New Local Blog!
District bloggers seem to be in short supply. But now a neighborood blog - yahoo! Welcome, Bruce and Bay Ridge at Forest Ave (Middletown). Good blog.
I'm quite familiar with this area - taught at Forest Ave. for many year. With all due respect to the current Forest Ave. residents, this is a prime example (like Prairie Ave. in Newport) when residents assume things like estates & vacant land will eternally remain & are not away of zoning laws, etc. This acreage was purchased over 30 yrs. ago & just sat there with no activity. Then the owner decided to pursue his rights. Now a major development is going in.
It behooves citizens to be part of the political & governmental system rather than just assume others are doing it & looking out for their best interests. There are MANY ways to do it. As these residents have found out, it's almost impossible to change laws/regulaltions after the fact.
I, too, have distressingly watched the denuding of the acreage there as I have watched others. The good news is that I don't believe there is any area left where this can take place. The sad thing is, this could possibly have been prevented with foresight & previous legislation.
I'm happy to this see neighborhood group involved. There are almost always some openings on town boards. So apply. Yeah, you might be turned down. Show up at meetings anyway. Read minutes. Get involved in political campaigns & elections. Support candidates on all levels that you like. Read those reports that groups put out, watch pending legislation. It's a lot easier now that it used to be. Knowlege is power! Well, at least it helps.
I'm also happy the group is speaking with the developer. Neighbors talking to each other instead of fighting & hiring lawyers. Sounds good to me.
Welcome, Bruce!
I'm quite familiar with this area - taught at Forest Ave. for many year. With all due respect to the current Forest Ave. residents, this is a prime example (like Prairie Ave. in Newport) when residents assume things like estates & vacant land will eternally remain & are not away of zoning laws, etc. This acreage was purchased over 30 yrs. ago & just sat there with no activity. Then the owner decided to pursue his rights. Now a major development is going in.
It behooves citizens to be part of the political & governmental system rather than just assume others are doing it & looking out for their best interests. There are MANY ways to do it. As these residents have found out, it's almost impossible to change laws/regulaltions after the fact.
I, too, have distressingly watched the denuding of the acreage there as I have watched others. The good news is that I don't believe there is any area left where this can take place. The sad thing is, this could possibly have been prevented with foresight & previous legislation.
I'm happy to this see neighborhood group involved. There are almost always some openings on town boards. So apply. Yeah, you might be turned down. Show up at meetings anyway. Read minutes. Get involved in political campaigns & elections. Support candidates on all levels that you like. Read those reports that groups put out, watch pending legislation. It's a lot easier now that it used to be. Knowlege is power! Well, at least it helps.
I'm also happy the group is speaking with the developer. Neighbors talking to each other instead of fighting & hiring lawyers. Sounds good to me.
Welcome, Bruce!
1 comment:
Thanks for the praise as well as the link Eileen, great article!
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