L&LNM has been busy blogging Central, and I've learned a lot, mainly that I oppose A.R.T. more than ever. So much so that I need to write about it. I also want to argue for bringing back Route 66, an historic trail that is known around the world, and restoring its power to Central Avenue.
Business, business, business
I still firmly believe that A.R.T. is a money-making venture for a small group of businessmen, pure and simple. You can talk all you want about building communities and cutting down on daily commutes to work, etc. but it's about business.
And I am freakin' tired of business. I don't want to go into business. I don't want to build a business. I don't want to run a business. I don't want to work for Big Business.
It's about community
I do, however, believe that building communities leads to a better quality of life for everyone, no matter what business you are in.
I believe that those communities shouldn't be centered around what you do for a living but around where you grew up, where your roots are, and where you have always wanted to live.
Sure, it's nice to live close to work but if you live where you live only because of that, then you aren't as much about community as you are about work. You are a group of individuals who live where you live so that you don't have to drive to work. You want to save money for your own household. It's about work communities, and I guess that isn't a bad thing.
Also, these professional communities serve the business -- if everyone who works for Presbyterian Hospital lives right across the street, attendance is much better, I'm sure. Nothing wrong with that, just seems like it's not about community.
True communities the Route 66 way
I want to see communities who pull together to make their neighborhoods good places to live, people working together for a common cause that has nothing to do with business.
If we had gone the Rt. 66 route, we could have easily built communities that would go out of their way to make change happen. Money could have been put toward renovating old motels and restaurants that highlight what Rt. 66 was about. Neighborhoods, I'm sure, would rally around such efforts.
Restore Rt. 66 and business will follow
With worldwide interest in Rt. 66, it only makes sense that bringing it back would be a good thing for Abq. I mean, if you are all about money, it is a great way to go, and really, compared to the cost of A.R.T., it would be quite cost effective. That would make taxpayers happy.
Businesses that have faltered over the years could get a second chance. We could build a living museum that tourists could see from vintage Rt. 66-type cars or anything other than high-speed buses flying down the middle of the road, leaving no time to appreciate Central's history.
More importantly to me is that communities would grow stronger as people jump on board and help in any way they can to make it happen. We are nostalgic! We love the past.
Also more importantly -- there would be money available, money not spent on A.R.T., that could be spent on finding ways to make sure no one is sleeping out on the streets, hungry and vulnerable.
That's it for today.
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