Lately I have noticed numerous abandoned buildings around the Battle Creek area; the sight makes our city look run down and cheap. I believe something must be done about this issue such as turning the buildings into new city attractions. Two vacant buildings that come to mind are the run down State Police Station and the dilapidated Family Fare store.
First of all, I know this issue can be resolved as I have seen it done with my own eyes. Just recently the Hot and Now restaurant which has been abandoned for years was turned into a Checkers. However, it took a long time for these changes to occur and there is no reason for it to be that slow again when deciding what to do about the buildings in question. These abandoned buildings can be redone and give new life to the city of Battle Creek like the opening of new restaurants, stores etc. are ways the run down building can be utilized. Also, if the buildings were redone it can open up new experiences for the people living in Battle Creek.
Secondly, I live right across from the old State Police Station and we both share a small cu...
The Crossroads development has dominated the local conversation in Mahwah for the past 9 months. Over the past few years, the Crossroads Developers had put forth various proposals for development of the site, only to have them rejected by the Mahwah Township Council. This past March, the Developer once again came to the Council in order to ask that their property be rezoned from office use to mixed-use/retail to allow for the construction of a complex of retail stores, restaurants, a movie theater, hotel and office space. Over 400 residents attended the March 31 meeting to express their opposition to the development. This unprecedented turnout by Mahwah residents, unlike any the Council had seen before, should have been enough for the Council to realize that a decision to rezone the property may not be in the best interests of Mahwah residents. Instead, the Council voted 4-2 to allow for the property to be rezoned.
Cloudcroft, New Mexico, meaning a "clearing in the clouds", is a small mountain town located to the east of Alamogordo, NM ("Cloudcroft"). The town's history is intimately tied to the building of the Alamogordo and Sacramento Mountain Railway that allowed the town to be permanently settled in the late 1800s, and to the logging business that made the town and railroad successful for half a century ("Investigation… Lodge"). As with many frontier towns, Cloudcroft has a number of legends that document the unique and violent events in its history, and also a fair number of ghosts that haunt its historic sites.
Out of all the stories I have read in class so far, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce, has touched me most. When I first began reading the story I felt as though I was not interested, because my assumptions of what the story was going to be about were completely different than the stories actual content. As I set aside my judgment and let myself try to enjoy the story, I found myself anxiously reading to the bitter end. This story was not only interesting and unique, but also had an added twist at the end, which surprised most readers. Depending on how observant the reader is with picking up on foreshadowing and symbolic meaning, one may realize before the final sentences that Peyton Farquar was not actually escaping home but in fact hallucinating while desperately trying to escape the hangmen.
... them enough to care how they live. Once that was done you could take the care they discovered for those people and use it to better their homes. And the city would well be on it’s way to improvement.
"Building Partnerships to Revitalize America's Neighborhoods." HBCU Central (Winter 2002): 1-6. Winter 2002. Web. 2 May 2012.
Law Enforcement Action Forum Newsletter. State of Michigan, City of Jackson, Oct 2001. Web. Oct. 2001
The area is slow coming back to the form it was in before Katrina; however the population is at a standstill. Mid- City was the first suburban-style neighborhoods ...
This district was an immense center of bizarre entertainment for miners, entrepreneurs and sailors. After the 1906 earthquake, the city saw an opportunity to clean up the Barbary Coast, transforming it into an acceptable area for the everyday San Franciscans. The Barbary Coast evolves immensely throughout the decades to what we know nowadays as Chinatown, North Beach, and Jackson Square. We will mainly focus on North Beach, a district which preserves his roots and rebuild a new social and environmental determinism throughout the passage of time.
Back in the early 1900s, Phenix City was known as “Sin City”. During this time period and true to its name, this town contained a lot of sin through mob/mafia, major issues with the Prohibition Act, and even the mysterious murder of the Attorney General, Albert Love Patterson. So much more gave this town that said name. The events of that time period were so extreme that it urged General George S. Patton to command his army to use tanks to flatten/demolish this town. Thankfully, such command wasn’t followed through. Today, after the “clean up” and numerous name changes, we have a beautiful town called Phenix City. Though we have major darkness in our past, our past has made us who we are today.
Every area of a city is unique, and the process of gentrification may seem appealing in certain neighborhoods compared to others. It’s very difficult to choose sides because there are benefits and disadvantages of gentrifying an area. Fairmount appears to be almost completely gentrified, and saturated with an interesting culture. Demanding gentrification doesn’t seem necessary; the process should occur naturally as cities evolve, mindsets adapt, and new technologies arise. Time will tell how constructive gentrification truly
The problem however, with these “renewal projects” is that the implemented changes are never usually intended to benefit the long time inhabitants of these communities, these changes are intended usually, to push out the element of poverty that exists in many of these communities (which is a direct result of decades of neglect) in exchange for the opportunity to cater to a more affluent (usually less “ethnic”) demographic. In laymen’s terms, city planners, elected officials, prospective businesses, and even law enforcement, all converge for the purpose of removing poor people from an area by simply making it too pleasant and by exten...
Hurricane Katrina put a hindrance on New Orleans because the city was left with blighted properties that span from the 9th ward to the 7th ward. Blighted properties were a direct result from flooding, wind damage, and citizens that moved or were displaced by Hurricane Katrina. When the levees broke an abundance of water entered the city and caused homes and business to become flooded. When the city was under water for days it created damage, homes were crumbled to pieces and even uprooted from the ground. Flooding even caused homes to deteriorate and become inhabitable and unsuitable. Blighted properties became breeding grounds for crime, infestation of rodents and other animals, dumping of dead bodies, fires (arson), mold, squatters (homeless), and other serious health issues. These are serious challenges that the city of New Orleans must tackle.
I participated in a police ride-along with the Fairfax County Police Department on October 30th. I chose the Fair Oaks District Station for the ride since my home falls within that particular district’s boundaries. At 8 p.m., I was introduced to Officer Crutchman; the police officer I would be accompanying for the night. We headed out after a brief overview of some safety rules and expectations. Over the course of the shift I was able to observe many of the routine duties of a FCPO such as responding to calls, setting speed traps, performing traffic stops, assisting fellow officers, and patrolling neighborhoods and public parks. Officer Crutchman provided valuable insight into police work, beyond the procedural knowledge that Mason classes
Community Fund Raisers- have the community come together to raise money to help residents and small businesses to help secure their properties better. This will help prevent break-ins and robberies.
Pikeville is a polluted town because of the coal industry. People live in apartment or condominium buildings because of its little space available. I grew up in one of the many buildings in Pikeville admiring from my bedroom window the beauty of the mountains, always exploring with my eyes the forest or the meadows, looking for a clean and quiet place. And, I found one on a hill in the back of the town. It is about 100 feet square, it has seven old trees, wild flowers and a lot of bugs and ants during summer time.