Glad You Asked

Earlier today I read the NA Confidential blog by Roger Baylor, in which he questions my comments in a News and Tribune article by Daniel Suddeath on the current state of downtown New Albany. Roger felt I had betrayed an unspoken allegiance to a walkable New Albany by not seizing on the opportunity Suddeath offered to bring out the incantation of street conversion in my remarks.

First off, my belief in the efficacy of two-way streets is not unspoken.This blog is not often read, which is completely understandable, since it is not often written. When I do write something here, I do so because, however much below the radar it may be, it is a public airing of my thoughts, and as such is part of a public record to any who may care to read it. I mention this only to point out that on several occasions here, I have spoken about my belief that two-way streets are better than one- way streets. I believe they create a better commercial environment for our, or any other, downtown area. I believe a walkable city is a better place for people to live, and is ultimately a better place for businesses to thrive.

When Daniel interviewed me, he referred back to some conversations he'd had earlier in the day, or week, with Dave Duggins, and some others. Because I do feel that a walkable New Albany would be  a better environment for small and independent businesses, I thought of mentioning the conversion of one-way to two-way streets, since, as I said, I believe such a conversion brings us closer to that goal. Somehow or another, Daniel and I got on to another aspect of his question about what government can do to help stem the loss of businesses downtown, or to create a more fertile field in which to grow new businesses downtown.

I had been tuned to CNBC for much of the day, as the hosts of the shows on that network waxed orgasmic about the infusion of energy into the juggernaut of the marketplace brought on by Black Friday. Against the backdrop of that drumbeat of corporate/retail giantism,  Daniel's questions about what can be done to breathe life into small town America, specifically our town, went to a less hopeful part of my brain than I usually inhabit.

I'm not one who cares about getting a deal on things; I continuously pay  higher prices to buy from local vendors. Sometimes when I do, I can make myself believe that if we all do that, we can build a vibrant local economy in which independent businesses are able to swim against the rip tide of Amazon.com, WalMart, and the other mega gleaners in our economy. 

And then, I think about how the middle class in New Albany, or, in Anytown U.S.A., has been hollowed out, sold out to foreign, near-slave labor producers, and how many of those former middle classers are now forced to live a low-wage existence where the only places they can buy things for their families is at WalMart, or other such stores. As they step down the rungs, the once-strong, independent businesses are deprived of customers and a means to stay in business.

Since Roger mentioned two-way streets as a life saver for small town businesses, I thought of a local book store, Destinations Booksellers.  I think Destinations is a store of which any town, small or large, can be proud. Its proprietors, Ann and Randy Smith have done everything that can be done to make the store a bustling, successful addition to New Albany's commercial scene. I don't know their personal finances, but I think it's safe to say they would be happy with more customers. Destinations is located on one-way Spring Street.

When Daniel asked me if there's more government can do to promote local businesses, I answered "yes". I didn't say, "make the streets two-way." While I firmly believe one-way streets are obsolete auto-enablers, which make central cities less attractive places to live, I don't think they are the most significant thing standing in the way of a small-town urban renaissance. I don't think Randy Smith's customers will suddenly have to take a number so they can be waited on in a timely fashion after Spring Street becomes two-way. On the heels of Black Friday, which belongs now to the big box stores, comes Cyber Monday, which allows consumers, those who live for deals and convenience, the chance to shop in their bathrobes, or their birthday suits, all while getting a six or seven percent subsidy from the ether gods who charge no sales tax and offer free delivery.

As Cassius said, "the fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves." That's what I was trying to say when Daniel asked me his questions.

I long for a day when local prosperity stands a chance against the market giants we've elevated to Midashood. I'm all for changing New Albany's streets to two-ways if it helps our businesses, or even if it just makes the city a little better place to live. But, I'm afraid we have much, much, harder work to do. That hard work involves re-creating an economy, and a society, which existed once, but has been displaced now by what corporations see as a standard business model, advertisers see as fish in a barrel, and what most Americans see as a way of life, almost a birthright.    

I'm Thankful I Wasn't in Ferguson, Missouri

The year was 2002. It was the last day of the year. I had a stray day of vacation left to burn, to either use or lose. My plan was to sleep in a bit late, get ready and head over to our building in Louisville to putter about unhurriedly before treating myself to a leisurely lunch. No particular project was in need of completion. We had plans for the evening, so what time I spent at the building promised to be relatively brief. The last thing my wife said as I left was to make certain I made the deposit at the bank, so it would be caught in the final accounting for the year.

I arrived at the building around 10:00 AM, checked a few things and headed down to the basement. Today, the basement is mostly populated by artists and tradesmen. At that time, it was occupied by some guys making concrete countertops. They were dirty, undependable, careless, and prone to accidents. The perfect tenant, you might say. But, I was sure, their chronic irritation would be less so on this day since they had recently given notice of moving in a couple months, and since I had the leisurely day planned out already. I wasn't going to let it bother me anyhow. While chatting with the concrete company's owner, one of yutziest of his yutzes dislodged a sprinkler head. Glad that I was there for that near catastrophe, I calmly walked over to the main shutoff valve for the sprinkler system to avoid the inevitable watery chaos.

Apparently, as I moved the huge valve to shut off the water, I must have also disengaged a key component of my logic or cognitive system. Had I not just discussed with the maintenance man where I worked how to drain the system and reset it? A piece of cake, and a minor delay, nothing else. I was still intent on having a couple brews with my long-anticipated lunchtime leisure, but I also didn't want to pay an exorbitant bill to the sprinkler company if I didn't have to. So I set about on a series of Rube Goldberg innovations designed to avoid calling the sprinkler company. Each segment of the plan was daft, and doomed in its own way. Each failure placed my leisurely lunch a bit farther out of reach. As the water continued to flow out the drain I accepted that I was having to reschedule, now for a late-leisurely lunch. (I think I might even have had a special cigar in reserve to enhance the relaxing mood I knew was just around the corner)

Inevitably, I called the sprinkler company to shut the water off and reset the system. Hours ticked away. A check was written. A leisurely lunch eluded me. A woman's voice gently chided me to do just one thing before I headed home--MAKE THAT BANK DEPOSIT BEFORE THE YEAR MELTS AWAY. That gentle reminder seeped into my brain at about twelve minutes before the bank was to close, and the bank was about ten minutes away.

I ran out the door, jumped in the car and was making great time until some annoying red and blue flashing lights invaded my rear view mirror. I stopped the car, threw the door open and stormed back to the guy in the offensively illuminated car. He scolded me, and told me to go get back in my car and await his return, as he checked my license plate to verify the car's rightful owner. (I always travel with a blood pressure gauge and as I awaited his return to my car door I amused myself by seeing how high I could get the numbers to climb.)

