Oh Canada!

I am back in Rochester and loving it for the last 8 months or so, but as an east coast ex-pat who has returned I want to bash some of these people in the head. Our local government (and assholes who have the gaul to call themselves "Rochestarians" but live in the outlying areas and are too afraid of black neighborhoods to come here) think the solution to our gorgeously depressed and burned out city is to turn it into shopping plaza hell and put in overpriced theater attractions for suburbanites downtown. I went down to High Falls with my boyfriend the other night and laughed at another failed attempt at city revitalization; millions yet again wasted on trying to attract the kind of people who don't live in this city, who don't want to live in this city and people the majority of us who live in the city, do not want in our city. The buildings were all vacant, even the expensive crack town condos are totally empty. There were no cars, yet I couldn't find a legal parking space! All the pay lots that are not even in use anymore were locked up. Nice one Rochester!

300,000 + tax paying people live within our city Mayor Duffy, what are you going to build for us? Another fucking Rite Aid, Starbucks, Subway or jock bar on Monroe Ave? I know Monroe Ave was your predecessor's fault, but leave South Ave alone OK? Its already getting gentrified enough. I live here because I don't want my fucking city to look like Victor, Gates, Pittsford or god fucking forbid, Henrietta and I certainly live here so I don't have to socialize with these ethnocentric assholes from those places.

Anyway, the point of all this is that there is a parking forum at the Library/School on South Ave. Gleason Auditorium 4PM on Monday March 22. Many people, including I, feel that the downtown can of worms mess of shit and parking is what is keeping many away. I will be there because I still give a good goddamn about where I live and love it because Rochester doesn't need to be another Detroit.