A Better Madison Imagined

There seems to be an election coming. Political signs are littering lawns and candidates have taken to door to door canvasing to solicit votes. 

What are the real issues in our fair town? 

Is it re-districting? Is it re-assessing? 

Maybe it is littering lawns with political signs and having candidates show up unannounced during dinner time!

In any event, Madison, like most of America, is capable of improvement.

First, an attempt must be made to clean up the vacated Exxon lot on the corner of Main Street and Greenwood Avenue. What is the situation there?  Who owns it?  Are there back taxes? Is it an enviromental hazard? Truth is the space is highly visible and is a blight on an otherwise lovely Main Street, USA. 

The most recent census informs us Madison has about 16,000 residents. If each taxpayer kicks in $10 we could make this a public space/garden/park/art install...  Anything would be better than the fence and overgrown shrubs that welcome folks to town.

Next, stop complaining about the lack of parking downtown. Would it kill us to walk a few blocks before feeding our faces with overpriced egg sandwiches and pizza?   Maybe it would. Too many times we wait in our cars for the perfect spot. The best example can be found at the YMCA or other gyms. You mean to tell me you are at the gym and cannot walk a few more feet to get your workout on??? Walk people.  There is plenty of parking downtown. Should visitors from another town have difficulty finding a spot that bodes well for tourism. They will be forced to take notice.  "If it is so busy down here there must be good stuff happening."  That's a tourist speaking if you didn't know.

Finally, enough with the turf debate please. There are pictures showing improvement and near completion. It's a done deal. Get over it. Is it a large chunk of money? Yes. Will it benefit most Madison residents? No. 

Does it keep a good and healthy percentage of our youth engaged in solid and wholesome extra-curriculars?  You bet.  In an age when obesity and abject laziness is the new norm we should be encouraging any and all efforts to keep our kids fit and out of harms' way (read: drugs and video games.)  Summit, Chatham and practically every town in North Jersey have built turf fields in recent years and not one of them has fallen into economic despair because of it. 

Not much of a platform for sure, but a solid start.  

These are all easy fixes, too? No. 

In a perfect world we could ask for viable fuel alternatives, the elimination of the two party political system, banks to bail out middle class homeowners who have been the good soldier during the colossal financial meltdown, the privatization of New Jersey Transit, twice weekly garbage collection, and overpaying hapless bloggers.

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