When the cop returned to my car door, he said, "let's start this over." It turned out he didn't like the sight of a man in a black coat, with anger in his eyes, charging toward his car. He said he felt threatened and wondered if he was going to see his little three year old girl that night. I know I'm a gentle soul. I don't own a gun. I meant the cop no harm. But I was truly and fully pissed off, and he was not helping matters by going on about running stop signs and not wearing seat belts. I allowed as how I might have been a bit overwrought, and the tension somewhat abated. He chuckled and said, "You know, you almost got a taste of my Mag Light." I contemplated how the loss of my front teeth in such an incident might further jaundice my perception of the police.

As this article highlights, the Louisville police force around that very time was not doing its utmost to promote good community relations.

And now these dozen years later, incident piles on incident of police shooting, beating, singling out black men. The ones who make the news, maybe didn't get a chance, or at least not the same chance I got, to chill, and "start this over." I still have my teeth, but many of the black men who run up against the law taste the Mag Light, or feel the sting of a billy club. Some police forces are like mini-armies. Local police forces have armed up with surplus gear shed by our foreign military adventures.

I don't have any answers on how to reduce police over-reaction. Being a cop is a job I know I couldn't and wouldn't do. But, I have a pretty good idea that the day I had planned on having a leisurely year-end lunch might have worked out much differently if I were black.

  

A Moveable Feast

In tonight's News and Tribune (October 14, 2014) the topic of changing the location of Harvest Homecoming's booths was reported. The Harvest Homecoming festival's president, Jeff Cummins, said, "the Harvest Homecoming Committee is open to suggestions about improving the festival..."

So, here goes.

The current layout for the festival's booths includes these streets and blocks: Market from State to  Third Street (3 blocks)

Pearl Street from Spring to Main (2 blocks)

Bank Street from Spring to Main (2 blocks)

One of the reasons cited by those who object to the Harvest Homecoming's occupation of the downtown streets is that it discombobulates the year round store owners and restaurateurs for the benefit of the festival during its five day run. Further, those not enamored of Harvest Homecoming say that the stakeholders in downtown businesses don't really benefit from the erection of the booths, while it is they who try to make a living downtown the other 51 weeks of the year.

I recall when the festival began in the late Sixties or early Seventies. Downtown New Albany was a much different place then. Quite a few stores were still hanging on to the hope of a business revival against the onslaught of the malling of America, and its local outbreaks found in Clarksville and Louisville. The festival itself was quite different then, too. The footprints of its modest beginnings were confined to fewer blocks. The beer garden actually coexisted with the other booths along Bank Street.

Rather than a business revival, the store owners downtown saw the dismal Seventies, and the wrenching Eighties dash those hopes in a collapse encountered across the land by countless small towns that lost stores, dining, and service businesses to the sprawlers and the big boxers. Because those lean years stretched on into the Nineties, no one seemed to question the logic of handing over the downtown to a once-a-year fling, and the festival grew without constraints. During those lean times, the festival was a welcome change from the boring tune of decline and vacancy which played endlessly on the downtown juke. It seemed to be the song we would always sing until it would become our requiem.

But then a wind of change began to stir here, in New Albany, and in other small towns around the nation. Buy local became an organizing principle for reborn small towns. People began to see that wealth of local origin is a heartier variety of wealth; it is one that can build sustainable prosperity because it is built of the community, and in the community. Some of those who have put skin in the game of downtown revival have begun to question if the model of Harvest Homecoming born in the lean times now jibes with the better days downtown.

While I have no direct stake in the downtown, I, and we all, have a stake in building a sustainable prosperity for our city. So, when one person, or one group sounds a cautionary note about the Harvest Homecoming, and when that note is given front page ink in the News and Tribune, it becomes a topic of general concern.

I first began to hear rumblings against the disruption caused by Harvest Homecoming about ten years ago. It seemed parochial at the time and, I thought, rooted in people being forced out of their usual parking places downtown. It sounded baseless and a little short sighted. More recently, Roger Baylor of the New Albanian Brewing Company, and a stakeholder in downtown New Albany's revival, has been beating the drum for a retooling of the Harvest Homecoming. Baylor has been surprisingly willing to air his opinion on the topic. This may not be widely known, but Baylor rubs some people the wrong way. And, some people will disregard what he says simply because it is he who says it. But, as the adage says, don't shoot the messenger.

Since Mr. Cummins welcomed ideas, and since the Tribune has elevated the festival topic to wider discussion,  it seems the future of the festival and the continued health of the downtown revival could be best served by making the Harvest Homecoming a moveable feast, migrating from one part of downtown to another, as conditions change and dictate. New Albany's downtown was benefitted by the stimulus of the Harvest Homecoming in the festival's early years. I believe the festival is still  a net plus for the city, but it could be a greater contributor to the city which, at no small cost to the taxpayers, mobilizes for, and welcomes its pitching of the tents each year.

If, instead of the layout shown above, the festival's booths moved to different streets, the festival could again serve a revivifying function for downtown. The layout listed above totals seven blocks. The following layout also comprises seven blocks, although these blocks are adjacent to the heart of the downtown. While the festival's 250,000 to 300,000 attendees would still come downtown for the event, they would be somewhat away from what is currently ground zero. This should bring welcome potential customers downtown while not so seriously disrupting the normal flow of commerce.

A possible layout is:

Third Street from Spring to Main (2 blocks)

Market from Bank to Third (1 block)

Bank Street from Market to the railroad tracks (2 blocks)

Main Street, which is no longer a state highway, from Bank to Third Street (2 blocks)

This aims the festival slightly to the East and South of its current venue while leaving the streets in front of the majority of downtown stores and restaurants open for business. I would expect the merchants in the newly vacated streets to open their doors to the festival-goers, although now their doors would not be blocked by booths. Hopefully, the biggest problem facing the merchants would be dealing with an overflow of customers brought downtown by Indiana's biggest street festival. 

Broken Record

Boxing Day

As Daniel Suddeath reported in the June 20*, News and Tribune, the building at 922 Culbertson is in the sights of the demolition crew. This is a shame, and it didn't, and still doesn't, have to happen.

The worn-out phrase from some distant management guru applies in this case, it is the requirement to think outside the box.

Inside the box, we see inadequate code-enforcement leading to the deterioration of the structure, which set it on its present perilous course. Many building in New Albany are in sorry shape. Are all  these blighters the result of blind eyes in the past? If so, good, we can place blame with people who came before us, and what good does that do anyone?

Are the members of preservation groups strident in defense of the city's historic buildings and neighborhoods; do these groups, or individuals within these groups, rub bureaucrats and policy makers the wrong way? Probably, and so what? Is the Horseshoe Foundation derelict in its mission, not abiding by its bylaws which call on the Foundation to support historic preservation? A lot of people think so.

