On a posting on Wednesday, Tuerk used the F-word to emphasize that Allentown would be cracking down on speeders. I hope that he and Police Chief Roca take that pledge to heart. Celebrating diversity is good, enjoying public safety is better. We don't need another heritage flag raising, we need basic policing, and plenty of it. We don't need a promise neighborhood, we need a safe neighborhood.
Take all Stimuli Money from Washington and hire as many police as possible, we need them. After the streets calm down, then we can celebrate different cultures. Right now things are way too rough on those streets to concern ourselves with lesser issues.
We? Don’t you live in Whitehall?
ReplyDeletePolitics today is all about creating perceptions and spin. Very little substance. Reality brings this all into focus. Sadly most do not have the capability of real governing, it is all spin and fabrication..
ReplyDeleteAdding the F-word to other mere words is just that and nothing more. Expect two weeks max of some traffic enforcement then it will be back to the appeasement do nothing city hall.
ReplyDeleteanon@7:20; I only print your unworthy comment as an opportunity to elaborate on my comment policy.
ReplyDeleteI do not print banal partisan comments.
I do not print anonymous personal insults, either about myself or
others
I do not print short comments, such as "I agree". Comments do not have to agree with my POV, but they must contribute something to the dialogue
I actually prefer not to comment and/or reply to comments on my posts.
I couldn't agree with you more about the need for Tuerk to get serious and focus on both quality-of-life issues and hiring more police officers. We need less about pronouns, and more about police.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I'd like to make a general comment about crosswalks in the city. I want to preface those comments by saying that I have no idea what happened at the Dieruff crosswalk, and these comments are NOT directed at that incident.
I regularly travel the 17th Street corridor, so I see a lot of interaction between cars and pedestrians on 17th near Raub (between Walnut and Hamilton), Allen (between Linden and Turner) and the Allentown Hospital (between Chew and Gordon).
I certainly see my share of drivers who are driving too fast or are oblivious to people entering the crosswalk. But what I see more are students who seem to believe that having the right-of-way makes them invincible in a collision with a car. It does not, and is a battle they will lose.
Students appear to think that they can wait until a car is almost even with them and then step off the curb at the last moment and that the car will be able to stop. That assumes the driver is paying attention, and conditions (and the condition of the vehicle) will allow the car to stop. Usually that's not the case.
Parents at Allen also do their kids no favors. I see parents stopping in the middle of traffic and leaving their kids off in the street while their car is in the opposite lane from the school. Now the kid is crossing in the middle of the street (where there's no crosswalk), and to make matters worse they often cross from behind their parents' cars where they are not as visible to oncoming (southbound) traffic.
At Walnut, Hamilton, Linden, Turner and Chew, which are all signalized intersections, I see students routinely ignore the traffic signals and cross the road when cars have the right of way.
I've also seen bad crosswalk practices from adults crossing at the Hospital crosswalk. As a driver, I often can't tell if someone is waiting at the LANTA bus stop or wanting to cross at the crosswalk. It's a bad combination there (cross walk and bus stop), and it's made worse by those who simply put their heads down and assume that a driver will know what they're planning, see them, and stop.
While the city can certainly (and should) crack down on drivers who ignore crosswalks, I think it's well past time for the school district to take some responsibility as well. What goes on in front of Allen (and other schools) shouldn't happen.
They should inform parents that they are only allowed to drop off their kids on the school side of the street, from the passenger-side doors of the car, and only after the car has pulled over to the curb (no in-traffic drop offs). The district should also have monthly classes on the need for students to look before crossing, and have school personnel write up any students crossing against the crossing signal at both 17th and Linden and 17th and Turner.
Finally, I hope that if the police are cracking down on vehicles speeding through crosswalks, they also crack down on pedestrians crossing at the wrong spots or against the signal.
It's a long road to making things safer, but I think taking those first steps will get things going in the right direction.
I live in the area you describe. You are absolutely correct, there needs to be better control of where students can be left off/picked up at the school. The Linden and Turner St sides of the building, not on 17th at all, would be safer for everyone. The parents double park then decide to tell their kids something that holds up 17th St traffic while they finish their conversation. Parents speed through the alley across from Allen High to avoid the light at 17th and Turner. There have been many near misses. They park partway across the alleyway while 3 parking spaces are available a few feet ahead. It's incredible that no one has been seriously injured.
DeleteAllentown driving motto is “me first.” I see drivers turn right without stopping, running red lights, and recently I saw someone pass traffic in a left turn lane to cut-into the straight lane when the light changed. Allentown, no cops, no worries. That being said Allentown is also horrible for pedestrians popping out in between parked cars rather than using painted cross-walks. I hate driving up Linden Street because I fear moms pushing strollers out between parked cars to cross mid-block. It happens so often, parents endangering kids crossing mid-block. I also fear driving around Raub or Allen High on school days because kids cross wherever, sometimes showing off to their friends that they’re cool enough to stop traffic. And if anything happened it would, of course, be the driver’s fault. Yes, maybe Allentown has to crack down on both drivers and jaywalkers, as other cities do, and teach adults and kids to use crosswalks. Jaywalkers can be ticketed too. Yes, it’s a nuisance, but it might save a life or two.
ReplyDeleteThe criminality that is instilled in the allentownian jailhouse mentality comes from the top to bottom. I wouldn't have my doubts that the criminal of the Deruif incident was a agent of the administration.
ReplyDeleteHell these people can't even mow the grass uncle harry planted. Let alone keep people safe in there purvious streets they can't manage.
Bring back mayor Powalski!
anon@2:53: I print your comment only as a vehicle for an important point...We know no details about the tragic accident that took the young woman's life, other than the driver remained on the scene. My post was about crime, speeding and priorities, but it may not pertain to this particular incident.
ReplyDeleteAllentown, was once a great city ! An look at it now ! The people back the acted as one ! We did not have diversity days ! We where proud Americans! Well, that is gone and the town is a pit now !
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. The Allentown Police Department is only staffed with 2/3 the number of police officers a city of our size should have per national policing standards. This is an absolute disgrace!
ReplyDeleteIt is my belief, the obvious decline in Allentown quality of life is primarily due to an over abundance of renter homes, the very transient nature of rental unit dwellers, and overall lax penalties for law breaking, from littering, parking, noise, and other bad behavior.
ReplyDeleteAllentown is a temporary living spot for far too many. No one really “buys in” to improving their conditions as they’ll likely be moving along in the not too distant future.
This is all "by design" and the desired result. The lousier the area is, the easier it is to bring in the wrecking ball. I wonder how much of the city is slated to be redeveloped???
DeleteMost of center city seems to be a no go zone for police. We have a gazzillion dollar camera system that appears to be blind... fireworks set off right under them, but they just can't seem to see the people doing it... same with whizzing motorcycles and 3 and 4 wheelers... just can't seem to "see" anything... AMAZING!!! On my street it sounds like the stock car races at Dorney on a Saturday night... on a really good night it sounds like Pocono or Nazareth. Sleep??? What's that??? The city could fly into the black with just a 'little' traffic enforcement... not enough officers they claim, but have a shooting and the streets are clogged with cruisers... wonder where they hang out during no shooting times??? Just asking for some friends.
ReplyDeleteWould you all agree with me that Allentown is doomed? At this point, I see no hope for its future. 😢
ReplyDeleteanon@1:26: Although I have never been accused of positive thinking, nor this blog associated with it, I do NOT agree with you. The Allentown of my youth is gone, and we are in many ways a different city, but likewise, many of the newer people here like and enjoy Allentown very much. They are optimistic about its future.
ReplyDelete