Monday, August 15, 2011

Well That Didn't Last...

A frustrated reader writes in:
"I know you all featured the sorry-state of Truman College's landscaping on Wilson. Shortly thereafter it was weeded and looked like it was going to be regularly tended. Take a look at how it looks a few short weeks later. They need to fire their landscapers.
Speaking of weeds, has anyone noticed how awful the planters on Broadway look? There are tomatoes and peppers planted in one of the planters on the west side of the 4500 block of Broadway and there are weeds almost 6 FEET tall in the planters on the opposite side of Broadway. Who takes care of these? It was a novel idea, but if no one is going to take care of them, what's the point?"


8 comments:

  1. Tomatoes and Green Peppers?"

    I heard the City has cut its landscaping budget. No weed-pullers.

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  2. Maybe they did fire their landscapers!

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  3. I think you should post a photo of the planter with the vegetables growing in it. That would be a hoot.

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  4. When you have an extra 10 minutes for the walk, go around to the south side of the Truman's new building (along Sunnyside to Clifton). The shrubs they planted there, along with the sod, are totally brown and dead (not to mention many of the trees planted along the access road). And since the CTA fenced off the entire length of the Red Line, if you keep going around the Truman parking structure, you'll find yourself walking on fine green grass into a wonderfully isolated area between the building and the L tracks--just send your gangbangers and unsupervised kids over to join the rest of them already there raising hell. (FYI, this is the very spot that someone suggested putting a walkway to access Aldi and Target--and a few people flipped out, saying "That will just give the GANGS another place to hang out!!" They are already there, and with no one else going through, no one can keep an eye on them.)

    Whoever is responsible for Truman's landscaping and construction has more than fumbled the ball--besides the unkempt and weedy planters and dead trees, shrubs, and sod, they had a crew with leaf blowers blowing nothing around for a few hours last month (must have been practising for autumn leaves), and they have poured concrete and torn it out at LEAST twice for whatever is supposed to be on the southeast corner of the old main building. That area has been conveniently cordoned off for three months (so no one can go through and see what's going on), and is STILL torn up and uncompleted. Looks like they're just spending the TIF money they got because they can--and there is no accountability for it. Just toss it around, re-do the new stuff again, re-plant again, and delay until our tax dollars are gone....?

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  5. The sad state of Uptown's public space landscaping speaks volumes about the state of our city services. The trees and plants are either dying, or if they are weeds, thriving.

    Next tour will be "Uptown Weeds, Dead Trees & Plants".

    Remind me again how much Wilson Yard TIF money, ah hum, our property taxes, went into this?

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  6. Looks like someone read this entry and did some weeding around Truman last night or early this morning. It looked good as of 6:30am today.

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  7. Since when are tomatoes and green peppers growing a bad thing? If nobody else is going to keep up the planters, best that somebody gets some good use out of them!

    And, although these posts complaining about 'weeds' initially irked me, I can't help but agree. The planters on the east side of broadway just south of wilson are laughable. 6 foot weeds! C'mon! haha.

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  8. The wrokers are always too busy pulling something else and it surely is not the weeds. If you ever seen them working they looked like they are smoking the weeds.

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