I've heard that in place of the old tavern will be several newly-designed versions of  Habitat for Humanity houses. This laudable group does good and meaningful work, and is worthy of support, however, the houses they have designed for New Albany leave much to be desired. The placement and design of the houses does nothing to help the city escape the branding of certain parts of town as underprivileged, less desirable neighborhoods, and, therefore does not break the cycle of exclusion and poverty for the residents of those neighborhoods. Inside the Culbertson Avenue box, if the Habitat solution is chosen, we seem intent on making sure that this depressed neighborhood stays depressed and looks the part.

Does New Albany have money to fund the preservation and reuse of the building at 922 Culbertson? Not if you listen to the noise within the box.

Outside the box, there's plenty of money to salvage this building and help this neighborhood, as Suddeath reported June 19*. The sewer bond restructuring will pipe over a million dollars into City coffers. The rehabilitation of the building at 922 Culbertson has been estimated at between $150,000-300,000. Since the available funds to save this building would come from this rewrite of the bonds, perhaps it is fitting that the Sewerage Department share in the benefits of its salvation. Since the City's exhaustive search for willing parties to take on the rejuvenation process of the building has produced no results, why not use some of the savings from the sewer bonds, to invest in a first class renovation of the property and move the Sewer Billing offices there?

The structure is large enough to allow for the operations of that office to be housed on the main floor, with additional space on the upper floor for private offices for sewer employees or a field office for code enforcement, a police substation, or many other public uses. Even with the sewer offices there, the large main room of the tavern would be an ideal setting for a neighborhood Assembly Room, where from time to time governmental meetings could be held, including some City Council meetings. This would be an opportunity to deliver government services to the place where people live.

If the City's use of the property has the effect I believe it would, adding stability and vitality to that neighborhood, it need not be a permanent part of the neighborhood. The City's tenancy could be ended any time and the structure could be sold to private users. But, those private users would be buying into a part of town that has been greatly improved, and more inviting of private investment.

Inside the box rests a wrecking ball. Outside the box lies an open-ended list of possibilities.

One choice requires no imagination, and returns very little to the citizens of that neighborhood, or the city at large.

The other choice requires a hopeful vision for the city and all of its neighborhoods, a commitment to work toward an environmentally sustainable future, a city of walkable, safe, prosperous and interesting neighborhoods. What's the point of walkable neighborhoods, if you have no place to walk to?

Such neighborhoods can help New Albany rebuild, and bring vitality back to the city, as young people starting new families are given what many of their contemporaries are currently seeking in the older neighborhoods of Louisville, such as Germantown and the Highlands. It is not an overnight fix. It is, rather, a long slow process, and one which is immensely helped with a focal point such as the 922 building. If we don't seize some opportunity with this building, it will be a mistake. Will it be a mistake fatal to New Albany's future? Of course not. But it will be a mistake which we didn't need to make if we just looked outside the box.The lid's open. All we need to do is step out.

*June 20, 2014--News and Tribune, Old New Albany tavern to be torn down
*June 19, 2014--News and Tribune, New Albany City Council acts to restructure sewer bonds       

   

Just a Couple of Crazy Kids With a Dream

Of course the trajectory of crazy the Las Vegas Teabaggers were on, which ended in yet a few more tragic gun deaths, was probably pre-ordained to end in the deaths of the zealots themselves, at their own hands.

Perhaps the now-bastardized slogan, purloined by the radical Tea Party, needs a tweak. In addition to the standard, the Miller's flag might read, "Don't Tread On Me... I'll Tread On Me."

Attention Shoppers

In honor of the Twenty Fifth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, consumers across America can take an additional 25% off the price of any item bearing the Made in China label. At participating stores...today only

No Brainers

Saturday night my wife and I went to a wonderful movie, The Railway Man, and on the way home we decided to walk across the Big Four Bridge, since it was recently opened on both sides. Out of habit, we headed toward River Road in Louisville to our normal point of departure for such walks. At the Vernon Lanes I suggested that we should go instead to Jeff and ascend there, and we did.

While on the circuitous ramp up to the bridge itself, we were both amazed at how many people were taking advantage of the beautiful evening to explore this new addition to the Falls Cities. Once on the deck of the bridge I thought, turning this relic of the heydays of railroads into an amenity for our communities has been a real smash hit. Now that it is obviously successful, some may call the bridge's repurposing a no brainer.

This successful, concrete, example of a community-wide reach beyond our pre-constrained vision of the place we live, made me think of what other no-brainers, perhaps obscured by the darkness of our self-imposed limits, simply wait for a light bulb to click on to bring them into view.

Then, upon reflection, I thought, we are awash in a different kind of no-brainers as well, and it is those people that block out  the light, whether for budgetary, or cognitive-comfort reasons. Or is it simply because they are, themselves, dim bulbs?

The no-brainers, however, that most interest me here are the ones which, if brought to life, would be widely recognized as positive additions to our local scene. Of course, the list here is by no means exhaustive.

Heading up the list is, of course, the missing link to a pedestrian/bicycle loop between the Falls Cities--the K & I Bridge. If the intransigence of the Norfolk Southern bureaucracy maintains, and the railroad's no-public-use policy stays in place, then we, as a community, need to find a way to circumvent that stubbornness. Perhaps the railroad would permit use of the bridge's existing piers so a relatively lightweight structure of cantilevered design could be added to the bridge, independent of its functional aspects. Keep in mind that about $20 million of the total cost to transform the Big Four was eaten up in the approach ramps to that bridge. The K & I approaches are at ground level already, so we're ahead of that project by a huge amount.

Another no-brainer is a comprehensive reclamation of Falling Run Creek as a meandering park throughout much of our city. The current state of the creek in many places is shameful. And yet, it is a diamond in the rough which could be a walking/biking/jogging path through the city. Since Falling Run feeds into the Ohio, a reasonable case could be made that it should be part of the Ohio River Greenway.

New Albany is perilously close to losing its freight rail capability. Freight that is not shipped by rail will, by default, be shipped by truck, and those trucks will travel on city streets. A goal of economic development staff should be to provide incentives to make rail freight more feasible for local manufacturers. Globe Mechanical, QRS Recycling and the City's own waste water treatment plant could possibly become customers on the rail line running practically through their properties. Any additional freight shipments by rail help to strengthen that vital element of our infrastructure while keeping heavy trucks off city streets.

A local look at light rail, unfortunately, brings up one of the other kinds of no-brainers. Several years ago, Louisville appeared poised to head toward a light rail system. With little explanation, Mayor Jerry Abramson nixed the tentative move toward that sensible mode of transportation. It was a loss for Louisville for sure, but it was also a setback for the region, its environment, and its air quality. Had a viable light rail system been in place, would we still be building toll roads today?

