STOP THE MADNESS!!!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Dear City of Portland,
Stop.
Please stop.
The madness must end.
When I grew up, I lived near the intersection of Union & Portland Blvd. You will, of course, note that neither of these streets exist, having been renamed to MLK and Rosa Parks Way respectively. I also went to Beaver games at the Civic Stadium and watched a musical or two at the Civic Auditorium (now called PGE Park and the Keller Auditorium).
You know what's nice about 39th Avenue? People can safely bet that it's somewhere near between 38th and 40th. Pretty easy to remember. Someone from out of town, driving up Burnside, might be able to figure it out. (Maybe Burnside's not a great example, the street names are a little wonky in there, but you get the point.) Nobody's going to have a clue where Cesar Chavez Boulevard is.
I understand that things change. But let's have change through growth, not through the arbitrary renaming of places. Commemorate people all you want, but please don't make life difficult for everyone for no good reason.
This isn't the first time I've spoken up against renaming streets, and I'm sure it won't be the last time. Still, please stop the madness. I beg of you.
Respectfully yours,
Burton Simmons
Stop.
Please stop.
The madness must end.
When I grew up, I lived near the intersection of Union & Portland Blvd. You will, of course, note that neither of these streets exist, having been renamed to MLK and Rosa Parks Way respectively. I also went to Beaver games at the Civic Stadium and watched a musical or two at the Civic Auditorium (now called PGE Park and the Keller Auditorium).
You know what's nice about 39th Avenue? People can safely bet that it's somewhere near between 38th and 40th. Pretty easy to remember. Someone from out of town, driving up Burnside, might be able to figure it out. (Maybe Burnside's not a great example, the street names are a little wonky in there, but you get the point.) Nobody's going to have a clue where Cesar Chavez Boulevard is.
I understand that things change. But let's have change through growth, not through the arbitrary renaming of places. Commemorate people all you want, but please don't make life difficult for everyone for no good reason.
This isn't the first time I've spoken up against renaming streets, and I'm sure it won't be the last time. Still, please stop the madness. I beg of you.
Respectfully yours,
Burton Simmons
posted by Burton at 10:39 AM
1 Comments:
By the time I move back there, I'm not going to know where anything is.
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