Archive for Saturday, July 14, 2012

Unfinished business

By Dennis Barritt, Lawrence

July 14, 2012

To the editor:

Why, why, why aren’t these things done? Here is my top 10 list of things that are unfinished in Lawrence:

Why can’t Sixth Street get finished? Perfect weather, workers standing around?
Why can’t they finish the bridges going to North Lawrence?
Why do we not have a grocery story in North Lawrence?
Why do we not have an Olive Garden at 27th and Iowa? The busy intersection has been vacant for 10 years.
Why do we not have a Red Lobster?
Why did it take a Kansas City developer to come to Lawrence to create a viable project at Ninth and Delaware, which I knew needed attention 20 years ago?
Why isn’t the South Lawrence Trafficway done after 15 or 20 years of costly delays?
Why does the police department need 42 new officers when it has 10 abandoned police cars at the city maintenance garage?
Why does the city continue to let 1313 Haskell continue to be unfinished? Nothing has been done on this eyesore for five years.
Why doesn’t the city do what they are paid to do? Let Lawrence be Lawrence.

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Keith 10 months, 1 week ago

Why does the city have to hire consultants to make every decision? (the leading numeral is supposed to be an 11, but the posting software keeps removing the leading 1)

Easy_Does_It 10 months, 1 week ago

I have pitched the idea of a red lobster to city hall over and over. Those people at sixth and Mass. have no idea of what a classy resturant looks like.

Paul R. Getto 10 months, 1 week ago

I agree. RL is OK, but they charge too much for mediocre food. The place downtown serves good fish; try it sometime.

George_Braziller 10 months, 1 week ago

Red Lobster is a "classy" restaurant? It's Perkin's with seafood and a tablecloth.

windjammer 10 months, 1 week ago

Check with Red Lobster and you will find Lawrence does not have the population for them to put one here.

chootspa 10 months, 1 week ago

I'm sorry to say that half this board has a failing sarcasm detector.

classclown 10 months, 1 week ago

Keith

Why does the city have to hire consultants to make every decision? (the leading numeral is supposed to be an 11, but the posting software keeps removing the leading 1)

July 14, 2012 at 6:34 a.m

=========================================

The city would pay a consultant $80,000 to find a way to save $50,000.

geekin_topekan 10 months, 1 week ago

Why do we have no Jack in the box?

caughtinthemiddle 10 months, 1 week ago

To fill up volleyballs.
Just a little above down.
Because.

HardwoodGoat 10 months, 1 week ago

We can build a McDonalds in 2 weeks. But fix a road, that's asking a lot. Get used to it, this is what makes Lawrence, Lawrence. Things move slow here, very slow.

reality_check79 10 months, 1 week ago

Wow...6th street is ahead of schedule, you want all of these things yet say "let Lawrence be Lawrence..."

Probably didn't think that those "abandon cars" might be there for a reason, maybe more officers could drive them then you can stop complaining about response times...

Yes more fast food (jack in the box), olive garden (generic Italian food yay!!!) when Lawrence has at least 3 Italian restaurants... Really Red Lobster??? If you think that's seafood you need help...

beerbaron03 10 months, 1 week ago

In the couple of times that I've eaten at Red Lobster, a lot of words came to mind: disgusting, expensive, indigestion, but safe to say that "classy" was not one of them. You should just stick to Applebee's.

grammaddy 10 months, 1 week ago

Why do people post stuff like this instead of attending a city commission meeting and asking them?

grammaddy 10 months, 1 week ago

And screw Red Lobster, we need a Joe's Crab Shack.

fred_mertz 10 months, 1 week ago

We need a Trader Joes at the empty Borders site.

Lawrence needs a Whole Foods - put it in North Lawrence.

windjammer 10 months, 1 week ago

Those sand rats couldn't, didn't, won't support any type grocery store. If they want one let them build it.

none2 10 months, 1 week ago

It just goes to show how little you know. North Lawrence had a continual grocery store for decades. The last owner didn't do a good job of running the store and wanted to blame its demise on lack of support instead of his own mismanagement. The place was poorly maintained it was dirty and the produce section looked like it was stocked with stuff gotten out of the dumpster at Dillons.

Just because trashy food is alright to eat in your part of town, doesn't mean that those low standards are held elsewhere.

jafs 10 months, 1 week ago

Trader Joe's would be great!

funkdog1 10 months, 1 week ago

Though I wasn't overly impressed with Genovese in the beginning, I ate there with friends just last week and it was absolutely FANTASTIC. Appetizers, main course and dessert--everything was excellent. 715 also serves exemplary authentic Italian cuisine. For good American-Italian food, Paisano's is yards above Olive Garden--they even give you all the salad and breadsticks you want, just like OG. Though it's not my thing, I know plenty of folks who like Bambino's. When will people wake up to the fact that Olive Garden just isn't that great?

And Red Lobster is downright abysmal. If you want that schlock, go to Topeka.

jafs 10 months, 1 week ago

OG offers decent food at reasonable prices.