Today's edition of the Moyers and Company show featured Joseph Stiglitz. The economist discussed the inequality of today's tax system which unfairly burdens the middle class, while rewarding large corporations with the lowest taxes in modern US history. Those large corporations often make money outside the US, and to avoid taxes if returning the money to the US, they simply leave it in foreign banks and foreign countries. It does nothing to improve the quality of life for our own citizens. These  expatriate corporations drive down the wage structure of this nation and rob the country of the necessary tax money to invest in infrastructure, education, health care, technological innovation and many of the other things we've ransomed to right wing, anti-tax, ideologues. How's this tie into no-brainer's?

Just this, if we stand any chance of holding onto democracy in this country it will be because we have bought into and nurtured the trend of buying local. Just as Tip O'Neill said, "all politics is local", in light of extra-national corporations driving down wages, the quality of life, and substituting jobbettes for good jobs, union jobs, in this country, we need to recognize that all prosperity is local. Every policy of our local government needs to favor locally owned businesses, whether in purchasing on the basis of local ownership over price, or in clearing hurdles for new local businesses starting up. If a policy or rule is found to favor national companies over local companies, that rule must go.

If we focus on building a strong local economy, and do things that make our city innovative, sustainable, safe, and inviting, we'll find we have a better community to call home. Some might call that a no brainer.

A Golden Oldie Rings True Today

The Lion of the Senate speaking then, to today's Teapubligarchs?

The Sum of Its Parts

The building above, shown in Christopher Fryer's photograph, remains a structure in jeopardy.
When I was a child, my father, my uncle and my grandfather referred to this neighborhood tavern as Dorothy's. That may or may not have been the name of it. But for some reason, unfathomable to me, and now known only to those long-departed souls, going to Dorothy's was a special gustatory treat.  If my father and I dropped in at my grandfather's house, where my uncle also lived, for a Saturday afternoon visit, my uncle would occasionally announce with glee, as though it were a good thing, "Dorothy's made liver and onions". And off we would walk, from Elm Street to the building pictured above. An unspoken deal let me substitute a coke and potato chips for the offal and onions. We went there other times, besides these sterling occasions, and had things I considered food, open-faced roast beef sandwiches, mashed potatoes, all drowned in gravy. It was a good neighborhood spot. It was one of many neighborhood taverns in New Albany. It was a part of the fabric of the community.

Today, that fabric is soiled and frayed along with that part of our community. The causes of deterioration in this and other parts of the inner city are, to be sure, numerous and difficult to turn around. Disengaged, greedy, slumlords can claim some of the credit for the shape of inner city New Albany. Macro trends, such as chain restaurants, long ago doomed neighborhood taverns, which were not simply beer joints, but were also family restaurants spread through neighborhoods across town. People were lured out of the inner city by modern houses in outwardly spreading developments. National economic trends since the seventies have put in place stagnating wages, lowered expectations,  a dwindling middle class, and a class stratification unknown since the early part of the Twentieth Century.

All of these, and other factors add up to a sad situation in which New
Albany and countless other cities, large and small, find themselves. Inner city neighborhoods are deteriorating, while distant, greedy, rapacious, banks hold key pieces of real estate which they allow to deteriorate further, taking with them the hope of revival of the inner city. According to a Tribune article, dated April 1, 2014, the Wells Fargo banking chain owns the building I refer to as Dorothy's. I don't know how it came to own this particular piece of property, although I know that when the de-regulated banking industry inflated the housing bubble, along with its profits, the bursting bubble inflicted financial damage on many cities and towns in the U.S..  Wells Fargo has no stake in this or many other communities in which it holds under-water properties. Wells Fargo sees no percentage in trying to help those interested in saving Dorothy's. It probably sees the building as a distressed building with no prospects for rehabilitation, in a distressed neighborhood with little prospect for what it recognizes as prosperity.

Dorothy's is certainly in a bad situation. It sits within a neighborhood that has seen some attempt at revival, and yet the evidence of the multi-million dollar attempt (the Neighborhood Stabilization Program NSP), is often lost within the remaining sub-standard housing stock. Quite a few people don't see the value in what the NSP has accomplished. A common refrain from those unimpressed by the NSP's results is, "the best thing you can do for those places is bring in a bulldozer and clear the lots"; presumably those places are the ones that didn't make the NSP cut, the ones which remain un-rehabilitated.

Faced with all of the force pushing against the neighborhood at Tenth and Culbertson, I believe the last thing that part of town needs is a vacant corner lot.

The second to last thing the neighborhood needs is an abandoned, dilapidated, visual insult, such as that seen in the current condition of the building.

I'll leave it to others more versed in historic preservation, to detail the significance of this building. My primary concern is the inclusion of a minus sign in the equation of neighborhood, and citywide, renewal, and New Albany's tentative steps toward walkability. Another equation worth remembering when considering the future of historic buildings:
gone=gone=gone forever.

There are few buildings in New Albany that deserve help and protection more than this forlorn structure. It dominates a corner within a distressed neighborhood. Prior to the loss of the canopy over the sidewalk, it was an even more impressive structure. Between the time it ceased to be a bar, it went through many years as a disgraceful excuse for living quarters. A slumlord milked the building for  all it was worth, while putting little or nothing back into preserving it. Years of neglect were either ignored or allowed, until we have now reached a crisis point which is likely to result in tearing down the building.

I believe that building can again be a jewel in that neighborhood. Once it is lost, it will not be replaced by anything with as much potential to save and add to the character of the neighborhood. I don't have any idea of what could eventually go into building, if rehabilitated, I do think it should be of a commercial nature, though. But, I have seen cities across the United States where off-the-beaten-path places survive and serve as anchors to revived neighborhoods. There is no reason that can't be the case with New Albany, unless of course we take the easy way out and simply scour the neighborhood of our past mistakes.

Getting that building back on its feet needs to be an effort with backing from City government. Direct involvement by government is not necessarily called for, but help in protecting the building from the wanton disregard of Wells Fargo, until help from private individuals can be marshaled is completely appropriate. This would be an excellent opportunity for the Horseshoe Foundation to fulfill its mission of historic preservation. Saving that building will not be easy. We've already had easy: easy enforcement of regulations, take it easy attitudes toward slumlords. The hard work of saving one important structure is crucial to preserving a neighborhood trying to get back on its feet.

Will we muster the effort to rebuild a neighborhood with a walkable, sustainable future? Or, will we, taking the easy way out, pocket the dividends of decay, and tell Dorothy's goodbye?       

Possibilities

In as dispassionate a way as possible, I present a few thoughts on why the City, on behalf of its citizens, should consider looking a few hundred feet  west of the current Farmers Market location for a new and better location for this important community feature. I will present this list for discussion at Thursday's Common Council Meeting. 

