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Discussion: This is our town
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Posted Anonymously |
This is our town
Oct 3 2007, 12:24 PM EDT
I liked the town much more before it became "wine country". I didn't need all this extra culture to enjoy what Walla Walla is truly about. It is about our great natural settings, our expansive agricultural land, our uncrowded streets and neighborhoods, our affordable way of life. Now that I am all grown up, if I want to purchase a house I will have to move out to Prescott or Dayton. How has this "wine country" benefited me? Did they bring me our great landscape and quiet neighborhoods? No, they have ruined it. It takes so long to drive from 9th to Eastgate via Main and Boyer, because we have all these brainless people who think that they can walk all over the middle of Main Street while carrying their newly purchased wine and gawk at an old building, and yell at me as I try and drive past them. Next time I won't slow down for you, and I don't care if I make you spill your wine. But I guess it is ok since many of them buy homes in our floodplains and cry when it rains. When are we going to sell our extra land for their next housing development? You know, the land right between Kmart and WWCC? It would be an excellent use of land. I look forward to the day that I can afford to move back into Walla Walla, after they have all left, and we begin the cleanup of what they have left behind.
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Posted Anonymously |
1. RE: This is our town
Oct 4 2007, 5:09 PM EDT
why worry about it? the real estate market has totally crashed, and all that extra money from seattle and portland coming into walla walla for wine is GONE!!!SPECULATION = RUIN the union bulletin is THE worst newspaper in the northwest. 9 out of 13 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Posted Anonymously |
2. RE: This is our town
Oct 5 2007, 2:45 PM EDT
One detail I forgot to mention in my previous comment, the land between Kmart and WWCC is the old city dump from the 1960s, for those who are two young to know that. So anyone dumb enough to build their "pseudo mansions" in the flood plains south of town would probably buy and build that land too. Then when they grow bored and move on to another "tourist town", clean up will be much easier, since it is already sitting on the dump.
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Posted Anonymously |
3. RE: This is our town
Oct 6 2007, 12:49 PM EDT
I grew up here too....I have seen a lot of changes. Main street was never been meant to be a thourough fair--it is for shopping. That is why there are so many shops there. It is much more attractive and fun now that the shops have returned. If you want to get thru town quickly, there are many ways to do so- get a map. go 9th to pine to 2nd -- hwy-- wilbur exit--- boom you are in eastgate. Also- there have always been "brainless" people walking in the streets here and every where for that matter. PS- grapes are agricultural too. I do agree the property tax hike was extreme and dramatic, however with the higher taxes collected, maybe we can get some of the things fixed around town that need fixed and other things from this list in the paper?? Towns change, some changes are better than others....you can roll with it or move. 11 out of 12 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Posted Anonymously |
4. RE: This is our town
Oct 8 2007, 6:28 PM EDT
There should be a major thoroughfare the south end of town that goes from west to east. It takes forever to go from Plaza Safeway to the opposite end of town. Yes, Walla Walla is still agricultural. However, with over 75 wineries, you'd think the school district would stop asking for money with all this new tax revenue being generated. Where did all that money go? Dr. Carter should get his pay cut in half, then we can pay for 2 teachers out of that. Look at all the cheap land around the penitentiary. There should be a winery built around that campus then it could look PRETTY. :-) Then the land prices can go up in that neighborhood so that the city is more willing to put in decent RECREATION for those kids and a park.
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Posted Anonymously |
5. RE: This is our town
Oct 8 2007, 7:33 PM EDT
I know what you mean. Many parts of this town are being completely ignored, but our taxes are going up with the rest of the town anyway. The city has put so much money into Isaacs St (it did need work, but....) because it is the path tourists take from the airport to downtown. It would be nice if they invested some of that money into other parts of the town, but since those parts of town don't interest the wineries, they are of no interest to the city tax dollars. I think the residents of this town should be first priority with the tax money, not the tourists.
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Posted Anonymously |
6. RE: This is our town
Oct 18 2007, 12:48 PM EDT
I agree. Unfortunately the wine industry has brought few, if any good jobs to the town of WW and lots of headaches. The lack of intelligent city planning has turned our town into a Kennewick-Richland sized concrete snotstain. Now they seem to wish bi-secting the city with highway corridors and a maze of rural-city streets. So the city puppets/leaders neither plan for future growth nor maintenance. Do they get paid for this? WW desparately needs leaders, to push hard for realistic long term plans that will bring jobs, quality of life and future livability back to to our town. It looks like they have tried real hard to appease the retirrees and lost sight of reality. Design WW for humans or leave your mark on some other unsuspecting town. We need to hire a city manager with a backbone and send all these wet headed sniveler's back to Weston. Pity the kids in town they have all of three quality choices for activity drugs, vandalism and porn. What a great place! I am optimistic someone will overthrow the traitors!
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Posted Anonymously |
7. RE: This is our town
Oct 28 2007, 2:56 PM EDT
There are really so many valid points. But the wineries aren't generating that much revenue for Walla Walla. In reality they have moved in here and taken over all the agricultural land, and as members of our community they don't really care if our kids have good schools or if our roads are fixed, all they care about is the tourisim. When the majortity of land was wheat, the farmers cared about our community and voted for the schools and roads and things that those of us who live here care about. But blaming it all on the wine and wine industry isn't fair either. Our city planners and commissions are the ones responsible for the building and the present state of our actual community! They are the ones approving the massive Mc Mansion development and the urban sprawl. The house prices are out of control because Walla Walla got greedy. People were coming here from areas that made Walla Walla look cheap. Home owners started believing that they could get those premium prices, and look where we are now! Houses aren't selling, people are loosing thier homes. The wineries will be shocked when the community around them can't support thier "tourism" because no one can afford to live here. Walla Walla should focus on bringing in businesses that people can actualy have resonable paying jobs.
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Posted Anonymously |
8. RE: This is our town
Oct 30 2007, 3:44 PM EDT
1. 10 minutes to get from opposite ends of town does NOT equal "forever."2. There is only a fraction of the area's agricultural land actually invested in grapes compared with other crops like wheat and onions. 3. There are lots of tasting rooms, but since when is it a bad thing for a downtown that was dead and empty to be revitalized, repaired and occupied with various retail options (even if some of them sell wine)? 4. Many cities have reclaimed dump land into usable, viable property. It's better stewardship to than to just fill a spot with trash and leaving to sit forever. Do you find this valuable? |
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Posted Anonymously |
9. This is everybody's town
Oct 30 2007, 3:51 PM EDT
No rational person could claim this is "their" town when in fact it has been re-claimed by generation after generation of various newcomers, many of whom brought violence, sickness, brothels, racism and other blights along with them. Walla Walla's underground is still boarded up and not talked about - maybe we're ashamed that we've successfully stamped out our Chinese heritage and would rather nobody know about it. I can't believe the arrogance. Get out if you really respect who's place this was originally - maybe none of us should be here. This town has been changing since the day it was established; who are you to pick an arbitrary phase and demand it always stay that way? Do you find this valuable? |
