Observations - A Park Or A Parking Lot?

Today, the Trust for Public Land, and many others, are fighting to utilize the block north of the new downtown library in Minneapolis for additional park space. And predictably, there are those who would rather see a big building there, contributing to the city’s coffers rather than to the lifestyle of future generations.

Another example of shortsightedness: It is obvious to most thinking persons that, as the metro area population increases by a predicted 1 million people over the next three or four decades, the need for a network of light-rail lines crisscrossing the community is essential. But the longer we wait to acquire right-of-way property, the more difficult and expensive it will become to build this vital infrastructure. We simply must start buying up the needed land before some vast new residential project or mammoth shopping center makes it impossible.

We need to be thinking 50 and 100 years ahead, folks. We can’t just live here and not plan for the needs of future generations. That’s immoral, that’s selfish, and that’s stupid. Is that how we want to be remembered?