 

__________________________________________________________

 

REASONS WHY MOVING THE FARMERS MARKET TO THE PARKING 

 GARAGE CAN BENEFIT THE MARKET AS WELL AS THE DOWNTOWN        

 

1. Doubles covered area of market

2. Provides covered, shaded parking for vendors’ trucks, keeping food items out of heat

3. Already handicapped accessible

4. The concrete mass of the garage acts like an air conditioner

5.  Approx. 10,000 square feet of dedicated street and sidewalk space during market hours

6. Traffic not blocked—one side of Market Street (southern side of median) would be open to traffic

7. Garage would be livened up to make it a more inviting space for market with added lighting, decoration, and functional upgrades, such as electrical hookups for vendors

8. Historic Farmers Market of New Albany was located in Market Street area in front of the parking garage

9. Bathrooms can be added at garage site and would be a more wide-reaching amenity for the entire downtown, its shoppers, visitors, and its merchants

10. Bathroom facility could double as an information kiosk, like Madison’s Comfort Station—a refurbished filling station in downtown Madison, Indiana

11. Redevelopment funds for this Tax Increment Financing facility might cover some physical alterations to garage, possibly leading to future use of garage for customer parking during Saturday market, if feasible

12. After bathrooms, lights, and facelift, money would still be left to cover other enhancements for the market beyond the physical expansion, such as pedal-powered taxis to carry shoppers back to their cars with their purchases. Offering such a service could also provide a few good part time jobs for pedal-taxi drivers

13. The Bank and Market site can be elevated to higher use than the 8-10 hours a week for ½ the year of the market’s use, such an upgrade of this strategic corner could solidify the downtown revival while building a foundation for future growth

14. The parking garage is especially under-utilized on weekends. Moving the market here helps unlock the value of the sunk costs in this multi-million dollar community asset.

Nip It. Nip It In The Bud.

Deputy Bernard P. Fife

 

As  legions of electronic visitors to Mayberry know well, Barney Fife was diligent in the prevention of mayhem. His sage advice, often proffered to Sheriff Andy Taylor, was to engage in bud nipping whenever and wherever the situation called for it. And, in the good deputy's view the early derailment of trouble was always the best course.

 

Noted author and planner, Jeff Speck, has been chosen to study New Albany's traffic situation. It is hoped his fresh perspective will yield a plan to help us deal with a possible double whammy, courtesy of the Bridges Project: 1. the effects of a period of  disruption resulting from bridge construction, only to be followed by 2. the on-going,  increased flow of pass-through traffic, owing to the dubious honor of being the main toll-free passage across the river.

 

As we await the results of Speck's work, I've been considering a rather nagging empirical counterpoint to the notion of converting one-way streets to a two-way pattern.  If two-way streets are better than one-ways, why is East Spring Street, east of Vincennes, such an unappealing place to be? I fully believe two-ways to be superior to one-way streets, but here's this major stretch of one of the majorest streets in town, populated by many nice houses that have seen their better days, many days ago. Here's a street where I witnessed a child barely escape being run over because there's no truly safe way to cross that street in places.

 

I don't share Speck's background, education , or experience, yet I think I know something Mr. Speck doesn't know yet. That's not a knock on him, he is yet to begin his study, so he hasn't looked in depth at this place we call home. What I think I know is that Spring Street is the open, unrestricted pipe pouring traffic into New Albany. Once that traffic pours into town, it causes traffic problems there, and down the line; problems we have earlier attempted to deal with by using parking restrictions and one-way streets. In the other two lanes, the traffic is flowing unrestricted the other way, out of town. It also creates traffic problems, and these we addressed by eliminating on-street parking. Put both those high volume corridors together and you have an inhospitable place for people. Make someplace inhospitable to people, and it becomes a place where property values fall, rental housing dominates, and the neighborhood slips further and further toward the point of no return.

 

Because this section of Spring Street delivers such a volume of traffic into the city, and because of the effects  this traffic has on the people who live there, East Spring Street is a prime candidate for the doctrine of Fifeism.

 

We need to nip traffic in the bud there. The place to do it is on Spring Street, as high volumes of traffic flow into and out of the city. And the way to do it is to allow on-street parking, from the entrance to New Albany to Spring Street Hill.

 

The positive impact of such a change would be to lessen the volume of traffic, slow the speed of traffic, make the street safer and more inviting for pedestrians,and I believe, those changes would make the houses along that section of Spring Street more desirable. That is a first step in re-establishing this neighborhood as part of a Walkable City.

 

Much of the traffic that does not flow on Spring Street would instead use the beltway of I-265* to get into or out of town. Because the flow of traffic through town would be reduced, I believe many of the other issues facing inner city traffic would be diminished, to the point of nearly solving themselves. But the good thing is, we don't have to let those problems solve themselves. That's why Jeff Speck is coming to town. When he gets here, I hope he will at least consider what Traffic Consultant, Barney Fife, might have told him if he were on the beat here today.        

 

 

 *Disclaimer:  My wife and I live within the pernicious aural shadow of I-265 and I-64. Whether we stay put or get blown out of a place we've lived for 27 years on the blast of a Jake Brake, the fact remains, New Albany's traffic problems can be greatly controlled by nipping traffic in the bud at Silver Creek. Soon the deleterious effects  the Bridges Projects has on the people who live near these interstate arteries must be addressed. That won't be simple and it won't be cheap. And, it wasn't included in the original cost of the Bridges Project. 

Pitch Till You Win

At tomorrow's Board of Works meeting, New Albany will likely take a step toward re-orienting its traffic grid. The Board will consider the Mayor's proposal to hire Jeff Speck as the studier-in-charge of a closer look at our streets. That's a very good portent of better days for downtown.

Although I've been opposed to spending money on a traffic study, because I think the answer such a study would reveal is self-evident. And, it seems, Mr. Speck has been opposed to such studies as well, if one can deduce that an opinion, "traffic studies are bullshit", (Page 81, Walkable City, Jeff Speck, Copyright 2012, Farrar, Straus and Giroux) translates to at least a modicum of disapproval of such an exercise. I am most heartily on board with this turn of events, since at least we know where this study is likely to lead us. Which of course begs another question, but who's asking? And, why stand in the way of something positive?

Jump Step

"You can't steal second base with your foot on first."
                         
 ___ probably, Zig Ziglar


The proposal to move the New Albany Farmer's Market from it's current site at Bank and Market Streets to the City-owned parking garage at Market and State Streets was run up the flagpole, here, last Friday. While it has not been universally saluted with the honorific forehead salute, neither has it received an abundance of one-finger salutes.

Assurance was given that at Tuesday's Board of Works meeting the awarding of contracts was to be withheld, pending discussion of other options for funding the market's makeover.

The Farmer's Market has an enviable record of success at its current location. I applaud and support the efforts of those who have brought it to this juncture. But, New Albany has likewise reached a juncture. One where we can embrace the efforts of those who have led the entrepreneurial resurgence of the downtown. Stretch the economic development canvas so as to paint a brighter future for downtown. Or, we can  hunker down, stay on the same path, and recoil from something untried and new.

