of the Wayfarer Sign idea...
Same Time Next Year
-
It’s been nearly a year since I wrote about the problems that come from
having 11 bosses who are not on the same page about anything, as well as
suggestion...
4 months ago
25 comments:
I have a hard time figuring how painting 5 bridges costs 1.6 million dollars. Especially in a town that claims to have so many humble artists. How much paint does 1.6 millions dollars actually buy?
Also, how does painting these bridges make the city more pedestrian friendly when the bottom line is that the underpasses basically connect nothing to nothing? Besides, has anyone ever said, "Gee, I'd love to head down Green Street, but that bridge is just too damn ugly for me to be caught walking under!"
Still though, it would be nice to get shit on by a pigeon and lungs full of exhaust while admiring the braille renderings of worstever's vibrant past.
I think this blog is getting more negative every day when I read posts like this one.
If you consider Worcester as "worstever", you should move to Springfield.
The negativity on this city is unbelievable. No matter what you do, it will never be good enough, will not work or is just a waste of money. Feels like people are afraid of change or just don't want the city to grow and try new things to get better.
The airport won't work, city square won't work, skate ring is a waste of money, main street will never get better and list could go on and on. I thing Worcester is a great city, negative people living in Worcester is the biggest problem.
This is a good concept but the proposed execution is flawed. They could just paint them all bright pink and attach a bunch of lights to light each underpass up like the surface of the sun to achieve the outcome they are after. I walk under each one of those bridges at least weekly (Front St bridge daily) to get places. If crossing the high-speed traffic on McGrath and Foster St was less of hair-raising experience and there was somewhere to go once I was across (coffee shop, grocery store, gym, convenience store) then I'm sure more pedestrians would use them too.
I also like the Way-Finding project mentioned above but currently Worcester has few places people want to find their way to. I think we need some places first, then put up some signs telling people how to get there and announcing their arrival.
There's no doubt Worcesterites can be a negative bunch, but can you really blame them/us? I would be impressed if someone could name for me a single public project or project that was the result of a public/private partnership, which was a true and measurable long term success. Maybe I'm just not viewing our city (which I love dearly) through the right lens, but in my 33 years in Worcester I've never seen anything from the public sector but great ideas executed poorly or well executed terrible ideas. Especially on the arts/culture front, I don't think the current or any past admiistration has ever fully embraced the value of culture to our city.
This bridge idea has great potential on paper, but I have zero faith in any public execution.
They painted the Green St arched concete bridge in 1989 with a picture depicting Prestroika (sp?). Like many city assets it was not porperly maintained.....i.e. protected from the elemeents and today it looks like some new fangled modern art, like I might see in P-Town on a fine August afternoon. You know, the kind of art you enjoy with a good joint (no pun) and a 12" Hot Dog On P-Town's Commercial St. on a Dog day afternoon in August.
If I was CSX I'd tell teh city to take their painting plans and shove them until the Beacon Hill gives CSX a no liabilty clause in the Mass General laws re possible CSX freight train accidents with passenger rails cars. Just like what the MBTA has now.
MY Guy Glodis must have a few graffitti artists and/or painters on staff up there at the Hotel West Boylston as well as some general laborers who can sandblast....so therefore 1.6M$ sounds outrageous to me.
Ya think Guy will do the job for us? I am knot sew sure, given his piece in Sundays T&G (5-31) where he is crowing about the Crown Plazaz Hotel at Lincoln Sq hiring out of town contractors for renovations at the Hotel. Would Guy risk taking work (bridge painting) from local tradesmmen and giving it to his guests as who work for "non rated labor" rates? Stay tuned. Maybe Guy could sell that $300,000 SwatMobile that is rusting up at the jail and he can open a few pools with the proceeds......hell it should fetch $39,000 on Ebay...Guy can dub it "Wheels for Water" an offshoot of Kars For Kids
David, I am not afraid of change....except the change in my pocket that is continually getting taken for wasteful spending by the city. Acn you say 600 city'ees out injured on Duty ( per Rushton on Levys show a while back)..can you say 10 sick days on average for each city employee........can you say police dept payroll scandal??.........9 months and counting and will still have no report and where the city council on this issue.......???.....well they're filing orders about swimming pools and other minutae....talk having your head where your hemmorhoids are some issues.
David, with all due respect, I think you have to separate negativity from the reality of things........the city is fast moving toward receivership.....so why would I move to Spfld when I can enjoy municipal receivership right in Wormtown?
Please paint my street with 3 inches of new asphalt b4 they paint any bridges. Thanx
I just finished reading todays T&G in it's entirety.
Two topics caught my eye.....Summaaah Nationals and the street vendor issue.
Now the road through greenhill park is public a streeet/way......right??.......so how do street vendors at teh summer nationals set up their mobile food units for 4 days in the middle of a city park and in the middle of Grenhill Parkway w/o violating the new pushcart rules.............is there an exception for this type of event?
Jahn,
At least I know who the "Big Asshole" is now.
Thanks for "outing" (pun intended) yourself. LOL
check out the McGrath Hwy underpass at Washington Street rotary in Somerville....some creative folks came in and have done some pretty neat stuff...
I took the day off from all my "negativity" and golfed in the Koopman Lumber Golf Tournament. Great day, no rain, played with great guys and tied for first shooting -10.
That said "Big Asshole" outed himself? Dave Z am I missing something?
