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Letters to the editor
The swan is turning into
ugly duckling
Gee, there's
been lots of talk lately about "the" magazine article and the ugliness
of Key West. I got to thinking about it and compiled the following list
of the things I think are making Key West ugly:
Solar-paneled
bus stops with billboards; yard-sale signs that nobody takes down;
vendors passing out flyers on the sidewalks; too many T-shirt shops
doing too much illegal stuff and featuring in their windows tasteless
(not funny) T-shirts. They are punished, when caught, by ridiculously
low fines and penalties.
The homeless.
If you think the expensive-to-construct-and-maintain "safe zone" on
Stock Island is going to keep them from hanging around all over town
during the day, think again. Historic Tours of America and the tacky
museums — each one exists to essentially create another stop (read
"destination") for the trains and trolleys. Too many HTA trains and
trolleys causing congestion. Too many approved HTA private parking
spaces (see the block between the downtown post office and TIB bank).
Residents and
businesses that don't sweep, clean or pick up litter around their
businesses or homes. Get some pride, Key West. Too much noise. Amplified
music to draw a crowd — each one trying to outdo the other. And the
testosterone-driven motorcycles. Good grief!
A sloppy and
unkempt cemetery. Street musicians with no talent. Overflowing,
graffitied, poster-ridden, $900 once-attractive city-supplied black
trash cans. The malling (read "mauling") of Duval Street: Wendy's,
Dennys, Eckerds, Walgreens, Burger King. Now who needs [the] fourth
Eckerds in three miles being built on Stock Island?
A dying reef.
The "Naked
Lunch" on Duval. Isn't there a board of health issue here? Dirty kids
loitering on the street and sitting on the sidewalks, impeding
pedestrian traffic. Plastic (not wooden) store signs. Is that city
ordinance that mandated wooden signs in the historic district still in
force? If so, why isn't it being enforced? Can't wait to see the new
Walgreens marquee when it goes back up. I hope it's not plastic and
lighted from behind announcing one-hour film developing.
Sunset blocked
by cruise ships. I thought they were supposed to be gone by sunset.
Wasn't that the deal? What happened to that?
Pedicabs.
Dirty taxis that drive too fast everywhere. Fares that are exorbitant.
It cost me $15 to go from the Casa Marina area to Stock Island! The ugly
developments along South Roosevelt Boulevard. Has anyone counted how
many additional, ever-flushing bathrooms these hotel/condos/timeshares
are adding to our already fragile waste environment? Florida Keys
Aqueduct Authority is spending thousands of dollars to get residents to
conserve water — flush, flush, flush — I don't get it. Remember ROGO
(rate of growth ordinance) adopted by Monroe County in l992? It limits
the number of residential building permits issued in the Keys to keep
down hurricane evacuation times. So what's up with that?
Commission
election questions. Fraud? No fraud? Huh? Lingering questions in the
voters' minds are not good for high voter turnout. The explosion of
newspaper/real estate/free coupons/free newspaper dispensing boxes. They
are everywhere. They should be restricted to inside hotel lobbies, in
front of breakfast-serving restaurants and maybe outside grocery stores
and Laundromats and every few corners where none of the above are
located. They should all be the same color and uniform size. The
bright-orange molded plastic ones are truly ugly. Who OKs this stuff?
This is not a "freedom of speech" issue. It is an issue of limiting
unsightly, rusting, and garish dispensing machines from what we like to
call the "historic district."
Now, don't get
me wrong. I love Key West. I've been here almost 17 years and will
remain. But it is a shame to witness the swan turning into the ugly
duckling.
Who's to
blame? I blame the city commissioners, the city manager, the mayor, code
enforcement, HARC, the citizens (new arrivals and old alike) for not
doing the right thing.
David
McIntyre
Key West |