The appropriated sum of $270,000, which the City Council approved in this year's budget was found to be an insufficient amount to cover the plans for the market's expansion at its current site. That fiscal insufficiency proved to be a key which has opened a broader discussion of the market, its hold on the current location and what the market means to New Albany's revival, as well as the value, recognized or not, of the oversight function of the City Council. Not a few Council members felt the project landed on our table fully formed, with little or no consultation or review by the Council, beyond the initial assent to the mayor's budget. While any individual Council member stands lower than the Mayor in the governance pyramid of this City, as a body we stand more as equals.

I support the Farmer's Market's expansion. I simply am not sold on its expansion at the current site. As I stated previously, I see several reasons why a move to the parking garage would be a good one for the market's future.

If we continue with the market at the current site, I would suggest that it be the City's policy to actively promote that property for a return to tax-paying status by seeking qualified developers to envision a use for the property, a vision in line with its strategic placement in the downtown. The right development of the property, currently occupied by the Farmer's Market, can aid greatly the entrepreneurial renewal of the downtown, keeping it on track and moving forward. And the current market should be allowed to stay at the site, if those in charge wish it so, but at the current footprint, with no expansion, while the City actively pursues higher and greater uses for the property. If the pursuit of a developer yields nothing worthwhile within a reasonable time frame then we could proceed with the market's expansion at that site. Implicit in that plan is the understanding that if a strong enough developer wished to pursue a project on that site, those plans would still come to fruition, albeit at a higher cost to the developer.

If the people who have led the market to its current success see fit to move to the parking garage, they should know that it would be possible to open half of Market Street, out to the median, in front of the garage for market shoppers/visitors, while still keeping the street on the other side of the median open to traffic. The market space under roof, by using only the level, un-sloped surface of the garage on the street level would be at least double the current space under roof at the Bank street location. The installation of electrical hookups, and sanitary facilities would not deplete the appropriated amount of $270,000, so there would still be some significant amount of money available for the enhancement of the market in its new location. There would be money to offer something like a bicycle rickshaw to move shoppers and their purchases back to their cars, for example.  And there would be no effort overhanging the market to find a buyer for the site.

When I originally proposed the garage as a site for the market it was done as a reaction to the higher cost the Council was being asked to agree to. But, since that idea was originally voiced, I 've come to believe there are stronger reasons than cost alone supporting a move of the market to the garage. And I believe those reasons would work to the long term benefit of the Farmer's Market as a valuable, sustainable, and important part of the downtown's current success. All while setting the table for infill growth at the corner of Bank and Market Streets, which can further advance the revitalization of our city.

Bill of Fare

Last night at the Common Council meeting, the civic equivalent of haggis was served to some picky Council diners. Following on the heels of a Tribune article, Wednesday the 19th, which revealed that a Farmer's Market redo had arrived at the table ready for consumption, came news that we're going be about $75,000 short of paying the tab.

While the Council had appropriated $270,000 for an addition at the existing market site, because of grading, and drainage work at the expansion, those funds would be insufficient. A discussion of the new reality revealed little stomach for additional funds for the expansion.

A somewhat offhand remark led to further exploration following the meeting. The remark was a question, "had it been considered to move the Farmer's Market to the municipal parking garage?" Prior to looking for ways to meet the new funding requirements of the Farmer's Market expansion, at the current site, it might be worthwhile to consider some of the benefits of moving to a new venue at the parking garage, which is hardly used on weekends.

Final action to award contracts on  work at the current site is slated for the Board of Works meeting coming up on Tuesday, February 25. If awarded, work on the current site would be contractually on track to begin. In relation to item number 9, below, the future of a portion of downtown New Albany would be settled for generations, and at a lower level of general prosperity than our city deserves, and recent positive action there shows we are capable of mounting. Handling that property today, with the future in mind, can help sustain prosperity for our posterity. 

1. One of the prime factors driving up the cost of the current site's retrofit is grading of the existing parking lot to make it handicapped-accessible. The garage is completely handicapped-accessible, and even includes an elevator.

2. Focusing just on the flat surface of the first level, the garage is as large, or nearly as large as the existing market, and would provide covered market space for vendors and shoppers alike.

3. Vendors could park their cars and trucks further back in the garage in the shade, so their produce or other wares could be protected from the summer sun. The same parking pattern might free up spaces for shoppers at the market which are now taken up by some vendors.

4. Because Market Street is divided by the median, and is currently one way, the Saturday Farmer's Market could use the north side of Market Street for street vendors, along with spaces inside the garage, especially on good-weather days. While on rainy days, vendors and shoppers would more fully appreciate the covered spaces inside the garage. All this would be done without closing a street, as is done now on Bank Street.

5. Because of the mass of concrete of the garage itself, and because of the open-sided construction of the facility, breezes flowing through the structure would make for more comfortable shopping in summer's heat.

6. The Farmer's Market, in its current location, has become successful and is a welcome addition to downtown New Albany. Its success could easily be moved a few hundred feet down the street to the garage, which could help bolster that part of the downtown.

7. Another driver of the high cost of the proposed expansion market is public restrooms and storage space for them site. The parking garage was built with manned attendant booths. While these are no longer manned, it is likely the original design of the garage may have included, at least, roughed-in sanitary hookups for the benefit of the attendants; these hookups, if in that original design, would cut thousands of dollars from the cost of the bathrooms. Even if not in place, they could be built within or near the existing structure, for prices competitive with the planned bathrooms at the current site.

8. Just because the market were relocated to the parking garage, there is no need to be hasty in removing the existing structure. If, after a reasonable time, the garage location, for some reason didn't work, then the expansion of the current facility could be revisited.

9. If, on the other hand, the market were successful at the new garage site, (and it likely would be, because the local food movement is real and has been embraced by so many) then the current market site at Bank and Market Streets could be returned to service as a fully functional component of downtown commercial revitalization. It makes little sense to have one of the most economically valuable, as well as spatially valuable, pieces of property in the entire downtown, off the tax rolls, and dedicated to only intermittent use for eight or ten days a month six or seven months out of the year.

If set on a different course, that corner could be thrown open to a design challenge which could yield exciting possibilities not now visualized.

If, on the other hand, the City commits hundreds of thousands of dollars to that corner, the very expenditure itself is likely to shackle us to that piece of property, while other more profitable, enhancing, and defining, uses of the property are turned away from the downtown and, rather, sent to the outer reaches of town where development, while necessary and welcome, contributes less to what is the true heart of our City.

10. As a community, we have spent millions of dollars on the parking garage. Relocating the Farmers Market to that site will save most of the $270,000 allocated for a facelift of the current market. It will help us benefit from the sunk cost of the garage, while opening up the corner of Bank and Market to a fuller contribution to a more prosperous future for New Albany.

