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ch-scene - RE: Ch-scene Digest, Vol 16, Issue 25

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Subject: RTP-area local music and culture

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  • From: "dAvid Hollinghurst" <ultravioletray AT davidbowie.com>
  • To: <ch-scene AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: RE: Ch-scene Digest, Vol 16, Issue 25
  • Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 00:16:11 -0500

First, I offer my apologies to anyone who I offended with my own "knee-jerk"
reaction toward the new plans for Downtown Carrboro. Since I have come into
the discussion a bit late in the game (and the distance doesn't help), it
could seem immature, rash, and a bit uncalled for. My intention was to spout
off a little, then give credit to all who have given positive, rational, and
reasonable suggestions and discussions for this new development, support to
those that have given constructive criticism. To some, the first paragraph
just poisoned and erased the rest. Perhaps I should have made myself
clearer.

Allow me to explain my vitriol. My family moved to a housing community in
southern Durham county called Parkwood in 1984. It's a pretty insular
situation, being there are greenways and forests of pine that generally
disallow any kind of development in yr own backyard. No chance for a gas
station, or a Harris Teeter, or a Wal-Mart looming over you at night. But
outside, we watched the pine forests fall. Strip mall here, townhouses
there. Fayetteville Road and Hwy 54 were doomed once we saw the potential.
Pretty soon, the houses that held a family for thirty years or more were
bathed in traffic, noise, and some serious light pollution. They basically
had no choice, except to eventually move. Yr typical sprawl situation.

And then one day, I was driving down what was once a back road made of
gravel, through the construction of more cardboard housing developments.
Around the corner and BAM!, an entire area of dense pines completely razed.
Bulldozers galore. The signs of a new development: Southpoint, the mall
that would best Crabtree was threatening it's presence. They will come,
cried the machines, and in droves.

My first thought: what about the people that live on this road, just on the
end of this new commercial excess? Has anyone driven past Southpoint, to
where the four/six lanes turn into two? It's like an insult to these poor,
unfortunate souls who have been living there for so long, their children, and
grandchildren that have visited them, memories that were planted with the
grass in the front yard, the swingset in back. Now, they live on the very
outskirts of the disease that is about to engulf their homesteads:
Development. What chance do they have? Sure they had a voice, but the town
and the businesses seemed to care little. There is no buffer there. In a
few years, you may see some "For Sale" signs in those yards. May see them, I
say, because they probably have already been offered a lump sum for their
homes, their land, their memories. And eventually, they'll fold, just like
everyone else has, and probably for a steal, because the brokers are all
going for the same deal, the same profit. No one can blame them; who the
hell would want to live in these conditions?

My vitriol is based on the background of this sprawl, this disease that
spreads like wildfire across our country. Yes, I'll agree with you before
you begin to argue. This plan is not really pushing people out of their
homes. And Main Street Properties has done a good job in allowing the
community to become involved in the process for this project. The fact that
they are designing spaces specifically for their clients that have become a
mainstay in the cultural and economical process of Carrboro exhibits their
consideration and understanding of what this move, this change, this
development will mean to the community.

But for me, from what I have witnessed, it's the disease. And with that, the
change of the livelihood. It can happen for the better, but every time I
hear the word development, I cringe. There are obviously far more issues
than just the loss of memories and sacredness of peoples homes, and the
rights to live as they please. Ross pointed out several strong issues in his
posting. These are questions we want answers for.

Character for a town to me doesn't necessarily mean the architecture or the
amount of people to me. It's the odd houses, the random shops, the old tree
on a corner or the funky sculpture some hippy put in their front yard. The
people, the attitude, and variety that allows everyone to contribute to the
greater creativity. A development like this, as good natured as it is, tends
to flatten and sterilize the character. And where there is one, there is
more.

These points I am sure are nothing new; we've seen it everywhere. Everyone
here seems to understand the big picture and what our culture has the
potential to do to itself and to others.

I do realize the juxtaposition of what a somewhat poseur-satellite-localite
has in a newsgroup such as this. But the thing is, I do care. Living in NYC
has given me more appreciation for what towns like Chapel Hill and Carrboro
have to offer. Not just the quiet and moderately cheaper rent, but the sense
of community that naturally exists. NYC is just so darn big, you don't
really get that here, which is why I signed onto this newsgroup, which is why
I am also part of the "gonna move back to CH/Carrboro when the time comes"
consortium. It's a great place to live; I look fondly upon the days spent
there, watching families grow and the community work with itself. Sure, I
was some poor, rock kid living off McDade for awhile, but I knew what was
going on outside the rental I sat in. Anyone who didn't understand really
didn't belong there.

Maybe us out-of-towners react so vehemently toward these changes because we
miss the old place. All we have is our memories to hold on to, and when the
foundations that created them are uprooted, shifted, changed, plowed over, or
replaced with something else, we get a little upset. Where is the
continuity, is nothing sacred? Or perhaps the city has creeped in and
settled in our nerves. The MTA can do that to you. I'd be willing to have
some anthropological discussions about this.

But again, I do want to apologize to those who are taking the positive,
wiser, more thoughtful road if any offense has been made. It's highly
commendable, I look up to those doing so, and learn a great deal from what
everyone says, about this topic as well as others (part of the community
process, I feel). I would assume (but that would hurt us all, right?) that
there was a little knee-jerk reaction in all of us upon first hearing the
news; mine was just a bit venomous and landed in a place where it felt
comfortable to say what is on yr mind. I look forward to following
everyone's opinions here, reading whatever local newsprint I can get my hands
on off the net, and gathering the updates when they come. Thank you for
posting the links for the plans. That's the kind of thing that makes me glad
communities that involve smart and dedicated people like this still exist.
Thanks for listening, if you made it this far.



As far as the Kenlan/Garrison/embittered tag, well, perhaps this is a
personal issue. One that can be discussed outside this forum if desired,
since I'm sure others here don't want to hear about it.


dAve

"Forever alive, forever forward."
-Walt Whitman

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