dear david / all, here is the first, will post the more up-beat closing quote later:
''I have done a good deal of good work in my way, but it is constantly
and everywhere arrested, wrecked, mangled and misused.''
Frederick Law Olmsted, approx 1870s.
Chris - please, the date and time again for the Irish Times meeting? Short term memory loss has arrived, I fear. Don
dear don,
you are very kind. please head over to the 208 thread. thanks, chris
What artist so noble, as he, who,
with far-reaching conception of beauty and designing-power,
sketches the outlines, writes the colors, and directs the shadows,
of a picture so great that Nature shall be employed on it for generations,
before the work he has arranged for her shall realize his intentions.
Frederick Law Olmsted
The Spoils of the Park
The Evening with Olmsted was used as a pro-TIF event at tonite's COW and Board meeting. Everything was spun so that it endorsed them taking action to restore and rejuvenate the Olmsted legacy. Really disturbing, because they actually seem to believe it. Even Wiaduck said that now he doesn't dinf Olmsted so scary. I knew this was a set-up.
You mean, like a Trojan Horse? As in using Olmsted and preserving his landscape as the Trojan Horse, then, once the TIF is enacted, the negative things come spilling out,such as uncontrolled spending on all sorts of bad development that would ruin the charm of the town, stealing from the schools, giving our tax money to developers, and taking people's homes?
I'll add to the other thread on today's COW, or should I call it, today's HORSE?
I love that ending quote by Olmsted. It matches perfectly with what I suggested in a previous post - that Riverside is akin to a Van Gogh masterpiece. I believe that most people in this town also believe this. It is one of the reasons they chose to live here and continue to live here.
http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic.php?id=179&page&replies=23#post-2594
.
But, since this quote was uttered, the new pronouncements of the board only a day later has made the first, hopeless quote come to the fore and seems to characterize the current state.
Don't blank the balance of the composition of this masterwork, people.
Vote NO To the TIF referenda on 4-17. +
Stop the arresting, the wrecking, the mangling and misuse of Olmsted's space.
YOUR VOTE IS ABOUT THE PRINCIPLE OF EXPRESSING YOURSELF to those that would rule you as much as it is about the TIF.
.
+ tell others you know to vote, too; wake them up and help drive them, too, if needed. be their alarm clock reminding them that so many thousands of our finest citizens gave up their lives over these last two hundred fifty years for this right.
Don't forget to show up for the dedication of the prison yard "rap" circle dedication on April 28 at 1pm. "The library is grateful for this generous memorial donation." Sorry, but I feel sorry for the person so memorialized.
In the same issue of their newsletter, the "Library Art and Architecture Exhibit" will feature the writing of Spider Man comic books.
Class.
dear all,
i regret that the very clear thrust of monday's "Evening of Olmsted" program seems to have eluded some who want a tif, any tif, and the sooner the better.
david bahlman spoke of riverside's uniqueness and stature among all olmsted sites, which is at the top of residential, near the top of all sites, and seminal for the ensuing century of town design.
"first, do no harm," he advised.
vicki added considerably to our knowledge of the historic context of olmsted's illinois work, including riverside.
susan appealed for planning to avoid results such as the series of buffalo decisions which, imperceptibly at first, drained away an olmsted park's character. she also said that conscientious and inclusive planning builds a constituency of support which is vital in the debates over subsequent proposals.
susan also advised building up a list of principles that would guide development. such a list not only may serve as a starting point for planning, but also would be a first framework against which any proposal would be measured.
i think that to have attended the NAOP / riverside preservation commission program monday night, and then cite it as support for moving enacting a tif on tuesday, is akin to attending a baseball game and declaring later the sport is all about hot dogs and peanuts.
well, yes, hot dogs and peanuts do show up with baseball. but they are not the point. the point is the players on the field.
here the point is, do no harm by building consensus principles and moving on to a real planning process, because even among olmsted sites, ours by its history and achievement, is unique.
thanks and best,
chris
Chris,
Are you saying that, after the charade of the workshops, you actually thought the trustees wanted to learn something? That you did not know you were being used as a figleaf? That none of them care about Olmsted and no workshop is going to make them care?
When you hooked up with the administration to put this presentation on, I already knew the above was true, and I presumed that you knew you were participating in a fig leaf.
In sum: they do not care about Olmsted, about what the referendum results are, about big ugly buildings in the center of town, about what any commissions save the EDC think, or about anything but generating tax revenues - as many as possible - rather than be subjected to the fiscal discipline intended by the property tax cap.
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