Why is it in this city, if you think something is not a good idea--you are negative? Sorry., I just don't think 1.6 million to paint bridges is a good idea.. Why is the mere act of simply not liking an idea be respected as my opinion?
I thought Dave Z was Dwight Evans?? Now you are telling me that he is "RBA" Really Big Asshole??
I thought Dave Z was Dwight Evans?? Now you are telling me that he is "RBA" Really Big Asshole??
No
Dave Z is Dewey, and I owe him a beer..
I still don't know who the Big A is, but Dave Z said he outed himself and I was confused..
Bill
Bill, eye think yore Ms. Understadning Dwights joke/pun re: my earlier innuendo about P-Town.
P.S. I know Dwight probably visits the head shoppe up there every summer where they used to have that 8 ft snake that died a few years ago. (No puns intended here at awl) I also believe the Poop Deck Lounge and Back Room Bar still exist up there. Post Office Pub ,too. Unfortuantely, Piggys Dance Bar closed up in the 70's :(
Re: That restaurant that the The Hand It Over Theatre people are going to open up........are they not required to have a certain number of parking spaces based on the number of seats in the place? Where's the required parking going to be?
Big A and Brendan expressed a view that may be realistic while others call them negative. There will always be good ideas and bad ones. To say 1.6 million is ridiculous or to say they do not agree with the idea is not being negative, it is simply being honest and in this case realistic. The city administration has and continues to nickle and dime other community organizations and neighborhood groups that have easily benefited the entire Worcester community, but at the same time it has no problem shelling out 1.6 million for paint for 5 bridges! What's up with that? Continuity and hypocrisy go a long way in this town. Under that light,that kind of dough for paint would smell a bit corrupt to any logical person. Back on track. The negativity comes from those who diss opposing voices by calling them "negative". That's the real problem in this city. I get the feeling, and maybe I wrong,( and so what anyways), from reading their blogs, that Big A and Buck really sincerely want Worcester to flourish for the benefit of it's people and not just for the benefit of a select click or profiteers. That's where real reform is needed. Ideals that are different should be discussed respectfully without adversarial deconstruction. That would be a great start to improving Worcester.
The problem w/ Big Asshole is that if HE disagrees with someone he'll past balls over your photo like he did to 4Rilla or he'll rant about speaking to a phone rep and how he was justified calling her the C word.
Doesn't sound like a positive role model to me.
Meantime a real advocate for the city, Paul Collyer, is being called names on his website.
Where's the justice?
doesn't anyone have a sense of humor anymore?
don't feel bad about me anon..not that you are:>)
I think it is an ole girlfriend banging me on my blog...even tho I have my fair share of detractors:>)
I am not sure what part of the community that is not being funded or is nickel and dimed that you speak of Recks Read...I see to many getting to much and doing very little to get it in this city....we have to many in this city that want what other cities have but we do not have the demographics to get it done..so we throw public money at it to get it done.
Recks Read,
When someone refers to Worcester as "Worstever", IMHO, they are just being negative. I agree with you that we need constructive criticism but there are good things happening in the city, too. Why do folks hide behind aliases on blogs griping about every idea that comes along? Where are their ideas?
I did a Canal District crawl a couple of weeks ago on a Saturday night. Yes, I parked the car and walked. Isn’t that a refreshing concept in Woo Town. I was amazed at the activity and vibrancy happening all around the area from Green Street to Kelly Square to Water Street and all of the streets in between. I stopped at Block 5, Dive Bar, Vernon Hotel among many others and had a great time.
There were throngs of pedestrians especially on Water Street. I had to blink my eyes to make sure I was actually in Worcester and not some Boston neighborhood or Davis Square in Somerville. Yes, the club scene is responsible for most if not all of this activity but if the kids are finding Worcester an interesting place to visit and play at night, we need to get them to stay or come back during the day. How can we capture even a small part of this vibrancy and bring it to the daylight hours? Give us ideas to accomplish this and then we can start a constructive dialogue.
I have stated this before on Paul Colyer’s blog that if Worcester proper was only D4 and D2 with the politicos actually living in these districts, the city would have a completely different vibe. But Worcester is what it is. So we have to make it the best that we can and Paul (and a few others) is doing just that with their commitment to the city.
Anonymous or not. An opinion is an opinion. Some of you who write in your true name and I still have no idea who you are nor does it really matter. Many writers use a pen name. Why is that even an issue? There is nothing wrong with a little levity. I will never complain about a writer's style. I'll leave that for the snobs. So, BA rants, and says some nasty things, his point is usually clear. It makes this blog universe a little more interesting for me. Not that you or anyone should care about what I say anyways. in the end it's all vanity, right? Hopefully, this is all about the ideas that are being shared not the personalities.
lets hear some ideas Reck Reads??? I am listening....Dave Z didn't bang you that much:>)
I asked a question? More sensitivity BS on blogs than actual discussion
I have no problem sharing my ideas. They are out there, many times wrapped into my comments when appropriate. BTW, reading many other comments. I see few ideas and more opinion as well. That's fine with me. As long as it inspires thought or brings me laughter. Thanks for being open to listening.
I would agree with you RR....more BS than actual discussion.....it is difficult getting discussion from folks today...sit down at Elm Park some night..watch all the couples walking together...usually both have a IPOD on and are not talking to each other:>)
Leave BA alone, he is just expressing his 'free speech'...
The more silly bloggahs want to join in, the better...
Harry T
Worcester, MA
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