Worshipping at the altar of internal combustion

If you wanted to understand how we got into this mess, you might want to have walked down Main Street in Middletown tonight where the annual Cruise Night, sponsored by the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce, was held.

Here you could find multifarious ways of burning processed petroleum.

The crowds were large, and the sidewalk vendors seemed to be doing a brisk business. But the Chamber of Commerce paints this event as good for Main Street merchants. In a brief and unscientific survey of eight restauranteurs, I found two who said business was booming (the Firehouse Grill, and First and Last), two who felt it was about the same (Forbidden City and Amici), one which had a lot of empty tables (Thai Gardens and Fiore) and two who felt the event was horrible for business (Typhoon and It's Only Natural). The restaurants with sidewalk seating seemed to fare better.

Main Street market was like a ghost town, though, to be fair, it often is.

Seems that there might be a better way to get the event to integrate with Main Street businesses than to have most of the attendees walk past in the center of the road.

Citizens of the year

Neighbors and friends, Mark Masselli and Jennifer Alexander were named Citizens of the Year by the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce this evening. They were among a half dozen who received recognition and scholarships.

And not to diminish any of the heartfelt, and funny speeches, but Jennifer Alexander gave a speech which was touching, sincere, thoughtful and filled with reasons why it's so great to live in Middletown. It was beautiful, and made me proud and happy to be part of a community which she cherishes.

Here's part of what she said:

What makes Middletown amazing is not how much it has changed – it is what has NOT changed. What makes Middletown amazing is that we have held onto a very old-fashioned idea – this is still a place where the contributions you make in your community matter more than anything else.

And by some magical kind of chemistry, people can feel this about our town - they can feel the bounce in our step and they want to be part of it.

Middletown is the real deal. It’s a small town, where you have to make your own fun, where compassion and loyalty are just as important as the money, and where you CAN know that you are making a difference.

In the Main Street community, I am so lucky to work with people who bring it everyday. Some of them grew up here and they run a store. Some of them are artists who settled here. Some of them are making their family life in downtown – they are all different, but each one is a part of the answer to what makes Middletown thrive when so many places struggle. So let’s enjoy this.

We have what everyone is hungry for – we have a community and a place where on our time on this earth can have meaning.

Congratulations to Mark and Jennifer, and all those who were recognized.

Not in my back pocket

Larry McHugh, Middlesex Chamber of Commerce president, has posted an interesting article about opposition to development, and the NIMBY (not in my backyard) effect.

One paragraph, in particular, makes a very good point about balance:

If positive development is to take place it must involve a collaborative process which includes emphasis on preservation, protection and creativity. Our minds must shift to seek better solutions rather than better obstructions regarding opportunities for investment in our communities. We must think of the good of the whole – the good of the region and the state at the same time we think of the impact of development on our limited personal interests.

One can't argue with that sentiment. An as ideal, it's certainly one for which we should aim.

Still, while the NIMBY attitude often has its roots in fear of any kind of change, there often is real truth that certain major developments should not be placed in certain backyards. The NIMBY attitude also has its roots in bad development, faulty municipal oversite, corruption, developer greed, bad planning, bad communication and honest difference of opinion and philosophy.

As an opponent to the proposed big box store in center city Middletown, I can think of dozens of well-reasoned arguments why a big box is not good for a center city, and a large portion of the community agreed. Yet that was a project supported, even sheparded, by the Chamber of Commerce. The proposed Army Training Center in Maromas is another such bad idea. Sure, neighbors were outraged to hear that a base would be down the road from them, but the Army was, and is, completely wrongheaded to think that building a base in untrammeled nature was a good idea, and the community agreed (though the Chamber of Commerce did not). In fact, the arguments for continuing to place the Army Base in Middletown remain just as specious. The jobs and business increases have to be balanced against the obligations and costs of the projects.

I think NIMBYism is perfectly reasonable in many situations, and development for the sake of development is, simply, stupid. Smart development, with community involvement, guarantees taht the economy will prosper and the community will thrive. Development as a result of back room deals, payoffs, corporate or government bullying, will likely always end in a bad result.

I know that Larry McHugh has an obligation to encourage development, commerce and an increased tax base. But as he writes in his article, it's balance which will achieve the best development.

H/T Catherine Johnson.