Webster: Where Life is Worth Living, Unless You're Different
"This tide of development in Webster does not raise all the municipal 'boats' in Monroe County because it adds to our inefficient, decentralizing regional development pattern and creates even greater struggles for the existing businesses, governments and citizens of the core communities (village of Webster, city of Rochester, Irondequoit)." Believe it or not, that quote was not from yours truly, but from Evan Lowenstein, another member of the small but noisy group of enlightened area residents who understands that continued growth on our periphery without real and sustained regional economic growth only makes us all weaker. The quote is taken from today's
lengthy two-part article describing why Webster is such a gosh-darn good place to live.
According to some mindless twit of a real estate agent, "the keys to Webster's popularity are the schools, the Route 104 expressway that carries traffic to downtown Rochester in about 20 minutes, the scenic landscape and recreational opportunities of Lake Ontario, Irondequoit Bay, parks and nationally recognized sports programs." But Irondequoit has all of those things too, except maybe the nationally-recognized sports programs (ouch, take that Eastridge!). Then again, ask somebody in football-crazed Texas what they think of Webster Schroeder's chances this year and I bet you'll get a blank stare followed by kick in the crotch. It seems to me that the difference between Irondequoit, which is struggling to maintain itself, and Webster, which is growing faster than President Bush's disapproval rating, is that Irondequoit has more minorities, more poor people, and shares a border with the City of Rochester.
Or maybe it's that Webster residents just don't know that Irondequoit exists. From what I hear, East Ridge Road in Irondequoit is one of the major commercial arteries of Monroe County. It was only a decade ago that the former Irondequoit Mall was a thriving hub of activity. Yet, despite that and despite being an easy drive from Webster, Webster residents don't acknowledge its presence. In fact, Webster needed to build its own ugly retail power center filled with stores that you can find anywhere else because there was nothing within an easy drive. Says lifelong resident Helen Sleeman (no relation to the excellent Canadian brewery I'm sure) "I utilize (Towne Center) all the time. I like having it there. I like not having to go to Henrietta or Victor for things I need." She's not alone, Webster's supervisor Ron Nesbitt also chooses to block Irondequoit out of his memory bank, "the new shopping center (Towne Center) is a plus for people (who now) don't have to drive to Marketplace or Eastview Mall to do their shopping."
So which is it? Have Webster residents forgotten about or never heard of Irondequoit? Or is it that they just don't want to be bothered by the minorities and poor people that live in or adjacent to Irondequoit? A
recent news story from Webster pretty much answers that question. Last week, it was reported that the Webster Central School District pulled a Gay-themed book (
Rainbow Boys, by Alex Sanchez) from its high school summer reading list. Apparently, scores of parents in Webster were outraged that their children would be exposed to the morally-reprehensible Gay lifestyle that surely doesn't exist in their picture perfect town. Despite the fact that this book won the International Reading Association's 2003 Young Adults' Choice award and was selected by the American Library Association as a Best Book for Young Adults, it is just not right for Webster's precious children. My guess is that these parents were afraid that reading it would turn their children Gay. Sort of like how reading
Black Like Me turned scores of young white teens black years ago, or like how reading
Animal Farm led numerous rural teens to not trust their pigs. Rather than stand up for free speech, not to mention Gay rights, school officials acquiesced with the bigoted parents and removed the book from its list.
Clearly, it is not the short commutes, the scenic landscapes, or the sports programs that are attracting people to Webster. It is something much less benign and much more politically incorrect to suggest. Webster is growing because there just aren't very many minorities, poor people, or Gay people to deal with. Webster is growing because it in no way resembles the real world. And when it does begin to resemble the real world, Wayne County will be waiting with open arms to welcome current Webster residents to their even further isolated locale. By the way, have you heard about
their football program?
