Absolutely NO Surprise Here...


Last night's City Council "Public Hearing" (and I use the word as LOOSELY as possible) regarding the Harrison (Costaplenty) Square project was nothing more than the "usual suspects" gathered together (once again) to say how THEY are well off enough to do whatever the hell they please and that the common man has no recourse but to behave himself and go along with it. This type of brinkmanship just cheeses me off to no end.
Brunhilde has sung!

After SO many polls touting the overwhelming disagreement with the project in it's current incarnation, it will go right on (as planned) as if no one was EVER opposed to it in ANY fashion. SO much for the democratic system and how much YOUR voice is heard. I told my wife it looked as though the "hearing" was seeded with a majority of all the right people, and those opposed were merely an afterthought...just like the FWCS "hearing". It was nothing more than a staged freakshow...all that was missing was someone selling "Elephant Ears" and funnel cake!
P.T. Barnum would have LOVED it!

This project, as I have felt all along was over and done with LONG before it even saw the light of day. And voicing my personal displeasure (about the way it was presented to every one of us), along with SO many others that brought up extremely VALID points as to why this project was not the best idea to come down the pike for downtown redevelopment, along with supported facts and figures fell on deaf ears again.

But it's over now, and all those of us that opposed this idea can do is either get on with what life we can dredge up for ourselves in the wake of this, or (as I've heard all too often) ..."Just move away".
There were those that initially opposed the Southtown Centre project as well (I was never counted among those), and there were those that claim that the area is seeing a (much needed) revitalization. In MY opinion, the stores down at Southtown are just crumbs tossed at the masses, because the mall that USED to be there should NEVER have been torn down...or even abandoned in the first place. It was due to the CRIME in the area, which is STILL in an even greater abundance these days (from, say 10 years ago). And crime will ALWAYS be a major factor in determining whether a business will stay or leave.

The downtown area doesn't see the crime WE do, so that must make it OK to do SO much more with the area. Well, businesses (in general) in THAT area found it hard to remain when prior development in areas further AWAY from downtown spurred growth at such a rapid rate. Come one now...even blind people can see this! All the time the city (and county) ALLOWED development to occur OUTSIDE the periphery of downtown, when they SHOULD have been forcing development IN the downtown region. They can place bans on smoking, they SURE AS HELL can place restrictions on areas of development.
They just didn't.

So now we'll be saddled with the quintessential crapshoot situation...betting the farm on one roll of the dice...a "proposed" future white elephant (make that a MASTODON) that, for all intents and purposes, after the shine wears off, and the "oohing & aahing" is over, will sit as yet another monument to stupidity. Now there's an idea...a WORLD-CLASS museum in the downtown area... to STUPIDITY...whatta concept!

WIll this project become a boon to our downtown area, or just a another bane to Fort Wayne?
I favor the latter.

I've seen this happen time and again in Philadelphia, PA and in Columbus, OH....new downtown venues that promptly fell flat on their asses (at the taxpayers' expense). In Philly, the old department stores closed one by one, replaced by newer, "nicer" shopping areas (The Gallery Mall)...didn't bring in and keep the people it was trying to. Their downtown is STILL stumbling about, trying to find itself, as the city slips further into debt (and they already have EVERY major sports club in creation there). In Columbus, they HAD the City Center Mall (beautiful place)....that was frigging torn the hell DOWN a few years ago, and that as a damn shame. Blame in on the sprawl to the suburbs..they have more and better shopping.

In the ten (excruciatingly long) years I have lived here, I have ONLY gone downtown when absolutely necessary...nothing else. Now I have another reason NOT to go there...thank you, Fort Wayne for reenforcing MY beliefs in just how concerned you are for all the REAL people that keep this damn city breathing.

Originally hailing from Philly, I have absolutely no "vested" interest in this city one damn bit (other than staying alive while my area turns into a damn ghetto), and in many cases could care less (especially NOW), but fair IS fair. When I see people being steamrollered by the local governments (and their corporate cronies), I become a bit incensed, so forgive me if I come off a bit brusk in my assessment OF this city and it's "leadership". After all, I was never a member of the "Lemming" club, and never hope to be (as so many others apparently already are). Fort Wayne needs to find ITSELF, and not settle for mimicry of other cities.

Hopefully, we "nay-sayers" that didn't want this project to go forward (as proposed) will be able to sit back in our homes someday (somewhere other than Ft. Wayne) and have one helluva laugh over this....!

But *I* won't say "I told you so"....you'll find that out soon enough all by yourselves.