Genovese is quite expensive, as is 715, Teller's and Paisano's. Bambino's is a bit less pricy, but not that great.

funkdog1 10 months ago

Genovese, Paisano's and 715 are not expensve. They are no more expensive than Olive Garden. Teller's is generally expensive.

windjammer 10 months, 1 week ago

9 Why would you be so worried about 1313 Haskell? It looks just fine to me compared to several other houses in East Lawrence. Within four blocks their are two houses not occupied for years that the roof has caved in and the neighboring house has the windows boarded up. Find something else to worry about. What I wonder about is why I see you walking or bicycling all over town.

George_Braziller 10 months, 1 week ago

Giant type just makes your strange post with the multiple grammar and spelling errors more obvious. Who are you ranting about?

bankboy119 10 months, 1 week ago

firstworldproblems

independent_rebel 10 months, 1 week ago

One of the most absurd letter-to-the-editors I've read. As to his 10 rants:

I'm so sick and tired about people complaining about the guys who work on the streets seem to be always standing around. If you know anyone who has ever done that work you'll know that it involves a lot of standing around. Why? Because they have to wait for concrete to arrive, to set, to be leveled, to dry, etc.. I wouldn't last one day out in the heat doing that job, and most of you wouldn't either.
Because the city probably did what most cities do: go for the cheapest bid. I'm sure that the company hired to do the work is not nearly as competent as a company that put in a higher bid.
Tired old complaint. Look, if ANYONE with the means to do so thought a QUALITY grocery store would work in North Lawrence then there would be a grocery store already there. Why people whine to City Hall about this makes as much sense as whining to City Hall about why there is no Red Lobster or Olive Garden. City Hall has nothing to do with it.

4 & 5. See # 3, and subsitute "Red Lobster" & "Olive Garden" for "grocery store."

What have you done for the past 20 years that has prevented you from doing something at 9th and Delaware to spruce it up. 20 years is a long time, so surely you had an opportunity at some point.
Lawrence is filled with left-wing hypocrites who angrily defend projects such as the empTy, and the Library expansion as being voted on by the people so nanny-nanny-boo-boo the majority has spoken. Yet, when we as a city voted for the SLT 20 or so years ago, well, that doesn't count, so let SUE, SUE, SUE!!!
The police department needs fresh blood because of all the crap that goes on in that department, from ticket scandals, to officers going wild with the ladies of Lawrence off-duty. Nah, they just need a lot more officers to boost there union numbers to get more from City Hall.
Because nobody likes to deal with anything to do with the number 13. 1313? Double 13? Are you kidding me? Who would touch that. Besides, we all know it's Bush's fault.
Not sure who you directed this at. Are you directing this to the city commission? To the city manager? To Merrill? To Doug Compton? To Kirk McClure? In case you haven't noticed, Lawrence is being Lawrence quite well, and that is completely back-asswards.

markoo 10 months, 1 week ago

"Lawrence is being Lawrence quite well, and that is completely back-asswards"

Well thank goodness we have conservative nutbags like yourself living here to constantly bitch and moan about us tree-huggin, pot-smokin, smelly, hippy, dirty libruls. Don't know where I'd be without your incessant anti-librul screeds.

hear_me 10 months, 1 week ago

"Why do we not have a grocery story in North Lawrence?

Why do we not have an Olive Garden at 27th and Iowa? The busy intersection has been vacant for 10 years.

Why do we not have a Red Lobster?"

It's not up to the city to bring in these businesses. No one is stopping them. Olive Garden and Red Lobster probably look for larger communities. North lawrence probably does not have enough draw for a grocery store. If a business wants to build at 27th and Iowa, for example, it's already a commercial zone. The problem is when our local speculators want to manipulate their real estate and apply for tax incentives.

dowser 10 months, 1 week ago

To Mr. Barrett:

Topeka has all or most of the things you question. Why don't you move there instead of trying to turn Lawrence into another Topeka?

merrill 10 months, 1 week ago

1,000

merrill 10 months, 1 week ago

Taxpayers cannot afford all of the requests in the letter. Taxpayers would be money ahead driving to Topeka or OP. Lawrence has become a tax dollar money hole

Most items in the letter will be saturated with preferential tax favors at the expense of taxpayers. Taxpayers would prefer that all construction projects be completely paid for by the developers or forget it.

Cars are the most expensive budget item in Lawrence,Kansas. Most of the thousands of cars are empT yet still demand a $200-$300 road for convenience purposes. This is pork barrel spending for developers and empT cars.

Taxpayers need economic growth NOT economic displacement. Economic displacement drives increased taxes and user fees because new development is not paying for itself.

merrill 10 months, 1 week ago

Is it the taxpayers responsibility to guarantee the real estate industry and developers a nice tidy profit on their speculation and/or risky investments? Absolutely not!

I believe all incentives to sell and/or develop property should come from: