Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Et tu, Adams?

Walking by the grand old Adams at 3rd & Bell this weekend, I witnessed this sad sight:


Both of its entrances have been gated. As some may know, I'm against doing this. This is a neighborhood, not a fortress. On the other hand, I can see how those doorways practically have neon signs hanging above them reading: "Sit here and fall asleep" and "Please smoke crack here," but as somebody who lives in an ungated building, I'll tell you that not living behind bars is better. Sure, people will sleep and do assorted other things in the doorway, but such occurrences have grown increasingly rare. Putting myself in the Adams' shoes once again, I can see them doing this in anticipation of the Bell Street Park and its increased foot traffic. But is this really necessary? I mean, they've survived gateless since 1915, through World War I, through the worldwide flu pandemic, through the roaring twenties, through the Great Depression, through World War II, through the Cuban Missile Crisis, through the social upheaval of the sixties, through the free love of the seventies, through the invasion of Grenada, through the First Gulf War, through the grunge revolution and through the unfortunate George W. Bush administration, only to close themselves off from the rest of the world at this moment. Is there something I'm missing here? I mean, are things worse now than during the crack epidemic of 2001? Well, they've done what they thought was best. And that's too bad.

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