Since I have been saying for years that silver bullets don't work, I'm glad Esmonde has finally caught up with me. However, I do believe that Donn is being a little hypocritical about Bass Pro as I think he did support it in the past. He may have supported building a signature bridge, too, but that battle has been going on so long it makes the Bass Pro issue seem like a blink of an eye.
As I attended both the Gardenwalk last week-end and spent some time on the waterfront both last Sunday and this past one, here are my observations:
Esmonde is right on about the West Side. He went into more detail in his previous column about the WS, and that's worth a read. During the Gardenwalk, we drove through the West Side west of Richmond to get to Little Summer-Union-Ketchum Pl-York near Symphony Circle/Grover Cleveland HS. There seems to be more homes being "rescued" from slumlords, especially on York, than there were when we visited this same neighborhood in the 2008 Gardenwalk.
What makes the West Side more salvageable than the East Side is its better architecture, even in very modest homes. People love quaint. They love whimsey. They love Victorian detailing. Many are willing to gamble that they can turn an ugly frame two story with some Victorian detailing into a comfortable family home, especially when they can get it cheap. Not many will do that on the East Side because they don't love plain, nondescript, utilitarian, which is basically the vernacular architecture of the East Side.
We also drove down to the waterfront to see the gardens at Erie Basin Marina. I, personally, was amazed at the number of people flocking the entire waterfront area, on both successive weekends. Lots of people brought chairs and just set them up in the shade to enjoy the lake breeze. Others were walking or bicycling. Plain and simple, these people were interested in being outdoors enjoying the sun and the water NOT in being indoors shopping, which is something they can do when it's 20 degrees and there's a foot of snow on the ground.