This article is republished by permission. by Emily Wolf, Fort Worth Report December 31, 2022 During the holiday season, Fort Worth Report journalists are remembering their favorite stories of 2022. Click here to read more essays. Fort Worth residents have been responsible for shouldering the full cost of sidewalk repairs in front of their homes and businesses, or face misdemeanor citations, for more than 60 years. Now, the city is […]
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Poor construction on Jenkintown’s Greenwood Ave
We missed a few examples on Greenwood that show Jenkintown needs a more pedestrian-first policy.
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Walking Away
We have made our case. Either the citizens of Jenkintown will accept and embrace the concept of public responsibility for public assets, or it will continue to allow the status quo to molder on and degrade our walkable environment. The facts are these: The public financing of roads but not of sidewalks amounts to a subsidy for automobile usage. In an age of climate change and an obesity epidemic, it […]
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This could be Old York Road, Jenkintown
This video comes from our new friends at Strongtowns.org, an organization that we recommend for everyone in Jenkintown and in Jenkintown Borough Hall.
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Bunker’s Mentality on Better Sidewalks
I attended the Council’s Administration and Finance Committee hearing meeting last Monday to discuss the budget, PennDOT’s Multi-Modal Fund, and to present this blog’s $25 Sidewalk proposal. First, the committee’s explanation as to why the projected 2014 $2.2 million budget carryover didn’t necessarily constitute a “surplus” did not clarify things much. As it was explained to me, Council budgets money so that they need to buy stuff for the next year. “So the […]
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13th heaviest property tax burden and no trash pickup (or sidewalks)
This is the average amount of residential property tax actually paid, expressed as a percentage of home value. Some states with high property taxes, like New Hampshire and Texas, rely heavily on property taxes in lieu of other major tax categories; others, like New Jersey and Illinois, impose high property taxes alongside high rates in the other major tax categories. Source: How High Are Property Taxes in Your State? | […]
Policy
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The Heavy Jenkintown Tax Burden: Cost vs. Value
Most people who live in Jenkintown will tell you they love living here, but they won’t tell you that taxes are reasonable. Most I’ve spoken with will express a sentiment along the lines of “they’re already too high”, especially when we start talking about paying for sidewalks. The question then becomes, do we get good value for our money? The heavy Jenkintown tax burden might not pay for sidewalks, but it does fund one of […]
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Results of Jenkintown’s Beautification, Part 4
Yesterday, I toured Greenwood Avenue, where a good part of the curbings appear to be made of granite, not slate. This interests me only because my hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts typically used granite curbs, which typically hold up better against the elements and snow plows. My mom’s neighborhood, built in 1971, and sees about the same amount of traffic as your average Jenkintown side street, has yet to repave the street […]
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Pleased to meet you, Jenkintown
Louise and I have lived together in Jenkintown since late 2002, marrying a year later. The year before, Louise’s mom had passed away, and while she stood to inherit the house, she considered selling it and buying elsewhere. We didn’t much like the house at the time, mainly because of its tiny kitchen and lack of porch. After an exhaustive and frustrating search for a better house in a location as […]
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August Council Meeting: What we learned
At last night’s council meeting, we attended with the plan to ask a few questions and then to observe. However, another resident who spoke after us brought up many additional concerns, which also received plenty of sympathy but no relief. Seeing an ally, we followed him out the door after he aired his concerns to compare notes. Last night, I had some specific questions: 1. When will the borough post all the […]
Policy
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How do we pay for this? A few suggestions…
I would hazard a guess that if you polled all twelve of Jenkintown’s volunteer councilors about finding a better way to pay for sidewalk and curb repair, to a person, they’d likely respond, “but how do we do this without raising taxes?” Indeed, Councilor Laurie Durkin said just that via email, following with, “Residents must pay one way or another.” Maybe, but a one-time, four-figured, out-of-the-blue financial broadside hurts far more than a long-range, pedestrian-focused […]
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Council Meeting August 24: Please Attend
If you are unhappy about the borough of Jenkintown’s sidewalk maintenance policy, then I ask you to please attend this month’s borough council meeting on August 24. If you believe, as I do, that the current policy is unsustainable, inefficient, unsightly, and open to political abuse, please come and express yourself to the council. The board labors under the impression that the status quo suits you fine. Please stand with […]
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