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To the Editor and the Marlinton Community;
I have been blessed to be able to have traveled to seven states in the last two weeks. I stayed in and traveled through numerous “Big Cities,” and was able to examine what some of our local people have been saying like “We should be happy we don’t live in LA or another big city; or “Glad we don’t have the problems Big Cities have.”
When I went to Cleveland, Ohio, I saw abandoned houses, dilapidated buildings and piles of junk cars in the yards. Junk campers with people living in them with no utilities. Torn down buildings with the concrete foundations and steps still there and weeds growing wild. Persons going to the bathroom right on the street in the daytime. Potholes and old, damaged or missing street signs. No stripes on the streets to help with parking. OOPS, we have all that here, too!
When I visited New Jersey and Pennsylvania, I saw boarded up Main Street buildings and empty buildings with broken windows, burned out houses that haven’t been torn down in years, tractor trailers parking on residential streets and leaving before 6 a.m., and cars up on blocks in the street being worked on for months. Homeless people sleeping in the parks and scaring people out of them. Vandalism. Garbage and junk thrown all over. Trucks using their exhaust brakes on the level in the middle of town. Refrigerators and other appliances thrown in yards and on porches. Couches and junk all over porches. Persons out from 3 to 6 a.m. up to no good. Racist graffiti on walls. Also, talked to people that have sewer pipe problems. OOPS, we have all that here, too!
When I visited New York City, I saw trash bags out at the curb every day, not in trash cans when trash only gets picked up one day a week. I was accosted by pan handling bums on the street that could tell I was a visitor and they could try to take advantage of me. Mentally ill and/or homeless persons dumpster diving and collecting trash and tearing open people’s trash and stashing the smelly loot in empty buildings or under bridges. People squatting in abandoned houses with no utilities for months with no monitoring by the owner or government and throwing trash all over the yard and street. Mentally ill people exposing themselves on the street. Vehicles racing up and down the residential streets with loud exhausts. OOPS, we have that here, too!
Getting away from these depressing Big City “quality of life issues” is why people move to Small Town USA.
Well, I guess, at least, we have reasonable water/sewer rates. OOPS!
Mark Strauss
Marlinton