For these reasons, and probably more, I believe we need to hold off on awarding contracts for the current plan, and see if the parking garage at State and Market Streets offers a good alternative to the existing site of the Farmer's Market at Bank and Market Streets. The two sites may only be a few hundred feet away from each other, but they are hundreds of thousands of dollars apart in cost, and worlds away in the possibilities they offer to the downtown's future. 

 

Replay From 2011

 

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Hat Trick on the Nudge List

This post is originally from just before the 2011 City election. The Nudge List was my version of a platform. Today, in  February 2014 it is worth a review. Cherry Street is little improved, but some action at the proposed dog park site may be on the horizon.

 

________________________________________

 

 

The post to which this refers was originally was written on September 20, 2011. It lists a number of goals I want to nudge the next mayor into pursuing. This focuses on three of those. The original can be viewed by scrolling down to September 20, 2011.

On one of the first cool Saturdays of fall we walked to the farmer's market from our house on Captain Frank Road. On the way to the market we walked along State Street after turning from Captain Frank. The return trip was State to Cherry, then through the graveyard on West Street.

Of striking note was the high number of vacant houses on Cherry Street. Cherry is a relatively short street of something less than a full mile. In that short stretch, we counted six or seven vacant houses, comprising as much as one third of the entire street's houses. Some were in poor condition, most were simply vacant.

At the intersection of Cherry and State Streets is a ponding area for the inconvenient, and seasonal, collection of excessive rain. It also claims the hosting of a billboard as one of its purposes. This forlorn acreage, though highly visible from one of our main thoroughfares, State Street, is usually in an unkempt state of overgrowth and seeming abandonment. It is bounded by State Street, Cherry Street, PC Building Materials, and Falling Run Creek.

A missing line on the list of amenities to be found in New Albany is a dog park. Such a place allows citizens with dogs the privilege of exercising their pets off-leash in a protected, confined, and legal, area. Louisville has several such parks, and they are provided in many cities across the U.S.. For people with dogs nothing compares with the reward your pet realizes from an unfettered run to burn off energy and get the exercise he needs.

One boundary of the ponding area is Falling Run Creek. This stream runs through much of New Albany, but makes one of its most impressive showings as it passes near and through the downtown.

That these three features and challenges come together near the intersection of State and Cherry Streets allows this area to become a transformational neighborhood in New Albany's revival. That is why a strong case can be made to focus the next Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) on Cherry Street. While this street is vulnerable to the same real estate troubles affecting other parts of the city, it is extremely well positioned to come out of that downward spiral if the proper combination of attention and money are deployed on its behalf. If such attention is not paid to this area I fear it could reach a tipping point from which it may not recover. And yet, because Cherry Street is short,and strategically located it is a feasible candidate for a new NSP strategy.

Pursuing a dog park at the intersection would remove a blighted, neglected area and replace it with a welcome amenity for only a small up-front expense. All that is needed is the installation of a fence along the perimeter and another fence within to separate small dogs from large ones. The space even has a serviceable road in place which can be brought up to usable condition with a few loads of gravel. The ongoing expense of maintaining the park should be offset with a nominal user/membership fee collected from those who wish to exercise their pets there.

Once the ponding area finds new life as a dog park, it will naturally open up the area to Falling Run Creek, which acts as the southern border of the proposed park. This stream could then be reclaimed for our citizenry as a narrow park dissecting much of the city. This park could be a walking/jogging/biking path through large areas of the city. The advantages of this park would be primarily realized by those who avail themselves of a convenient, low-traffic path for exercise and destinational biking and walking. But, Falling Run is also a critical element of storm water drainage, and renewed access to, and use of, the stream would naturally lead to keeping it cleaner for this important task.

Few areas of the city offer the prospect of turning so quickly from a position of peril to a position of desirability. Cherry Street straddles the downtown area while also offering easy access to the major commercial area of State Street near I-265. The housing stock is varied in size and style. Vacant houses appear to be in decent shape and could be made more appealing to buyers.

I hope to be in a position to help the next mayor see the need and value of focusing on Cherry Street, with its dog park along Falling Run.

 

And Yet

On new Year's Eve I had occasion to go over to Louisville in the late afternoon. I exited I-64 at the Ninth Street Exit. A general pre-revelry torpor was in place. The one-way street, Market headed east, was fairly deserted. I thought about the on-going discussion of converting one-way streets to two-way here in new Albany.

In relative terms, Louisville  places higher on the happ'nin scale than does New Albany. They have an orchestra,  theaters, a minor league ball park, a major league bat museum. They have a Nineteenth Century steamboat named after the city. They have lots more people than we do. They are the Possibility City. And yet, sitting in my car, at a red light, on New Year's Eve 2013, the sinew of the city seemed to show through more than usual, and it didn't present a particularly attractive picture of the city. That Ninth Street exit from the interstate highway is a MAJOR entrance into the city. That is the location of what was once seen as an innovative catalyst for downtown revitalization in Louisville, the Glassworks. And yet, aside from the seasonal, temporal, ghost town vibe at that exit, I glimpsed, however fleetingly, the poor choices the city planners had made in Louisville when they threw  the city's prospects overboard to accommodate the automobile.

Ninth  Street/Roy Wilkins Boulevard and the intersection with Market Street is little more than pipes to get people off the expressway or onto the expressway. It is the transportational equivalent of plumbing. Quick, where's most of your plumbing? It's in the basement, or behind the walls. It's out of sight. That's because it's ugly. It's functional, and necessary, but it's ugly. House builders could have chosen, when plumbing replaced outhouses, to simply put bath tubs and toilets in the living or dining rooms, since that provides the most convenient access to those necessary utilities. But the builders knew that if they forced residents of the houses they built to share those rooms with the hygienic functions, of bathing, and so forth, the rooms would soon be seen as unattractive, and would, therefore, fall into disuse, thus devaluing the houses they had built.

Downtown Louisville is so completely given over to the one-way street pattern that it seems nearly beyond rescue from the ill-effects of that traffic mindset. And yet, one hopeful enclave, the eastern section of Market Street, (the name of which I recoil from using, because it grates on my brain, like fingernails on a blackboard-Nulu) shows strong signs of vitality. Is it coincidental that this section of Market Street is also the section of the street with two way traffic? Is it coincidental that pedestrians make that part of downtown attractive to entrepreneurs and independent businesses?

I drive in, and through Louisville a lot, nearly every day. I can't begin to name all of the streets that are limited to one-way traffic. It seems to be a virus that sprang up in that city long ago, and one which was deemed incurable. Because the one-way virus is so widespread, I can sympathize with Louisville's transportation people to some extent. And yet, so much of the city's real estate is held back by the dominance of the car that, surely people can see it. They must see that while block after block of the downtown has been razed to provide resting space for cars, the yawning gaps kill the desire to walk around the town. They also must see that the one way pattern of arterial streets makes it difficult and unpleasant to walk around the inner city. Is it any wonder that the city has such a hard time recapturing its vitality, which is so closely tied to accommodating pedestrians?

