When I first saw the new street signs in Old Allentown, I gave them about a year. I must now downgrade that lifespan to about 6 months. The old green and white signs are going on 60 years of use. Generations of boys did pull ups on the old sign at 12th and Turner; This sign will support one pull up by one boy. The Allentown planning office told Morning Call reporter, Dan Hartzell, that the antique looking signs are to enhance the historic nature of Old Allentown.
Hartzell thought that it's wonderful that the Old Allentown yuppies get something, because they
Walk the Walk. He did
not report that the signs have no structural integrity, are too short and are junk. Although Hartzell took the above photograph only one week ago, the
Turner has since broken off the sign. In truth, we do
not have an historic district, we have a poverty district with a few yuppies and a city hall deluding itself. In the
City Without Limits, we wasted another half a $million dollars.
above reprinted from August of 2012
ADDENDUM MARCH 27, 2024: The new posts and signs were such junk that they only looked decent for ten minutes. Twelve years later, I'm certain you can't find one that isn't bent. That result is the good news, the bad news is that the city planning department at that time got paid for such decisions. Most of the lackeys of that period have retired. If the new personnel is any better, I have no direct knowledge. Back then I was still visiting city hall on a regular basis. My visits now are curtailed to an occasional observation of a city council meeting.
I definitely agree that the signs were a bad purchase.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I appreciate the attempt to give the historic district a different character.
While your original post derides those willing to improve their homes as “yuppies”, I would instead call them taxPAYERS, as opposed to the abundance of taxTAKERS throughout the city.
I do believe that the city’s two main historic districts have been beneficial, and the homes (and people) there have fared better than other areas in the city without similar protections. But the signs were definitely a swing and a miss.
Over the years this blog has been rough on the historic district "yuppies". I had some good friends who were part of the original group. I would now refer to them as pioneers. Allentown was and is much better off for their presence and efforts. There are three districts. Along with the "new" West Park, there is forgotten Old Fairgrounds.
ReplyDeleteI purposely omitted Old Fairgrounds when I mentioned the “two main historic districts”, as I believe there was a difference between that group and the other two.
ReplyDeleteI confess I don’t remember what it was, but I think that the historic preservation was more of a suggestion there, whereas the other two districts were stricter and relied on HARB for enforcement.
Maybe it was just that the core group wasn’t as strong there as it was in the other two districts. Maybe it was a general lack of support or vision there from Allentown City Hall.
Perhaps you or one of your readers know more about that. In any event, Old Fairgrounds never seemed to do as well in preserving the historic character of their homes and neighborhood as the other two.
HARB had a political component. As an outspoken critic and property owner in all the districts, I was beaten up by them several times. The West Park district was passed illegally against the will of the majority. That misrepresentation was implemented by the administration at the time, and likewise overlooked by the Morning Call.
DeleteI do agree that the Old Allentown district has been positive for that area.
When I moved here years ago, I spurred many owners to paint... something everyone should do.
DeleteI agree that HARB is more political than anything as is SWEEP.
A good friend of mine was on the board and confirmed this.
You can have properties next to, across from or in the same block that may have essentially different rules to abide by. If you are a well connected landlord, you can be almost assured of minimal interference. I'll go out on a limb and say, MM, you were interfered with because you violated the golden rule and failed to keep your trap shut... a major sin in Allentown, which folks should be hung out to dry for expressing their opinion. The more things change, the more they remain the same. YMMV.