Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 2, 1993 TAG: 9310280317
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A14 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PATRICIA DOLEZAL
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Even as a small child, my mother continually emphasized the need to see beyond one's nose when setting goals for the future. Her concern was born out of frustration as we all watched the slow, steady disintegration of metropolitan Chicago while the politicians played backroom politics day after day. The good-old-boy system was the norm, and the mob had its hand in every city project and political pocket. As the decline accelerated, the middle class of all ethnic groups fled to "safe suburbia" to hide from the encroaching decay. It's human nature, when faced with a real or imagined enemy, to either fight or flee, and flee they did, not only in Chicago, but in all large U.S. metropolitan areas. The '60s saw a huge migration of middle-class families, and the loss was not only in direct tax revenue. The brain drain took the best at a time when they were needed the most. The infrastructure collapsed around the politicians' heads, making repair an insurmountable task. Even after Mayor Richard J. Daly was finally "called home," the problems had become so overwhelming that all hope for the city had vanished in the smog of political corruption and greed.
If the Roanoke Valley is to survive and beat this disease that has gobbled up so many other metropolitan areas, residents need to rally around the city instead of sticking their heads in the sand, hoping the problems will just go away.
We are in this together, whether we want to acknowledge that fact or not. And we are in for the fight of our lives. If we let the hub of the wheel come under disrepair, the spokes will become small, diffused areas with the same problems now facing the city. I challenge area leaders to lay down the gauntlet that has led so many other cities to doom and to band together to fight their common enemy of metropolitan decay. If you need proof of the disease, take a walking tour through a few neighborhoods within blocks of downtown Roanoke. And remember, the disease will continue to spread and contaminate all it touches.
Right now, there are expressways in Chicago that are death traps for motorists who have the misfortune of their cars breaking down on their way to or from work. We, as a community, must act now to avoid becoming a miniature version of Chicago. We must see beyond our noses.
\ Patricia Dolezal of Roanoke is a quality engineer for a local manufacturer of magnetic bearings.
by CNB