"Make no little plans, they have no magic to stir men's blood and probably will not be realized. Make big plans, aim high in hope and work, remembering that a nobler, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever growing insistency. Remember that our sons and grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty."
Daniel Burnham, master architect of the the 1893 ExpositionWe, the people of Anaheim, descend from dreamers, people who either settled here when Juan Pacifico Ontiveros insisted the entire region could not support a goat, or brave folk who left family and friends behind to settle a growing region in recent years. But whether we came recently, or have been here for generations, we are dreamers, lured by the California promise of a better life. So can someone please tell me why our kids play at Glover Stadium which looks like something from South Central Los Angeles, while we spend $200k for a Rose Parade float glorifying a baseball team we recently sued for humiliating us? Anyone?
I admit, I love Mondays, they are like the calendar equivalent of a blank sheet of paper waiting to be drawn upon. But then I pick up the newspaper and see how small and petty and unimaginative some of our Civic dreams are, and it is tough to drive past City Hall without screaming in futility. Why is it that so few of our leaders understand how to dream big dreams? Why can they not see how amazing our City could be with a little attention, a little love, and a whole lot of paint and trees? Just wondering on a Monday morning.
4 comments:
Well... we could have taken the 2m+ we spent on that lawsuit and used it as a new payment for a upgraded Glover. I think you pointed out something important though. With the resources we have access to in Anaheim, we should be one of the best looking citys in the nation!
Have you actually BEEN to South Central, Colony Rabble? La Palma Park is nowhere near close to that place.
Also, here's a little assignment for ya: can you find the primary document show Ontiveros' goat folly actually happened? I've never been able to locate it, but would love to find it...
Trees? Parks? Why waste that space when you could sell it for a song and use it for a zero-lot-line, density-bonused, parking-free low-income housing project/homeless shelter/halfway house?** To suggest any other uses would be heartless, cruel, racist, and classist! Tears are welling in my eyes as I type this response ...
** This offer only applies to empty space in Central or West Anaheim. Different rules may apply to empty spaces located in the Platinum Triangle or Anaheim Hills.
Since posting I have heard rumblings of improvements to Glover Stadium, will investigate and report in. Yes, Gustavo, I have hauled my gringa self to South Central, and many other hoods that strike fear in my gentrified heart. Biff, my blogging hero, it has been too long. Look for me on Red County soon....
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