6.06.2007

two steps back


Oh for heaven's sake:


Mayor-elect Alfredo Lim has promised to reopen the closed portion of Rizal Avenue when he assumes office next month.
And where do these clowns come off suing Atienza to re-open the road to vehicular traffic "in (sic) behalf of Manileños?”

Do we need a Pedestrian Rights group? Do we need advocates for Complete Streets?

Where are the lovers of the city? Is this something the Winner Foundation should step into despite their enmity with the immediate past mayor? Parks are about people -and so are pedestrian malls.

Will the merchants of Avenida, who seem to have benefited from the pedestrianization, not speak up?

Ay! Read the last part of this post and learn from Lernier's urban accupuncture.




Image credit: Avenida Rizal, by Senor Enrique.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Shall we start a campaign to save the pedestrianized Avenida?Pathetic isnt it?! politics of revenge,definitely not a good start for Mayor lim.I feel exasperated with filipino politics,really!!Kakainis!It goes to show there was no choice for anyone who yearns for a better Manila.Lim & Atienza are both pathetic mayors.although I hope the former prove's me wrong!Really!Kakainis talaga!

Indio Bravo
aetcuban@yahoo.com

Urbano dela Cruz said...

How did the Mahatma put it? "We must be the change we want to see in the world."

Politics is politics. Same as everywhere. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

If we can bring all the people who yearn for better, more livable cities -and start squeeking, maybe we can get the wheels turning.

juned said...

To say the least, the move is short-sighted if not downright s-t-u-p-i-d. A case of Sulla bringing down the works of Marius. And will be restored again with the ascendancy of the triumvirate.

Urbano dela Cruz said...

Ay Juned,

Our politics is short sighted because we are short sighted. And we allow the conversation to dwell on the immediate instead of the long term.

But that has always been the challenge, right? To get people to look up and look ahead.

(sorry, have my idealist candles lit to ward off the demons of sisyphus.)

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