A Simple Question Gets Simpler to Ask

Comments from those who refused recording: Get homeless off streets -- the three ladies who sit downstairs in my building.

Black veteran said no to interview due to lack of expertise.

Guy who has the twin in the wheelchair says no to interview due to lack of expertise.

Lady on my floor said no because I used the words "city government" instead of "land use planning" or "ways to build the city."

Guy in suit by Reading School District admin building says we need strong police presence, says he doesn't live in Reading.

Working girls (nurse aides who look under 18) at the luxury assisted living place(Market Square) say the big problems are homelessness, trash, rent, and druggies. They just want to survive in this economy. At Market Square, it's $3,000 for just the roof over head without health services.

Market Square wants shared bedrooms, so it's 2,600 for you and 2,600 for apartment mate and 5,000 to have your own space.

The assisted living cost just for passing meds is $1000 extra. To have your meal tray brought up to your room, it's $50.

A week or two later, I begin talking to people again, but this time, I'm not taking videos, and figure my brain will be able to hold the information.

Guy at YMCA yesterday says he's heading back down south due to getting caught up in gang activity here and having to extricate himself.

Guy from out of country at 5th and Penn says he feels welcome and people treat him nice, but he's only been in the city for 2 months, so he doesn't know much. May be speaking Haitian Creole with friend.

Spanish speaker at 5th and Penn who doesn't work says he doesn't have much to say about the Mayor or bicycle and pedestrian stuff in the city.

Spanish speaker in wheelchair has no opinion on bicycle and pedestrian advocacy. Obviously, I worded it poorly. I probably should've said "wheeled advocacy" or "active transportation." Says he doesn't like the Mayor. I didn't know the word for Mayor, so I used "el lider de la ciudad." No one else in the large group of Spanish speakers at 6th and Penn responds to the inquiry. What's going on in City government largely seems non sequitur to their lives.

Regardless of whether people are in favor of or against the Mayor, it would be interesting to see how many people who regularly hang out on Penn Street are homeless and who is not. For you see, if people who are housed are still struggling, their stories might be good for the city to get. And now that I've been to a more advanced type of planning meeting that has more resources to address more issues, I learned that housing is *indeed* related to active transportation. And immigration, too.

Two Spanish-speaking women in front of the SAM building decline to comment because my Spanish is too slow. I have learned that the word for a guy Mayor is "acalde." The women direct me to the white guy nearby who is smoking. He's heard about the CRIZ. He thinks the passenger rail coming back will be a good thing. He asks if the Downtown Strategic Plan has started yet. I tell him there are so many people from so many fields and organizations on it that we'll have to approach it "at 30,000 feet," and start with small workgroups and then branch out to public meetings to hash out the 100 points in the document. He doesn't know about the Exide Superfund project, but says he could smell the chemicals coming out of the plant when he was growing up.

Guy walking past county building says he's not from here. He says that Reading has deteriorated, and I ask if there's a particular time period that he idealizes. He says, well, the traffic has really gotten bad. I tell him that I'm on the Planning Commission and that I run WalkBikeBerks Two, and that we've been trying to work on this stuff. It's just that we would need a really big group and maybe two or three focus areas before we could present to Reading Area Transportation Study, the Municipal Planning Organization for Berks County. I told him what Alan Piper had told me, in that ten people have shown up before, but they each want something different. It is important that we have very clear statements as to what we want to change about highways, I said, maybe particular intersections, neighborhoods, or blocks. I exchanged info with the guy, whose number is from Pottstown. I ask him if he knows Tom Hylton. He says no. I tell him about the Saving Pennsylvania (Save Our Land, Save Our Towns) documentary, and that Tom is retired from worldwide speaking engagements, but that he still is on the Pottstown Planning Commission, if one would like to meet him.

Neighbor who is a retired pastor says she doesn't want to do an interview, but she researches on social issues like me. She knows about the CRIZ and the Downtown Strategic Plan. I ask her if she's on LinkedIn, and she hasn't heard of it. I say it's mostly a job seeking site, but people also talk about their fields with people who don't know much about those fields. Then she says she doesn't work. I say, that's not what I mean. I mean, there's a lot of people who don't work but still make valuable contributions. There's a lot of people, for example, who are retired and stay on as storytellers and consultants. You could do a blog or podcast and get thousands of viewers or listeners around the world. You could do it on your own time. No, she says, I'm not interested, as she pushes her grocery-loaded rollator into her room.

Crossing guard at Lauer's Park Elementary says that it's pretty dangerous for kids to walk to school, especially when it's icy, and especially when cars are double-parked. If he's not there, a lot of cars don't even look for the kids.

There's also a parent from Tennessee who says that in her home state, bicycles are allowed on the sidewalks. I tell her that, to my knowledge, bicycles are not supposed to be on sidewalks in business districts in PA, but if they're not on the sidewalks, they have to go fast, or they'll get hit. Maybe, I said, a bill should be written so that bicyclists can use sidewalks. I ask her what she thinks of the Mayor, and she says, I don't watch the news so I don't know anything about the Mayor. She says traffic is a concern, and I tell her how we've been working on the late night honkers and bad traffic via the Vision Zero plan. I also mention the Downtown Strategic Plan and the Transit Oriented Development, and essentially that the Mayor is going to give direction to all the Boards and Commissions. I said it's kind of like Philly, where the Mayor doesn't have direct control over all the Boards, but they do have to take the Mayor seriously. I gave the example of the Reading Housing Authority, which is governed through an Act by the State and is also regulated Federally by HUD, even though the Mayor has to approve of new members. City Council also had to remove someone from the Reading Redevelopment Authority in 2022.

I was going to eat at Mi Casa es Su Casa, but they had just closed and so I went over to Judy's on Cherry, which hadn't quite opened yet. I get the sense that businesses are having a hard time staying open long. I see so many cafes that have reduced their hours to 7am to 2pm. 

When I exited the cafe, I got a stark reminder of differing priorities. There were two guys nearby and they asked me for change. I said, I don't carry cash. But I wanted to know what you thought of the Mayor and what the city is doing. Like, we might get passenger rail back. He said, I think he's doing fine, but do you have any change? I said, no, I just happen to work for the Planning Commission, and I want to know what you think of the Downtown Strategic Plan. And he says, I think it's all right. I need some change, though. I said, I gotta go, sorry.

After I found that Judy's was not quite open yet, I went to the Post Office on 13th Street because the one on 5th Street was still closed due to flooding. While I was in line, it was totally quiet, and it was clear they'd be stuck there for a while, so I asked everyone in line if anyone had seen the State of the City Address. There were about 7 people ahead of me, and one behind me. Receiving no reply, I said, so I guess you all are *not* from the City of Reading? 

And I thought about their long days if they were professionals, and that they might have been up since 6am if they had kids to put on a bus, and then this was probably their errand time. As it is said, once you get a car, it just means that you end up doing more with it, but it doesn't actually give you peace of mind. It's a means to an end, but fulfillment means exhaustion, and therefore, you don't feel fulfilled.

Note: I am publicly supporting a particular candidate https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61572238651552