Editor’s Note
Back in the old days — that’s less than a decade and before there were such things as blogs and interactive conversations with readers — editors used to respond to their newspaper readers with an “editor’s note.” Sometimes it clarified a point made in a letter to the editor. Sometimes it offered a correction. Sometimes it was just a simple explanation. An editor’s note was a handful of sentences; maybe a four or five paragraphs. It was always a personal link between the editor and the reader. Only difference between it and today’s blog is the immediacy and the platform. Welcome to Editor’s Note.

Another curb cut

November 3rd, 2009 at 09:28am Linda Grist Cunningham

We are never going to learn, so I’d pretty much decided not to run on about this ever again, but then there was last Wednesday morning.

There it was, all bright, clean concrete. Another curb cut along the Rockford side of Riverside Boulevard. Oh, I understand why it’s there. The small retailers in the strip mall have been advertising for years that they’re hard to find, but be patient because they’re worth it. I guess they finally wore down the no curb cut enforcement folks. I don’t really blame the shop keepers. They’ve got to earn a living, too.

But another curb cut along a four-lane, sort-of-divided main road? Between the stoplights and the curb cuts, Loves Park and Rockford have turned East Riverside into another traffic and pedestrian nightmare.

By the early 1990s, East State Street was already a goner. But there was still hope for Perryville, Riverside and 173. We could have done the right things, from limited access frontage roads, sidewalks and pedestrian overpasses to timed (and limited) stoplights. But, no, everyone with a hammer got a green light and a curb cut.

I remember once challenging a major player in local development to “show everyone else what it means to develop retail space and do it environmentally responsibly so it blends into the neighborhoods.” He said he thought that was a fine idea — and promptly added more asphalt to another strip mall.

Same with a former Rockford mayor to whom I had complained about the zoning variances granted at the corners of Riverside and Mulford. City needs the cash, he said. Simple as that. And up went the “mountain” and an always-failing shopping center.

We say we want open, green space and responsible development. We’re lying to ourselves. Witness that Riverside curb cut.

Entry Filed under: Uncategorized

10 Comments Add your own

  • 1. the dude abides  |  November 3rd, 2009 at 11:21 am

    Gonner —> goner.

  • 2. Linda Grist Cunningham  |  November 3rd, 2009 at 12:26 pm

    Yep. You’re right. Corrected.

  • 3. the dude abides  |  November 3rd, 2009 at 1:52 pm

    Linda, I had a long response to your article. Unfortunately I got the “Wordpress” error again for the millionth time and lost everything I wrote.

    I won’t be contributing to any more of the blog posts until you guys figure out this problem.

  • 4. Linda Grist Cunningham  |  November 3rd, 2009 at 7:24 pm

    Sorry. Am checking it out. Didn’t know there was an issue until you mentioned it.

  • 5. Mike  |  November 3rd, 2009 at 9:28 pm

    Pat Cunningham can confirm the problem over at Applesauce. He has mentioned it in his comments before. The regulars over there have learned to copy their responses before clicking submit.

  • 6. Linda Grist Cunningham  |  November 4th, 2009 at 6:10 pm

    Especially longer responses. Short ones rarely seem to be a problem, and there appear to be no patterns to the others. Could be something as simple as a timing out across a server or connection. I have had that happen to me on other sites, so as Mike says above, I learned long ago to copy when I am writing long. We’ll keep looking for a pattern so we can find a solution. This I know: It’s not something we want to happen, and it certainly is not something we created.

  • 7. the dude abides  |  November 5th, 2009 at 3:18 pm

    try this pattern: open multiple (blog) pages in tabs. I think the problem has to do with the anti-spam catpcha device. when I load a new tab in the background, now the captcha on the first page is looking for the code on the newly loaded page.

    …..i just tried it again and lost this post. now that this captcha is the newest loaded, this comment should stick…

  • 8. the dude abides  |  November 5th, 2009 at 3:19 pm

    yup. that’s it.

    I’ll just invoice you the computer consulting fee.

  • 9. Jet  |  November 9th, 2009 at 5:56 pm

    too true Linda, as a bicycle commuter I know firsthand how unsafe these large roads are. add to that a mystifying residential street map on the NorthWest side and I find myself detouring several miles out of my way during rush hour.

  • 10. chris73456  |  November 12th, 2009 at 8:46 am

    You were right again–this is so much more important than nude cherubs! Sorry I didnt get it….

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