Wegmans Potholder Bread: Food You Feel Good About Choking On
Time to ridicule everyone's favorite hometown company again! Not too long after recalling their Wegmans Food You Feel Good About Spring Water due to the presence of high levels of bromate, which they claim is not dangerous but I heard it causes leprosy, Wegmans is at it again. This time, they recalled their Wegmans Food You Feel Good About Country Wheat Hearty Sliced Bread because there may be chunks of potholder in it that pose a choking hazard. Take that Baker Street and Great Harvest, Wegmans can come up with creative flavors of bread too! Just a thought, but maybe it's time for Wegmans to remove the lamely-named "Food You Feel Good About" label from their store brands and change it to something more along the lines of "Food You Feel Slightly Worried About But Buy Anyways Because You're Too Cheap to Pay a Little More for Higher Quality."
A Tale of Two Suburbs
If the Rochester area's municipalities were members of a high school class, Victor would be the quarterback of the football team and Chili would be the loser that is trying desperately to become cool. Everyone seems to want a piece of Victor these days, it's by far the fastest growing town in our region and among the fastest growing in the state. Chili, on the other hand, has experienced its fair share of residential development but can't seem to get its act together as far as commercial growth is concerned. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I condone the ridiculous pace of development occurring in Victor or any of our suburbs for that matter. But, two articles in yesterday's D&C provided a nice juxtaposition of suburban development patterns that I couldn't resist pointing out.
In one corner, you have the Town of Victor. Here there are hundreds of new housing units approved or under construction, there is significant office and industrial space under development, and hundreds of thousands of square feet of retail and restaurant space on the drawing boards. One of the more infamous development plans in Victor is the imaginatively-named Victor Commerce Park, a.k.a. Super Wal-Mart & Friends. For years now, ubiquitous sprawl developer Benderson has been trying to get this development approved. Their initial plans were much larger than those currently proposed. The current incarnation is a 200,000+ square foot Wal-Mart plus another large retail building and two pad sites for restaurants. Still, the
Town of Victor is resisting the temptation to approve it in order to ensure that they get what is best for their town (note that I carefully said "what is best for their
town," not "what is best for the
region," which would be zero new greenfield development). If only our other suburbs dared to be so bold.
Of course, Victor can afford to be picky since every retailer and your mother wants to be located there. The same cannot be said for most other suburbs in the region, notably the Town of Chili. Humorously, in the same D&C edition that described the Victor Commerce Park saga, it was reported that, despite competing development proposals,
Target has no intention of pursuing a location in Chili. Ouch, talk about a slap in the face. Here they are, considering moving their highway department, senior center, and a town park in order to make room for Benderson's ill-conceived development, and the presumed prime tenant does not want to be there. Of course, both North American Properties and Benderson still plan on pushing forward with their proposals because suburban sprawl will inevitably continue working its way further west and south and Chili will someday become a viable place to conduct big-box retailing.
Still, I couldn't resist to post on this interesting juxtaposition of suburban development trends. While Victor is doing everything it can to restrain the indecent proposals of retailers and developers; Chili can't do enough to attract them. And in case you were wondering about the rest of that high school class, Brighton is the class president, Webster is the class whore, Pittsford is the rich prude, Greece is the fifth year senior, Henrietta is the drug dealer, Perinton and Penfield are the annoying identical twins, and Gates is the smelly kid. East Rochester dropped out and the City of Rochester graduated years ago.
State Liquor Authority Unfair to Minority-Owned Businesses
Channel 13 is reporting that the most evil Authority of all, the New York State Liquor Authority, has taken action against a number of local businesses. All four businesses were guilty of selling alcoholic beverages to underage patrons. As one of the 95% of American adults (my estimate) who was once an underage drinker, I think the punishment simply does not fit the crime. The Under-21 crowd will do whatever it takes to get alcohol, their levels of deception know no bounds. I should know, I've been going to bars since I had my learner's permit. Why should businesses be punished because of the actions of our youth? Okay, so maybe there is some law or something that says so, but laws are made to broken, aren't they? Apparently not.
