Thursday, August 9, 2007

Sidewalk Break

We spotted this chap resting on the sidewalk in front of the new Aldi on Broadway. He was smoking a homemade cigarette and feeding the pigeons. Nice.

15 comments:

  1. What's your point with the pictures of homeless people? Yeah, there are lots of down and out people in Uptown, newsflash I know.

    How does posting pics of them along with comments like "wonderful" help anything?

    Your more effective as a blog dealing with zoning issues and new developments. Not taking pot shots at the bottom of our society.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Could it just be that someone is pointing out that there are people who are down and out, but perhaps aren't getting the social services they need?

    Or GASP! Maybe the social services that do exist don't do a very good job, leaving people to lay in the streets and fall deeper into the cracks of our society.

    Heaven forbid someone should point that out.

    I'm sure the authors of this blog appreciate your attempts at pigeon holing them into what suits your needs. I hope they completely ignore your advice, which I'm sure they will.

    Blogs are wonderful tools to exercise your right of free speech. If you are so upset about the plight of the people depicted here, maybe you could start your own blog and advocate for them through it.

    That would seem to be much more beneficial to the people in need than complaining about this blog, its author, or its readers.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It shows to me we have a Pigeon feeding problem and it needs to stop.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mystery Man - I agree with a lot of what you say. I'm not trying to pigeon hole anyone.

    I just thought it was lame to trash people without offering any sort of positive angle or suggestion.

    I'm not upset about the people down and out, really. I'm pretty callous to the whole situaton actually. I just think that poking fun at them is lame.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The real question is why are they down and out? And are they or aren't they receiving Social Services?

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think part of the point is also the location. Meaning -- the new Aldi isn't doing more than the old Aldi about loitering at its doors.

    Or about the fact that that the man is seated no more than a few hundred feet from how many social services agencies yet here he is.

    I don't find anything about the post as taking pot shots at this man on a personal level at all. It merely comments about where this is all happening.

    ReplyDelete
  7. OK, Colin.

    I think it brings attention to the problems of dispair and hoplessness for the down and out in Uptown, as well as those who would like to see the neighborhood prosper.

    Maybe if the neighborhood was a job creation engine, there wouldn't be so many people to take photos of.

    But many think opportunity and job creation only lead to gentrification, so it's much better to just let people lay in the streets.

    It seems strange, but that is really how some people see the situation.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hopelessness, not hoplessness.

    Hoplessness would be if one could not hop, perhaps due to not having any legs.

    I'll watch my typing better from now on.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mysteryman - I agree with your last post. My only point was it felt like the blog entry was just pissing and moaning with no solution offered.

    In general a pet peeve of mine. If you want to complain, fine. But you'd damn well better have a better solution. Otherwise, don't complain to me :-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Raising the issue is part of the solution. One of the challenges of online communities is taking the online interest generated and turning it into real action by real people.

    If you actually want to do something about the situation, good for you.

    Personally, I participate in community events as much as possible, donate clothing to Salvation Army or Brown Elephant, give money to charity, donate food to local food banks, yadda, yadda, yadda.

    Nonetheless, we should absolutely talk openly and frankly about the problems of our neighborhood. And we should find a way to fix those problems, too.

    I don't think there is anything else going on with these photos. It's probably more frustration with everyone's inability to fix the problem than anything else.

    Hell, we can't even get anyone in power to admit there is a problem.

    Maybe the Updater will comment a bit to set the record straight.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Is there someone we should call when we see people feeding pigeons? I have neighbors that feed themn twice a day from their balcony.

    ReplyDelete
  12. There is actually a city ordinance against feeding pigeons.

    How the hell you get it enforced is beyond me. I can't say that I would be calling 9-1-1 or 3-1-1 on someone who was doing this.

    But that's not really the point of this post, now, is it?

    ReplyDelete
  13. colin, haven't you figured it out? this blog exists only to complain about the neighborhood they choose to live in.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Jon,

    You couldn't be more incorrect. Uptown Update and myself are very proud to live in Uptown and we want our neighbors to share our enthusiasm for the neighborhood.

    In order to improve the neighborhood, it's important to identify what area could use improvement. These areas have been identified to the current Alderman, who generally choses to ignore views that differ than her own.

    This blog is meant to engage people. We want people to think about what makes Uptown a good place to live, and what parts could use improvement.

    Thanks for reading and I hope that if you look at the blog as a whole on not based on an individual post, you will see the beauty of Uptown and how to make a great community even better.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Jon,

    you ignorant slut. Perhaps you have been breathing in too many fumes from your reverse commute.

    There is lots of positive stuff in this blog. Restaurants, development, businesses etc.

    Apparently though the fumes on the Kennedy have caused you to lose some brain cells.

    Now that was negative.

    Now I, the IrishPirate, defender of the defenseless, bard to all, am going to snap a photo and send it to the Updaters. It is a sign on a development.

    Just noticed it yesterday.

    ReplyDelete