G Parkway, a section 8 housing development that my sheriff neighbor said they hesitate when fielding calls there. A massive iron fence separates the housing 'units' from the Franklin sidewalk...presumably to make white Elk Grove thru-commuters feel safe from the predominately brown inhabitants. This fence is just one of a hundred ways we go about the business of 'no pedestrians welcome here, so drive your fucking car."
So someday I will photo-document my surroundings. They are often not pretty, and with no precondition will I assume they will get better in the future. They won't. G Parkway and the Grains represent the condition all tract suburbs will eventually slum into. The cancer spreads ever outward. My street will not be spared.
But one other insidious development has been coincident with this sad suburban experiment; the complete destruction of architectural concern. There hasn't been one single building built in Elk Grove in the last thirty five years that's worthy of preservation. Not one.
I've got a lot of opinionated observations regarding Elk Grovian architecture, and all of them are negative. I can't possibly imagine that there might be architects employed in a twenty five mile radius of where I live...but there are, and this is the sort of shit our local architects give us:
Does something like this 'cupola' make Elk Grove a more liveable place? Does it? Is your latte's taste enhanced by the visual image this provides? When you enter the curb cut from Elk Grove Blvd. and motor your vehicle into the expansive parking lot, does your gaze lift up to this magnificent spectacle? Will it be worth preserving for our Elk Grovian youngsters to enjoy when they, too, are old enough for caffeine?
2 comments:
I currently reside in the revitalized Phoenix Park formally known as "G" Parkway." Which most of it's residents are on the "housing choice voucher program"
Known as Section 8. Living in an enviroment that is so controlled. It makes one so paranoid of their surroundings. I do understand the previous bad elements of this community, but damn come on! Can we live like normal citizens. It makes one feel like they are imprisioned. You can't even trust your neighbors, rent a cops on patrol 24 hours a day, you hear echos on your home phone as if one is recording your conversation, 24 hour survallience which if assumed any wrong doing, you will receive a violation. If your registration tags on your vehicle is expired your car will be immediately towed. That is depending on the renta cop if he posts the advance notice to correct the problem. In addition, I've noticed that the applicants are cherry picked her too. There are a few blacks, a few whites of other nationalities, and a high percentage of East Asians in our community. Overall, there a few Pros of Phoenix Park. For instance, there is a Head Start Program on site, also afterschool program for the children, adult computer classess, free food giveaways etc...
Eventhough, the new development has a new change and strict "prison" policies, there are still some hidden elements.
Thanks for your comment! I only ever ride just outside Phoenix Park, so I had to make some assumptions about who lives there.
I really wanted to point out one major point: All suburban living arangements, including where I live off Franklin and Big Horn, are destined to turn closer to what G Parkway was rather than what Phoenix Park is. This pattern is repeated everywhere -- Carmichael, Orangevale, Del Paso Heights, Rancho Cordova...every suburb, every one, becomes places people stop caring about. They all become places not worth caring for.
Now...some will stay better than others, sure. But you can see this coming a thousand miles down the road, the inner suburban rings go first, people with means move farther out, then the cycle is repeated. 20 years ago, Valley Hi was a totally different area than it is today. In 10 years time, my neighborhood will start showing overgrown trees, peeling roofs, and my neighbors will move because they 'deserve' a new house and feel they don't want to work to keep up their 'old' neighborhood.
If we did it right, with mixed use and correct densities, most of us would continue to give a shit about where we live long after the newness wears off.
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