A Matter of Tar and Money

Have you ever been walking down the sidewalk and see someone’s car get stuck in a pothole? That’s what happened to a friend of mine as he was walking to class. There he was minding his own business when a girl in her SUV drove straight into a pothole; course she did not see it because it had rained the night before and the water created an illusion of a slight dip. Her eyes were huge! Especially, when she realized she could not get out since one of her tires was deep in the hole.
This story was funny when it was told to me, but if I had been that girl, I would have been infuriated. What kind of city lets its roads be in such disrepair? Why is no money or tar going into our roads? They may be a little important, every so often, for the average Austinite. Sometimes I see major cracks in our roads and yes, they’ve been patched up, but six months later, we all know that they’ll have to be bandaged again.
Have you ever noticed just how wobbly some of the streets are? It is as though we are moving on jell-o. Am I the only one who wants something to be done? At times, you can barely drive in Austin. It is better to walk, which I know is the healthier route, but still we should not have these things like potholes and deteriorate go unnoticed. There could have been an accident if someone had been following that girl. Luckily, for her it was a small side road and nobody was there. Seriously though, Austin, let us try not to be weird for once and fix our roads.

House vs Tree

There’s this guy I like who writes an opinion column for the Austin American Statesman. No I do not have a crush on him or anything I just think he is funny. John Kelso is his name and irony is his game. Every time I read one of his columns there is laughter.

Today I was reading some of his writing and came upon one that could be related to local government. Lack of greenbacks helps Austin keep more greenery; an amusing title. Here he is a bit delighted over the economic crisis because locally it has been keeping the housing industry capped. Many new houses and subdivisions that were supposed to start construction have halted due to the lack of funds and profits. Kelso’s happy about this because that means fewer people living in Austin and then goes on to commenting about the bad traffic here and screwed up faces. In any case, Kelso may find the lack of construction entertaining and a relief, but in actuality it means that even Austin with its bustling economy is suffering overall from the US economy; the trickle down effect if you will.

With fewer people moving into Austin and with fewer companies willing to give money for housing development means less jobs and less money for the city. I, like many people would love to see more trees being kept and planted in the Austin area, but by no means should I want less growth. A big city means more opportunities for individuals and companies, but fewer and fewer places are looking good right now. Progress is nice. I say yeah for more road construction, better light systems and timers, and defiantly green, green, green, but can we not have a good economy and keep the trees? I think we can if we put our heads together. Hopefully, the market will pick itself up again (or another invention greater than the home computer will be invented) and we in local Austin will reap the benefits by finally being able to complete our housing contracts.