In recent days, we’ve seen two distinct stories coming out of liberal locales that paint a picture of what they think suburbia should be (and should not be.)
First, across the Potomac in Hyattsville, MD, they’ve passed an ordinance that allows people to grow corn and other nontraditional items in their front yards.
Three months later, some residents have 8-foot-high corn patches in front of their homes, and neighbors say they don’t mind.
. . .
Arnoldo Crisostomo, 47, and his brother, Edwin Sogastome, 38, have grown corn, watermelons, peppers, sugar cane and beans there for the past 2 1/2 months.
. . .
“This enhances our diversity,” [Mayor William F.] Gardiner said. “In one area you’ll find condos and town houses, and in the other you’ll find cultural practices of residents with families from Central and South America.”
The mayor also said about 25 percent of Hyattsville’s population is Hispanic, a 37 percent increase since 2000.
By all means, let’s allow vast swaths of communities to be transformed into Third World conditions for the sake of “cultural sensitivity” and “diversity.” Exactly why did people come to this county in the first place if all they want to do is turn it into where they came from? I’m just waiting for places like Hyattsville to allow rusted out hulks of cars with no tires to be put up on cement blocks in front yards because they have “artistic value.”
Next up, there’s the NYTimes story on Greenwich, CT that Below The Beltway had yesterday.
What happens when a group of teens clear weeds, brush and poison ivy from an empty lot so that they can build a wiffle ball field? And this isn’t just any wiffle ball field. These kids, inspired by the movie “Field of Dreams,” built a mini-Fenway Park complete with a Green Monster wall. Well, they wound up bringing down the wrath of
angry neighbors and their lawyer, the police, the town nuisance officer and tree warden and other officials in all shapes and sizes. It turns out that one kid’s field of dreams is an adult’s dangerous nuisance, liability nightmare, inappropriate usurpation of green space, unpermitted special use or drag on property values
. . .
“They think we’re a cult,” said Jeff Currivan, 17. “People think we should be home playing ‘Grand Theft Auto.’ ”
. . .
“It’s just old-fashioned fun,” said Vincent Provenzano. “We did it on our own. Maybe people think that’s unusual.”
And that is the problem that liberals have. This IS “old-fashioned.” But moreso, it is distinctly American and that, of course, is NOT good for diversity. Oh, the cultural insensitivity of it all!!!
My Hungarian neighbor asked if it would be OK with me for her to plant tomatoes, peppers, basil, maybe something else on the side of my front yard; an area that I haven’t been able to afford to landscape yet. It looks rather nice and neat with a couple of rows of green stuff. The fact that the green stuff produces edibles shouldn’t make it undesirable. Corn, however, is another thing. I would never agree to corn being planted in front.
“The field of dreams” sounds like a great idea and I admire the youngsters taking the initiative. However, what has to be considered is the location. How close to private homes is it? Kids playing ball can get very noisy. How late at night would they be playing? How many vehicles would be coming and going? Parking? Trash would definitely be a problem. It doesn’t sound as if the cleared area is a part of a rural corn field as in the movie.
How close to your own home would you accept a field like this? With a Green Monster wall? There’s a wall in Manassas that a lot of people are extremely unhappy about, because it’s in the city.