The State Liquor Authority, the same jerks who tried to stop Park Ave restaurants from serving alcohol to customers at their sidewalk tables, have punished Oxford's on Monroe (frat boy meat market - I could care less about them), Jim's tavern in Brockport (ask the
Monroe County Bars Blog about that one), the Full Moon Saloon (they've also been cited for having insects in their liquor bottles - close them, that's disgusting), and the Gujar Mart on Mt Hope Ave. It's the punishment against the "Guj" that I take issue with. The Guj is pretty much the only place to buy beer at night in that section of the city, it is patronized by scores of University of Rochester students, and is run by hard-working Pakistanis. Just because they sold beer to a few underagers recently, they've lost their license to sell alcohol for two years and have been fined $2,000. Isn't that more than a bit extreme? Why not just say, "minorities are not allowed to do business in this state"? This reeks of racism and you should be outraged. Or maybe you never used a fake ID or some other means to buy beer when you were underage? Pot (to Kettle): "You're black."
County Republicans Screw County Taxpayers, Again
Former County Executive Jack Doyle was a criminal mastermind. As such, he should be considered a hero to any aspiring Republican politician. While he was in office bankrupting the county by refusing to raise the property tax levy, which was highly popular with suburban voters who couldn't see beyond their own selfish interests, he was forcing poorly thought out zoo expansion plans down irate citizens' throats, constantly inciting battles with the Democrat-led City government, and also helping give handsome kickbacks to his buddies. I'm sure by now you've read about the State Comptroller's audit of the Monroe County Water Authority. You've seen the audacious benefits given to John Stanwix, Peter Formicola, and other County Republicans, errr I mean Water Authority members and staff. Funny thing is, it may all have been legal since the Authority had no oversight and their Board was nothing more than a rubber stamp.
Now I know that there has been no link to Doyle cited in the media, but let's be realistic. Stanwix, the former Director of the Water Authority and the main culprit in this financial rape, is a former Republican County legislator and former head of the County GOP. Jack Doyle installed Stanwix as Director at the Authority during his reign on the county throne. They both shared intimate late-night encounters with State GOP Chairman (and local heartthrob) Steve Minarik that can only be described as "steamy". Okay, maybe that last one was untrue. Or was it? Regardless, this is another example of right-wing corruption that has taken place across the political spectrum of America. Sure, you could say that Mayor Johnson screwed the taxpayers through the ferry debacle, but at least Johnson was trying to help the city and regional economy through his dealings. What were Doyle, Minarik, and Stanwix doing other than fattening their own pockets by screwing you and me out of our hard-earned money?
Things have changed at the County level since then. While I disagree with many of current County Executive Maggie Brooks' policies, I have to admit that she has done a pretty darn good job healing wounds in this county. But she's still a Republican, and her response to this damning audit (note: when the ferry audit was issued, the headline said it was 'damning', when this was issued, no damnation was proclaimed -- liberal media my ass) is lax at best. As the Democrat & Chronicle reports, "Brooks said she will let the water authority determine whether to pursue legal action. "We're going to see if there is any criminal activity involved or criminal indication and we'll make our decision from there," she said, adding, "nobody likes to see something that seems to be a violation of ethics.""
Seems to be a violation of ethics? Shouldn't she be pissed off about yet another mess that the illustrious former County Executive left her to deal with? It's more than likely that some of this dirty money founds its way into her election campaign so it's probably a good idea for her to keep her trap shut. Lucky for us, Democrat Mike Green is our District Attorney, and I have faith that he'll make damn sure that if there is even an inkling of illegal activity, a few rich, fat Republicans will be in handcuffs, if not in jail.
By the way, if you'd like to contact Mr. Stanwix, he now resides in beautiful sprawling hurricane-prone Port Charlotte, FL. He is currently employed as a
realtor, probably encouraging local residents to move out of our area and take some taxpayer money with them. Some leaders we have in those Republicans, huh?