Were Louisville to try to unwind the knot in which one way streets has tied up the downtown, it would face a  daunting task because of the sheer size of the city.  And yet, across the river from this example of a large city held back by poor transportation planning, sits a small town also held back by some of the same decisions.

New Albany made, arguably, a rational decision to shift its streets to one way traffic back in the days before the interstate highway was built. Some may have seen that it was necessary to funnel traffic more efficiently onto the new highway on the Sherman Minton Bridge. New Albany's task of untying the knot of one-way traffic is so much easier than the task facing Louisville. And yet, we appear content to hold onto the traffic patterns of the past, long after the dubious need for one way streets receded.

New Albany's downtown, back then, was holding its own, it didn't face competition from the sprawl malls. It offered a variety of goods and services, so much so that planners may have felt the commercial strength of the downtown would remain unchallenged and that people would continue to go there because it was really the only game in town.

Now, that's no longer the case. The downtown has staged an impressive revival. And yet, it  still needs all the help we can give it. It is still the heart of the city. Because of the newer bypassing opportunities of the interstate, the downtown no longer needs to be buzzed through to maintain traffic efficiency. We now need to put the plumbing back in the basement, and let the downtown recapture its place as a pedestrian oriented center. We need to return the city's streets to two way traffic. We need to encourage walkable commerce. And, we need to provide an environment that invites further, broader, entrepreneurial development of the downtown in order to keep the city in its current upswing.

We need to recognize, facilitate, and capitalize, on the strong, and sensible trend to buy locally, as people see how such local commerce builds a sustainable, place-specific, prosperity for small towns. This trend is salvation. And to the extent that our street patterns, the leeway we cede to automobile convenience, undermine that trend, they must change, or we might miss the opportunity before us. Who can say when another trend will come our way?    

New Albany, as those of us with long histories here know, is slow to change or even recognize the need for change. And yet, Thursday, January 16, a nationally known proponent of reasserting the primacy of pedestrian-centered cities, Jeff Speck, will speak in town to preach his gospel. We should listen.

Throw the Bums Out

                                                    Agent 86 and The Chief  under
                                                              The Cone of Silence



Tomorrow night, Monday January 6, the City Council will attempt, in our own way, to do what Maxwell Smart had so much trouble doing. We will vote to pass into law a zone of protection, shielding upright citizens from those brazen enough, down and out enough, boozed out enough, or just plain at the end of their ropes enough, to beg for money. Within this mandated space the citizens of New Albany won't hear the too-loud calls from the detritus of society for a buck, so they can buy a bottle of wine or rotgut booze. Who knows, in sub-zero weather they may even squander their handful of change on some cheap gloves. The attempt is being made with the best of intentions we are told, and I have no reason to believe otherwise. But the fact remains that we will be safely ensconced within a room heated to about 75 degrees, as we debate the ordinance which will limit the ability of panhandlers to intrude upon our  view of the world as we know it. Meanwhile, the panhandlers will make do with whatever accommodations they can muster to fight off deadly cold temperatures somewhat below zero.

Mind you, the panhandlers are only being limited against the aggressive form of panhandling. They are still welcome to pursue their chosen profession of panhandling in a non-aggressive manner. (Would that be passive-aggressive panhandling?) To stay on the right side of the law, the non-aggressive panhandler must stay outside the zone of protection we decree, or 20 feet away from a list of protected areas, including, money machines, bus stops, outdoor dining areas, public restrooms, or entertainment venues, and other public buildings.

At the Council meeting for the initial readings of the bill, a New Albany policeman allowed as how the state laws on trespass cover much of the same behavior this ordinance targets. One of the definitions of aggressive panhandling refers to "asking again of a person who has refused to donate". What does that do to the selective hearing employed  when one attempts to ignore the panhandler's first attempt? Is that entrapment?

What if a panhandler only appears to be within 20 feet of the forbidden areas? Should we paint yellow lines around these spaces to better define the limits of the law? What if those safe zones fill with people too afraid to leave the relative safety there, and refuse to venture into "open-begging" territory?

On the one hand, it's fine if we pass this ordinance. We are more or less on notice that it will not be enforced. But is passage of such a long-shot ordinance a useful effort for the Council? Is it really just feel-safe symbolism? Perhaps, but in this case we are singling out the unfortunate, weak, marginal members of our society and saying that they are less than we. Again, that may not be the intent of the ordinance, but it is the effect.

If, by some strange circumstance, the law were ever to be enforced, and a panhandler were found guilty of improper panhandling, what is the penalty? First offense is a $25 fine, the second offense is a $25 fine and the third offense in twelve months is a $250 fine. Does this sound in any way odd? Does it suggest an image of bloody turnips?

At the first reading of the bill, I asked if we are to treat as aggressive panhandlers those well-dressed attendees of our Council meetings who are there to beg for handouts in the form of tax abatements, or enrichments through real estate maneuvers. It was seen by some as a joke of sorts, yet at least one of these beggars has threatened legal action if his clients were not granted what was sought. The $25 fine would probably not serve as an effective deterrent in that instance.   

One of the truly distasteful aspects of this ordinance, even though it will be ignored, ineffectual, and silly, is that, unlike the comic Cone of Silence, we are bending to the societal urge for something more like a Cone of Blindness, in which we are able to avert our eyes from the dark side of the World's Greatest Example of Capitalism. We are not forced to see the losers. Within the Cone of Blindness we need not see the people, human beings, people who, if the cards were dealt differently, could be us, or our brothers,  our sisters,  our parents. Pope Francis, noting the skewed priorities of our modern economic system, said, "If Banks fail it is a tragedy. If people die of hunger it's nothing."

The bums, the drunks, the losers, the panhandlers, are not examples of what we want for ourselves or our loved ones. They are, rather a reflection of what goes wrong in a society too penurious to properly fund mental health. We don't want to pay for services that will help alleviate the suffering of these people. We won't extend unemployment benefits. We rely on private angels to provide relief from homelessness. We don't want to face the governmental obligation of making society work for the least among us, and since the 1980s we haven't had to; in fact, we've been told "government's not the solution, government's the problem."

With the greatest season of charity and gift-giving still plain in our rear-view mirror, the Council will Monday night put in place a Cone of Silence, or a Cone of Blindness, so that we can keep our distance from those who make life in the bazaar uncomfortable for the ones who have much, but don't wish to see, or hear, those who don't. Again, Pope Francis said it quite well, "True charity requires courage: let us overcome the fear of getting our hands dirty so as to help those in need."