Chicken Little didn't have photographic evidence that the sky was falling.
My photos prove that there is a serious and persistent threat to life on the streets and sidewalks of Minneapolis. If there was a rabid dog running down the street the police would shoot it. If a man was wielding a machete on the street....well we know what happened to him...but speeding cars and red light runners are allowed to crash, kill , maim and terrorize us. The first step is for the City Government take responsibility for the safety of our most vulnerable of bicyclists and walkers....children. Stop making excuses- if Hennepin County won't allow traffic calming, take the streets back form the county. If the County won't let us take them back, let's secede from the County. Unsafe streets affect neighborhoods in many ways...this from www.livingstreets.org.uk: "In many places, streets have become dirty, dangerous, full of litter and graffiti and dominated by speeding traffic. As a result, walking is in decline; children can�t play outside or walk to school; neighbours no longer talk to each other; older people don�t go out after dark and people are reluctant to spend time outside due to fear of crime." Young couples move into my neighborhood, have kids and move to a cul de sac in the 'burbs when their kids begin to walk. Guess why! We could pump a billion dollars of NRP money into a community , but if parents are too afraid to let their kids out of the house, it's a waste of money. If we spend $150 million into a highway project that widens streets and dumps more dangerous cars into the neighborhoods, we expect more people to use Minneapolis as a temporary stop. Instead of accepting this "urban sacrifice zone" where the billboards say "We Buy Ugly Homes" (do they have those billboards in Wayzata?) let's have a little self respect and demand from our well paid city officials, at the very least - safe streets for our kids. Ken Avidor 36th and Grand _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