Spencerport Firehouse Fire - Isn't It Ironic?
The news this morning that Spencerport Fire Station No. 1 burned down speaks for itself. You can't make this stuff up. I hate to make light of it, but could this situation be any more ironic? On a serious note though, I would have to assume that the ability to fight fires in the Village of Spencerport is severely hampered by this. It's a scary thought that such a relatively dense little village does not have its own full-service fire department. Then again, we all know how much Republicans hate taxes. If I were a Spencerporter, I'd be pretty worried. If the fire station itself could not be saved from fire, how can any structure in Spencerport be safe now that they don't even have a fire station? Thank God I live in the City of Rochester where our firehouses may sink into the ground, but they do not burn down.
Another Henrietta Big Box Is Closing, Does Anyone Care?
If a tree falls in the woods, and there is no one around to hear it, does it make a sound? I've always found that riddle to be a completely meaningless question without reason to ponder. There is no absolute logical answer so why not just leave it up to the philosophy majors? This morning though, it occurred to me that this is just a metaphor for the ubiquitous but often unnoticed closure of big box stores in suburban America. Somewhere in the World Wide Web, I read that CompUSA will be closing all of its Upstate locations, including its large store on Jefferson Road in Henrietta.Years back, CompUSA opened that location immediately across the street from Computer City's Southtown Plaza location presumably for the sake of competition. Not long after, Computer City was bought out by CompUSA, and the Southtown store was shuttered. I'm sure if you spoke with Henrietta's immortal Supervisor Jim Breese at the time, he would have told you that while it's unfortunate the store is closing, its location is highly valuable and will be snapped up in no time. Of course, that's probably the same thing he said when Hechinger and Marshalls vacated their plaza, when Dick's moved to Marketplace after buying Galyan's, or when Media Play went out of business. What else could he say that would justify the Town's continued obsession with approving more and more big box development?Some parts of Henrietta are looking less and less like a booming retail mecca and more like a retail graveyard. Southtown Plaza has the vacant Computer City and Media Play spaces, Kohl's has not attracted new tenants to the former Hechinger Plaza as was originally "expected", Dick's remains empty, Chase-Pitkin is gone, and now CompUSA will leave another enormous hole to fill in Henrietta's increasingly toothless smile. But that doesn't stop the Town from approving more and more big box development such as Benderson's new plaza next to Home Depot that will include Marshalls, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Christmas Tree Shops. There's also a Carrabba's Italian Grill being built on West Henrietta Road, because one thing this town needs more of is bad Italian food. And don't forget RIT's faux "College Town" soon to break ground just down the road from CompUSA.So, to adapt that age-old riddle to fit modern times, when a big box store closes in the suburbs, and there are no shoppers around to see it, does anyone give a damn? Obviously not.
Randy Kuhl: Still in Office, Still Delusional
Remember when soon-to-be-Governor Eliot Spitzer remarked that Upstate New York is like Appalachia? Remember how so many people got their panties in a bunch over it? The vast majority of these folks just so happened to be Republican, obviously trying to take political advantage of Spitzer's insightful/inciteful statement by casting him in a negative light. Of course, that didn't work, because any upstater with decent vision can see the similarities. Heck, I bet even most Republicans and blind squirrels could. All the upstate Republicans need to do is look at their proud U.S. Representative from Hammondsport, John Randy Kuhl. If his election wasn't proof that we're in Appalachia, I don't know what is.
Loyal Republicans in his district elected him relatively handily over his young opponent Samara Barend despite knowing that he once pointed a loaded shotgun at his ex-wife and threatened to kill her. I guess that's not really that big of a deal though. Men are always getting into tiffs with their women, it's just part of life. It's not like he actually shot her. But even if he did, she probably deserved it. Besides, her life isn't worth nearly as much as that of stem cells. Nice segue, eh? The out-of-touch Kuhl supports our esteemed President's position opposing federal funding for stem cell research. Despite the promise of curing a number of awful diseases, somehow the thought of harming poor little stem cells just doesn't sit well with this shotgun-toting maniac. Does he forget he represents the people of the State of New York? New York Democrats and (most) Republicans alike support stem cell research. Why? Because science is not something to be afraid of. What's next Randy? Are you going to propose they teach creationism in Hammondsport schools? My point is, if he gets re-elected, then I guess we know just how far into Appalachia our region has fallen.
