February 2009 Archives

So, it's a stretch to relate this to city living, but I'm going to give it a shot.

The other day York City Councilman Cameron Texter pointed my attention to a recent episode of the Colbert Report, which featured John Fetterman, mayor of Braddock, Pa. Fetterman's been called a York native in a bunch of articles Google showed me, but an old Daily Record story tells me he grew up in Springettsbury Township and his father owns Kling Bros. Insurance (which is in the city -- see there, related to the city).

Anyway, Fetterman's an interesting guy. He seems to have drawn much attention for being a big, tattooed up guy with a Harvard degree. He has Braddock's zip code tattooed on his arm, plus a tattoo of the date every time someone has been killed in Braddock under his watch, according to news articles. He was on the Colbert Report lobbying for economic stimulus funding for Braddock, where he says the population has dropped from 20,000 to 3,000 in recent years.

Fetterman appears to be pushing for creative ideas to spark economic development in the tiny town. Read more on Braddock's Web site.

What do you think?

A sign on the York Coffee Co., the coffee shop at the corner of King and Beaver streets, right next to City Hall, indicates that it's closed, but it looks temporary. The sign says it will reopen soon under new management.

There are a couple of South George Street developments I've been meaning to point out for a while.

The Futer Bros. building has been growing.

Well, it didn't take long.

You'd think all that writing about the city raising parking ticket fines would make me a little more careful. But today I was issued my first $20 ticket. It's probably my fifth or sixth ticket overall since moving to the city.

I went downtown for something I thought would take maybe an hour or so. I put about a dollar in the meter. And then everything took waayyy longer. I remembered my parking meter at some point, but by then my time had probably already expired by, oh, about 45 minutes. Plus, I was out of change anyway (except for a plethora of pennies and one of those $1 coins, which appear to be good for nothing).

So, tomorrow, I will go to City Hall and give them my $20. Spend it well, city officials.

Sometimes we complain about it being noisy in the city, but this weekend I sort of missed it.

I was visiting my grandmother on her farm in Clearfield County. She lives back a dirt road and there aren't any neighbors, much less traffic.

I woke up a couple times in the night, wondering why it was so dark and quiet. I forgot what it's like to be out where there aren't street lights and noise. It was so dark. So peaceful.

Today, I was walking in the first block of South George Street when a woman stopped me and held out a cup with a few dollars in it, asking for change.

I'm not sure, but I think this is the first time I've ever been asked for change in the city. (Not counting the time a guy told me he just got out of jail and needed a ride or money for a cab. He got neither from me.)

Since I was a few steps from Continental Square, it seemed a strange place to find panhandling. I can think of other areas it might seem more likely. I used to see people asking for money all the time when I lived outside of D.C., but it seems unusual here.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is the economy causing people to resort to asking for change on the street? Or am I just missing something?

Two people recently interviewed for this story handle the issues in their
neighborhood a bit differently.

Jeff Snyder is frustrated with what he believes is a lack of response from
police to deal with drug dealers in his neighborhood. So he painted his
frustration in large letters on a sign aimed at "crack dealers" in his
front window. He added another sign about a gang later.

His next door neighbor, Peggy Brett, doesn't like his signs and thinks
he's bringing down property values. She's retaliated by adding flowers
to the greenery that adorns the railing on her front stoop. She says she
wouldn't know a drug deal if she saw one.

What would you do? Is it better to beautify your own property or to draw
attention to a not-so-pretty problem?

I just thought it was an interesting contrast. How do you handle problems and
issues in your neighborhoods?

Yesterday, I had lunch at Mezzogiorno in Central Market.

It was hopping, as usual. We had to stalk for a table for a few minutes before snagging a pair of barstools.

While eating, I saw a friend, two sources that I'd recently interviewed and a political candidate. I noticed several people chatting with each other as they passed or having conversations from opposite sides of the bar.

It made me think about places where everyone knows each other and socializes over food. I wrote a story a year ago about Colonial Coffee Shop on South George Street, which attracts a crowd of regulars for breakfast. They chat about the world's problems, and some made longtime friends on the way. And it seems both of the city's markets have become places to not only eat and shop but also meet with friends.

So, where else does this kind of thing happen? Do you have a favorite lunch or brunch spot in the city? 

The other day, as I interviewed a city businessman, he mentioned that although he's walked the city streets many, many times, he'll still discover a new building or something else that he had never noticed before.

As we walked North George Street, he pointed to an old advertisement painted on the top of the Harp and Fiddle building. I'd never noticed it either.

I've often thought about this sort of thing. Living in the city, it's easy to let the houses and businesses blend together and not notice anything other than rows and rows of buildings. But if you slow down and look, there's some pretty cool stuff.

Business reporter Kevin Horan has a story today about the White Rose Bar & Grill undergoing renovations.

They're renovating the cafe area and making more outdoor seating. But one of the biggest changes: the big white rose over the doors is coming down.

I live in the vicinity of several tax preparation places. So each January, parking inevitably becomes more scarce in my neighborhood. It's no problem, really. I can usually find one spot relatively near my building.

What gets me is the people who park in the loading zone by our building. I hardly ever see anyone parked in it (unless they're moving in or out nearby) until we get to January. When tax season starts, the loading zone suddenly becomes a popular parking spot. Sometimes, there's a car in the loading zone, plus another one behind it --- in an area that isn't meant for parking at all.

I don't think carrying your tax documents to your car counts as loading or unloading anything.