Thursday, April 9, 2009

Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned Uptown Pothole Party?

Look what this South Side neighborhood did and the sudden response to their efforts:

Kiss My Asphalt, City Hall
Group takes pothole problem into their own hands

Robbed of their chance to work out some anger in a good 'ole neighborhood protest Monday when Chicago Department of Transportation crews interrupted them, a group of Southwest Side residents have taken matters into their own hands -- literally. The South Austin Coalition Community Council gathered at the source of their ire Wednesday -- the huge potholes that have made driving down Garfield Boulevard and neighboring streets a dangerous journey.

Members of the SACCC recruited the "chronic unemployed" in the area to pick up rakes and shovels in an effort to demonstrate to the city that even in less affluent neighborhoods, the potholes must be filled. Read the entire story here, including the "coincidental timing" of the city's work crews showing up.

8 comments:

  1. Back in the day when the levees used to breach in New Orleans it was the people that pulled up there sleeves and rebuilt them. People used to take a vested interest in their communities and not rely on Big Brother to pull them out.

    Kudos to these people for reminding us that it is "We the People", not "We the People under King Daley"

    The only thing the government hates worse than the People thinking for themselves is when People make the government look even more inept than they really are.

    FYI- Chip Douglas used to fill potholes and pick up dead animals when he was a wee little lad working for his hometown city during the summer. Nothing like the smell of asphalt and dead cat!

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  2. Wilson Avenue would be a good place to start. The last time I drove down Wilson between Broadway and Clark, it was like a war zone with all the pothole craters.

    If a community pothole party is successful, maybe we could have a Lake Shore Drive bridge party or a Wilson "L" stop light fixture party.

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  3. I do street maintenance on Winthrop just south of Lawrence. Keeping the curb side sewer open and have attempted to fill a giant hole above the sewer at curb level next to the sewer.

    So large is the hole that a child could fall into and crawl at least 15 horizontally into it...it's a tunnel that goes very far. Iv'e called 311 for 3 years and Schillers office for 1 year and they have put a couple of rubber warning cones and some tape around it. I don't think anyone but me realizes how deep and profound the hole actually is....I think the street may collapse around it...a tree's roots are all exposed and it's leaning as the ground around it continues to collapse.

    The problem with these people volunteering...is that ...this is exactly where things are headed....the people will pay taxes AND do ALL the work....

    That saves the city money. Daley will promote neighborhoods taking over city jobs, doing the work for free.

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  4. Yep the town is really falling apart.

    Boy the Olympics will fix everything whoops I mean suck up more tax dollors.

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  5. Take a number Zesty, Clarendon looks like Mars.... :)

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  6. I know my neighbors have resorted to filling the street/alley pot holes, with anything ranging from sand, to coffee ground, to ????

    I think if we all shredded those unwanted phone books, that seem to be dumped en masse at our door-step, the problem would be solved.

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  7. I can't even begin to imagine the amount of work that could be done in Uptown if the "chronically unemployed" actually did something besides loiter around. This place would be Eden. Quite possibly even more attractive than Millenium Park.

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  8. Get our alderwomen to give all her homeless friends a job to fill in the potholes in the upwtown area. It would serve many purposes and cost nothing but the cost of the filler. She wastes plenty on nothing so put some toward something....

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