But that's all in the past I guess. What's important is Kuhl's latest embarrassment. If you saw
today's Democrat & Chronicle, then you had to do a double-take at the story entitled, "Kuhl, back from Iraq, says U.S. on right track". Huh? On the same day that the leading generals in Iraq are admitting that sectarian violence is spiraling out of control and that the country is on the brink of civil war, this guy has the nerve to come back to this part of the country toting the Republican party line that everything is fine and that we're "making a difference in liberating the people of Iraq"?!?!?! Clearly, Randy forgot to take his anti-vapidness medicine or else he actually thinks his constituents are mindless fools. Sure Randy, we're doing a fine job, the people are even
less free now than they were before. We should all give our right-wing neighbors a pat on the back for a job well done. What was that phrase, mission accomplished?
Beyond the sheer ignorance of his statements, we should all be outraged that our taxpayer dollars are being wasted on transporting such idiotic people as Kuhl halfway across the globe just to return and lie to us that everything is fine. More than 2,500 US soldiers are dead and nearly 19,000 have been wounded in Iraq alone. Does that sound fine to you, Randy? Of course, you have no military experience, but you were once the Steuben County District Attorney, so why shouldn't I trust your bullshit? I didn't mean for this to turn into an election piece but the more I think about how awful this man is for our region, the angrier I get. His opponent, Eric Massa (who I admittedly know very little about), is a former Naval officer and assistant to General Wesley Clark in his failed presidential run. He supports stem cell research and he is not a fan of the Dukes of Hazzard. If I were in that district, he's the clear choice for me.
Did I forget to disparage Kuhl's haircut? Looks like Mr. Kotter got older, shaved his mustache, and ran for Congress!. Note the quintessential Republican blue shirt/red tie combo. What a jackass!
Message to Heat Wave: Go Back South!
In case you didn't know, we're getting baked here in Rochester and I don't mean that in a good way. Currently, the heat index is 108 degrees in the Flower City and it won't peak for another couple of hours. That's a miserable twenty or more degrees hotter than it should be in Rochester during our usually warm but comfortable summers. Like many folks around town, one of the many reasons that I love living in Rochester is because it NEVER gets hot like this here. I can take the cold, but dammit, you can't escape the heat.But maybe there is a silver lining to all this heat. One, it has to be convincing at least a few of the naysayers that global warming is for real. But more importantly, it should be a wake-up call to the morons that continue to flock like sheep to places such as Atlanta, Texas, and Florida. You see, this weather that we're all complaining about, yeah, this is pretty much par for the course down there. Currently, the heat index in "the ATL" as the kids say is 100 degrees, yet there is no excessive heat warnings in effect for that area. The same goes for Miami which, despite being on the coast, has a heat index of 96 degrees. Go a bit in-land to Homestead and it's right back up to 100 degrees. The same can be said for Tampa, Houston, Charlotte, Raleigh, New Orleans, etc. So why is it desirable to live in these Confederate boomtowns with such God-awful weather for months out of the year when we complain about having that same weather here for just a few days? Let's use this nasty situation to promote our region's typically superior climatological experience. For instance, GRE or the Visitors Association could put together a slick seasonal ad campaign with taglines such as "Prefer high 90s and humidity to a breezy 75? Love being indoors with the a/c running full-blast? Then you'll love Atlanta!" or "Rochester: Because summers shouldn't be spent indoors". Just a thought. Stay cool Rochester, this Florida weather will head back south soon.
