Last Night's City Council Meeting and a Picnic in the Park
There were no war painted individuals ready for a fight last night in city council chambers. It was much less a circus than a civil discussion about the phase one improvements taking place at Cedar Creek Parkway. I thought it was very apparent that somewhere along the line a miscommunication developed between citizens, city council and the parks and recreation department. It would appear that for the most part the miscommunication has been cleared up.
Regardless of opinion, the amount of people that showed up at City Hall last night was very impressive. It showed me that the city of Allentown has a group of very dedicated citizenry concerned about the well being of their parks. To be honest, it surprised me.
I haven’t been on the blog scene for a very long time so it goes without saying that my daily readership, while growing, remains on the small side. I have held two walks in the park that serve as a chance for anyone who comes to share in the history and experience of our park system. The turnout for those events has been very slight. I am so very grateful to the people who have come, do not misunderstand me, but with the amount of folks at the meeting last night, I wondered where they will be when the current fire fizzles out.
Will there be a packed council chamber when the time comes to address the environmental issues in a place like Jordan Park? I sincerely hope so. It is without reservation that I offer the thought that there are issues in various civic arenas that could seriously benefit from the same amount of public concern that has been raised over the erection of a playground.
It is my hope that as time progresses and more park renovation plans make it to the public arena that people remain this involved. I attended the first public meeting for the trail network study and while I was impressed with the turnout that evening a few months ago, it paled in comparison to the voices present last night.
There remains a lot of work that is needed to be done in our park system. Unlimited and unlocked potential exists in a place like Canal Park and it is the community that needs to help light a fire to get it the attention it deserves. More than any of this though, with the same fervent intensity, the people at last night’s meeting need to become active stewards of the parks as they are.
So, with all of this in mind, I am pleased to announce our next gathering.
I invite all of you to join me at Cedar Creek Parkway at noon on Sunday August 30th for a picnic. Bring a blanket, bring some food and drink and come out for a discussion of the park plans and of the environmental restoration about to take place there.
If you have any questions or comments about the gathering, let me know. A facebook event page has been created as well(See here). It is my hope that many people join us for what should be a wonderful afternoon in a beautiful park. More details will be posted as the event draws nearer, free your calendar now and spread the word!
See Also:
Walk in the Park
Walk in the Park 2
Regardless of opinion, the amount of people that showed up at City Hall last night was very impressive. It showed me that the city of Allentown has a group of very dedicated citizenry concerned about the well being of their parks. To be honest, it surprised me.
I haven’t been on the blog scene for a very long time so it goes without saying that my daily readership, while growing, remains on the small side. I have held two walks in the park that serve as a chance for anyone who comes to share in the history and experience of our park system. The turnout for those events has been very slight. I am so very grateful to the people who have come, do not misunderstand me, but with the amount of folks at the meeting last night, I wondered where they will be when the current fire fizzles out.
Will there be a packed council chamber when the time comes to address the environmental issues in a place like Jordan Park? I sincerely hope so. It is without reservation that I offer the thought that there are issues in various civic arenas that could seriously benefit from the same amount of public concern that has been raised over the erection of a playground.
It is my hope that as time progresses and more park renovation plans make it to the public arena that people remain this involved. I attended the first public meeting for the trail network study and while I was impressed with the turnout that evening a few months ago, it paled in comparison to the voices present last night.
There remains a lot of work that is needed to be done in our park system. Unlimited and unlocked potential exists in a place like Canal Park and it is the community that needs to help light a fire to get it the attention it deserves. More than any of this though, with the same fervent intensity, the people at last night’s meeting need to become active stewards of the parks as they are.
So, with all of this in mind, I am pleased to announce our next gathering.
I invite all of you to join me at Cedar Creek Parkway at noon on Sunday August 30th for a picnic. Bring a blanket, bring some food and drink and come out for a discussion of the park plans and of the environmental restoration about to take place there.
If you have any questions or comments about the gathering, let me know. A facebook event page has been created as well(See here). It is my hope that many people join us for what should be a wonderful afternoon in a beautiful park. More details will be posted as the event draws nearer, free your calendar now and spread the word!
See Also:
Walk in the Park
Walk in the Park 2
Labels: Cedar Beach Parkway, Rose Garden
posted by Andrew Kleiner at
12:02 AM
6 Comments:
Andrew, no matter how long you stay on the blogosphere (and I hope its a while), just keep in perspective that very very few people actually read blogs in the LV. Its mostly those of us who have one just reading each other's blogs.
Bernie O'Hare, who undoubtedly has the largest readership in the LV (unless you count the number of phantom visitors to the Villa's blog), sees daily readership around 1000, and his blog covers both Lehigh and Northampton counties, covers politics, nonpolitics, and uses shit-talking to drive up controversy (read: readers).
So... either you need to start attacking people like he does in order to get readership, or just settle in and know that 100 readers is a pretty nice number. If you can generate conversation off the blogosphere - that's the true measure of suscess, IMO.
Andrew, thank you for your sincere concern for Allentown's parks. You are an asset to our community.
Thanks Joyce.
andrew, i agree with joyce marin about your blog, it is indeed a community service. one correction, half the people at the meeting didn't show up, they were summoned there at pawlowski's request. the amount of legitimate people there to express concerns about the plan was impressive, and i'm sure of some concern to pawlowski
MM, look to your own blog - did you not 'summon' people who held your own views!? summoning on both sides, and give credit to those of us who aren't sheep to either you or Palowski.
anon 9:41, there was a distinct difference, i and others summoned people who shared our view about the park plans. these people, on both sides of the issue, attended the three previous meetings. the other night two pastors were recruited to bring out congregates as warm bodies to fill the seats and stand in the hallway. worse, some of them were incited to defend against racism and other ism's that were fabricated. sorry you don't see, or want to see the distinction
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