WSJ does Detroit Parks

[Homer]

Kind of a basic story about Citizens caring for Detroit parks.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...Tabs%3Darticle

[fryar]

You got to give it to the people featured in that article, and all of the fellow citizens they represent, hats off to them.
I look forward to the day the Journal runs a piece on Detroit's delightful parks, as in this isn't your father's Detroit.

[DetroitDad]

What many fail to realize, and why suburbanites think we don't care, is because everybody is not doing this.

Growing up, while some Detroiters were complaining about things, people in some suburbs were hard at work. People in my neighbor took care of each other and themselves. Our neighborhood regularly attended city meanings, and made sure they were heard. When the one of the sidewalk's slabs began to rise, causing a tripping hazard, my Dad used some leftover cement mix, and temporarily fixed it, until the city got around to it.

Meanwhile, the elders in our neighborhood manned the neighborhood watch, and was always on the lookout for trouble. One of our main road residents would wake up on garbage day, to find that trash blown down from the garbage truck had had peppered his lawn, and he simply cleaned it up immediately. Had the main road resident waited for the city, more trash would accumulate, leaving a sort of debt; the more you hold things off, the more things add up, just like monetary debt piles up. And, just like monetary debt, a time will arrive when the debt will never be paid back.

[sumas]

Mr Dick lives in my community and is very involved as a resident. It is nice to know that some city workers still reside in the city and also volunteer their services too.

I would like to give Kudos to Marie. Marie runs a landscape service in our area which hires among other things area youth. She routinely scouts the neighborhood and picks up trash and flyers from vacant homes. She is involved in every area clean up sponsored by the city, the area association and churches. She never misses our monthly meetings and in general is a wonderful area booster.

Ran into her at an area grocery store and she didn't chide us for missing recent meetings, instead she told us what we would miss if we didn't attend the upcoming meeting. Will definitely attend.

A few years back, we hosted one of the monthly garden club meetings. Our featured speaker was Cub from Georgia street. I was nervous about attendance and told Marie about my qualms. She rounded up new attendees and the party was a success.

Not saying that papers have a sex bias but it does seem that only men get mentioned. Blueione is a driving force behind GSCG along with other women volunteers. Personally have been very lazy volunteer wise recently due to certain factors in my private life but plan on re committing and ramping up my efforts for this city I love soon.

[Fnemecek]

This was a great story. I should know. I published basically the same story a year ago.

http://warrendale.blogspot.com/2009/...-who-care.html

[MikeM]

Mr. Edwards and his neighbors say it has been several years since the city provided many maintenance services on their far East Side block. In the winter, he also pays out of pocket for snow removal for most of his tiny block. Another neighbor has agreed to cover the rest of the block. That keeps residents from being snowed in at home, neighbors say

What a shining moment for libertarians. Next up: filling potholes yourself, erecting windmills, and building a neighborhood septic field.

[English]

What many fail to realize, and why suburbanites think we don't care, is because everybody is not doing this.

Growing up, while some Detroiters were complaining about things, people in some suburbs were hard at work. People in my neighbor took care of each other and themselves. Our neighborhood regularly attended city meanings, and made sure they were heard. When the one of the sidewalk's slabs began to rise, causing a tripping hazard, my Dad used some leftover cement mix, and temporarily fixed it, until the city got around to it.

Meanwhile, the elders in our neighborhood manned the neighborhood watch, and was always on the lookout for trouble. One of our main road residents would wake up on garbage day, to find that trash blown down from the garbage truck had had peppered his lawn, and he simply cleaned it up immediately. Had the main road resident waited for the city, more trash would accumulate, leaving a sort of debt; the more you hold things off, the more things add up, just like monetary debt piles up. And, just like monetary debt, a time will arrive when the debt will never be paid back.

Other than the bolded, this was my sentiment about the article. Good Detroiters doing things that are done for residents of other municipalities isn't new. I've watched my relatives, neighbors, and family friends do all kinds of landscaping, maintenance, and even some mechanical things on public property. This didn't make them special, and no one expected to receive any credit or a cookie for it. It was just what people did to make the neighborhood work.

The lesson I learned growing up in CAY's Detroit was that either you did it, or it wouldn't get done. As I heard someone say a few weeks ago, if you survived and made it out of postmodern Detroit, the rest of life is a cakewalk. Because when you watch your folks and your neighbors cut the local playground, beat the sh*t out of several would-be home invaders [[granted, this was over 15 years ago), evade carjackers, grow fresh foods in wonderful gardens [[without any fanfare, mind), and display a kind of self-sufficiency that is supposedly the opposite of urban living, not much ruffles you for long.

Now, once the city shrinks/hits the federal lottery/gentrifies, and we get municipal workers doing stuff like cutting medians and picking up trash again, it'll just be icing on the cake. But knowing my folks, they'll just complain that "those so-and-sos don't know how to cut the grass right!"