Lakewood Not Walkable for Seniors

[Roy Pitchford]

Igor, my oldest son visits Nashville often and adores it. Thank you for your well thought out post. Geez, some of and our radical ideas, like growth, accountability, representation, problem solving, active listening. When our politicians forget that they are their to take care of ALL their constituents and make this city the best it can be, we are doomed to the same old lack of representation and voicelessness.

Excuse me!!!
When exactly did we become the USSA?? It is their job to "take care of ALL constituents"? That is quite possibly the biggest load of tripe I've ever seen and I used to live in America's Dairyland, Wisconsin!!
Its their job to represent us in the government.

[sharon kinsella]

Us is only who they choose to be us, no Roy, you are so wrong the wrong people call you wrong.

[sharon kinsella]

Your video Ryan. Disgusting stuff.

[Ryan Salo]

Your hatred of me is blinding you of the facts. Check to see who posted that again...

[Ivor Karabatkovic]

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGORRRRRRRRRRRRR!

[Stephen Eisel]

Your hatred of me is blinding you of the facts. Check to see who posted that again...

Use your Jedi mind tricks then blame me.. ha!

[Stephen Eisel]

Your video Ryan. Disgusting stuff.

That was a PSA for all...

[sharon kinsella]

Sorry Ryan and I don't hate you I hate the sin (Statement made to loosely mirror a statement you made about hating the sin and not the sinner).

Now to Eisel - Shut up Stephen.

[Roy Pitchford]

Us is only who they choose to be us, no Roy, you are so wrong the wrong people call you wrong.

I haven't got a clue what you just said.

[Stephen Eisel]

Sorry Ryan and I don't hate you I hate the sin (Statement made to loosely mirror a statement you made about hating the sin and not the sinner).

Now to Eisel - Shut up Stephen.

That's my girlfriend!

[Gary Rice]

Wow.

It's been awhile since we've had a good deckscrap. Things were starting to get boring around here.

While there are some who ideologically argue that ALL government benefit programs should be reduced or even scrapped, there are in fact, many programs that help level the playing field for people who otherwise might not have the opportunity to participate fully in society.

There's a difference between giving someone a hand-out as opposed to a leg-up, as the old saying goes...

...and we sometimes forget that doing for the least of our brethren truly helps all of us in a common decency that transcends political points of view.

As a person born having significant leg "differences", (I'm not a big fan of the word "disabilities", due to the obvious implication that someone having "disabilities" somehow might not be productive) I for one, appreciate having a place to sit down in public once in awhile. If we can at least agree that a government should pave our streets, look after our sewers, and manage other essentials of life like water, then what's so all-fired politically bad about giving people a place to sit down once in awhile? We ALL get tired feet, especially in a so-called "walkable" community...

...its not only the so-called "poor", needful, or elderly among us who get sore feet, y'know.

You see benches everywhere in modern communities that really care about "walk-ability". Ivor is so right. There are so many other communities out there that do as much and more for their population. Lakewood needs to take a good look around. We have to remain a competitively attractive place to visit and live.

The thing is, town benches and even town public tables encourage ALL people to get outside and walk. They would permit ever-greater mobility for the population requiring them, and indeed, for everyone else too. They would allow a greater range of motion for pedestrians, providing ever greater access to area businesses, with corresponding increased potential financial and shopping benefits for all concerned.

Great cities like Paris even provide ample public facilities for the call of nature.

People, after all, have to do more than walk, once in awhile.

We could also sing...

There still time for that community camp-fire sing-a-long. Conservatuffys can bring the marshmallows and those liberallovin' tree-huggers can bring the chocolate bars... Would someone neutral here please provide some soft and non-confrontational sticks to roast with?

Back to the banjo...

[dl meckes]

I'm not surprised at the bullying tone this discussion took, but I'm disappointed.

We have a large group of seniors clustered in Lakewood and providing a few benches shouldn't be something so easily scorned.

I'm surprised that some politically-minded folks didn't see the opportunity to work with private groups to see if there could be some funds raised and a co-mingling of citizens and government working together.

It could be a feel-good experience as we rally to give a little thought to people who can't get around very easily.

Business owners could work together to help pay for a bench. Perhaps the Lakewood Hospital Foundation could kick in a few bucks. We could see if AARP had any help for neighborhoods.

I've walked with my crutches or my cane alongside my mother-in-law with her walker or her cane and with my late father and his walker. My dad was a bronze star marine and he hated what age had done to his body. He had to use a walker before he died, but had held off until he was 90.

I can see that this won't be an issue that the Pillars of Lakewood will champion, but there are lots of other groups that might get behind helping seniors.

If we're lucky, we'll get to live a lot of years - preferably without mobility issues and social isolation.

[Ryan Salo]

DL,

I am curious where, specifically, you feel there is space for public benches in the small stretch Sharon was discussing.

I agree our public officials should look into it as a potential private/public partnership but that can only happen in places where there is enough physical space to fit them.

[dl meckes]

There's an area on every block where there is red brick. There is also a space between a light pole and the first parking meter. Enough space for a small bench. It doesn't have to be fancy, it could be a thin backless bench.

I noticed there was also some space by the the church.

How difficult is it to find some space for the "least of us"?

Why isn't that a priority for the City of Lakewood? I'm not suggesting that any hard cash be spent by the Council or the City, because we know that no-one can spare a penny for our seniors except for people and institutions in the private sector.

But this is a situation where some partnerships could be made.

[Ryan Salo]

Ok I did a virtual stroll down detroit around the westerly and south westerly. It was interesting how both the Westerly and South Westerly have the physical space to put benches yet neither have yet. I wonder why they haven't. I also noticed quite a few covered RTA stops that someone can sit at. I am not arguing against benches just trying to keep the conversation realistic. I can't imagine the city is going to open itself up to lawsuit especially when the businesses housing elderly don't even feel it is important enough to address.

S Westerly.jpg (71.73 KiB) Viewed 2719 times

Put in a smaller sign with plenty of room for a bench or even behind the sign.

existing benches.jpg (94.39 KiB) Viewed 2719 times

Notice how these are no where near the street? There is no way the city is going to put up a backless bench that butts up against a city street with buses driving by. The last thing we need is someone to get killed when they slip off an iced bench into the street.

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Amazing amount of space for a bench or two or dozen.