Mail Call: Why Shouldn’t We Develop the Dual Highway?
Why build another building on Dual Highway?
To the editor:
A beautiful piece of property at the point of Mount Aetna Road and Dual Highway has been wiped away, with numerous trees cut down only to build another office building.
Is it really needed? While other buildings sit empty on Dual Highway and the newest office building has yet to be finished?
There is so much talk about going green, it would seem that at least a couple of trees could have been left if the property had been planned better, but the only thing that matters is the green dollar.
It is a shame to see Dual Highway becoming more commercialized every year.
Carolyn Blitz
Hagerstown
Why shouldn’t the Dual Highway be developed? It seems to me that we need Hagerstown to bring in some new, more commercially viable office space so we can grow the service sector of the economy rather than try and pretend that manufacturing is going to keep this area alive. The only thing that is going to make Hagerstown thrive once again is the constant influx of technology driven businesses that need good office space to conduct their business in, without it we rely on businesses like Volvo Power Train to keep the economy is moving. Unfortunately, this is not going to be a long term solution since manufacturing is driven to the lowest cost economic center which is not Hagerstown, Maryland.
What will sustain Hagerstown? Technology, and despite what you may think, global warming. Hagerstown could actually regain its place as a major transportation hub in the region if the railways become a favored method of transportation because of fuel efficiency. If Hagerstown could bring in CSX and companies that make railway electronics to fuel the reemergence of the industry, we could be on the forefront rail transportation revitalization. So bring in new office space and encourage the development of office based service companies, after all do you want Washington County to have a 10% unemployment rate?
Is Hagerstown Improving?
"I have a question for our city fathers. If downtown Hagerstown is being improved so much, why are people moving from that area to the outer edges of Hagerstown, where I live? And people that moved into my area all tell me the same thing: They have to get away from the traffic congestion, no parking and the extremely loud stereos up and down the streets all the time. Now we have a couple (of people ) with loud stereos occasionally driving by, and some speeders, of course, but the times I've driven through downtown Hagerstown, I see no improvements." - Hagerstown
This is an interesting question to ask yourself as you drive through the town center and around 40 East and West. I think the simplest answer to this question is yes, the town is improving slowly but surely. The point I would emphasize though is that the progress is slow due to the state that Hagerstown deteriorated into after the 1970's when the rail yard went away. The economy in Washington County has been so bad for so long that there is no such thing as a quick fix to the situation that we find ourselves in currently.
If you look at the renovation occurring at some of the major buildings around North Potmac street, you will see the face of the Hagerstown to come in the next 10 - 15 years. The transformation will not be overnight, but it will come.
Are their loud stereos in the city? Almost all the time.
Are the streets overly congested? Every weekday rush hour.
Is there a high poverty rate? Absolutely.
For all of these reasons I don't live in the city center. Actually I live very close to Smithsburg because I like the space and the people that live around me. But then again, as more money gets pumped into downtown, it will become cleaner, more affluent and appealing to young professionals like myself who want to be in a more urban setting. Small, well maintained cities are great places to live and there are plenty of people who want to be in that environment. Hagerstown is moving in this direction and will get there in the next several years.
It seems that all too often people forget that improvement on this type of scale is not fast moving, nor does it always benefit the people living in the town currently. To revitalize a city of Hagestown's size takes years and lots of capital from outside sources which means the first companies and people to invest in the area are taking a substantial risk. The investors willing to take this step are not easy to find and like almost any business decision there must be a cost-benefit analysis done before any actions are taken. There is enough new money moving into the area now that this analysis is beginning to look favorable to more investors who are slowly trickling into the area.
Keep watching over the next 10 years and I bet you will see an increasing number of projects cleaning up downtown and making it into a much more trendy and cosmopolitant place to live.
Alcohol!? Let’s Bring Back Prohibition!
"I was reading Mail Call this morning, July 1, and I agree 100 percent with the person that called in about having alcoholic beverages at The Maryland Theatre. I think it's totally ridiculous that we have to have alcohol at any function, such as the blues festival. That was mighty disgusting when we were down there, when we had friends to take down from out of town. We don't need alcoholic beverages for entertainment. I would like to also add it'd be great if we could bring the fair back to Hagerstown fairgrounds, and some craft shows, such as Williamsport C&O Canal and etc." - Hagerstown
OK, so I don't drink much either, but this comment is rediculous. There is no need to ban alcohol at the Blues Fest, if someone wants to have a beer then let them. Are you the same person that was disgusted when there was alcohol at Octoberfest? The truth is, if you could trust people to be responsible with the substance then there would not be any issue with this at all, but at the same time, those that are responsible should not be penalized because of the few that are.
But we banned smoking in public places right? Yes we did, but that poses an iminent health risk to all people around the smoker which is putting the people that don't feel like having cancer at risk. In the case of drinking, just because you have a personal belief that it should not be going on it does not mean that you are really putting others at risk if it is. Whereas smoking truly does put others at risk no matter if you feel like it should or not.
The bottom line is that if people are not responsible drinking then that is when they get thrown in jail. If you don't like drinking because it offends you moraly then I would suggest you stick to places where alcohol is not offered. For example, I would never go to a strip club brcause I don't feel like it is the right thing to do, but I don't go around telling people they should all be put out of business, nor do I care if my friends go. IF you feel the same way about alcohol and where it is served, just stay away.
Should the Government Limit Gas Mileage?
"To the Hagerstown caller who commented on bad gas mileage: Spot on. If the government limited weight to under 3,800 pounds and power to under 300 horsepower, then this wouldn't be a problem, but we are American."
Why should the government limit the gas mileage of vehicles? Since this is a free market (somewhat) and consumers are supposed to vote with their dollars which is why they will stop buying gas guzzling vehicles eventually. You want to remove the SUVs and large trucks that people don't need from the roads? keep the gas prices going up, it's only a matter of time until people can no longer afford to drive them. Or if we want to look at this from a green perspective then the government should tax the heck out of the larger vehicles on the road and that will force people to change. We may be Americans but hit us in the pocketbook and people will change.
Hillary Clinton: Not the Bra Burner This Person Thinks She Is
"For all the women who wanted women's rights in the '60s: Now you have a chance at having a female president with many years of experience, and you're messing it up. You're voting for the wrong candidate. You're a lot of talk. If you're into women's rights, vote for Clinton." - Hagerstown
And if you mean by "women's rights" you mean a woman who stays with a cheating husband to further her own political career then I guess you are right. Hillary Clinton is not a women's rights advocate, or if she is then it is only because she is a woman. She is the most conservative democrat in the race currently and last time I checked the 60's bra burners were not overly conservative. The only thing you'd be messing up by not voting for Hillary Clinton is the chances for her ruining the country.
New Washington County Hospital: What is Up With that Fence!?
"Could somebody please tell me, what's the purpose of the fence that they're putting up out around the area where they're building the new hospital? It's like three feet tall. You could step right over it. I mean, what are they trying to keep out of there, toddlers? I mean, they could even get over it. But anyway, could somebody respond to this, please?" - Hagerstown
Apparently you have never been around a construction site before, if you had then you would have heard of something called a silt-fence. These fences keep debris from getting blown outside of the site as well as from coming into the site, some are the orange type and others are finer material for keeping out smaller particles. Before thinking that you are pointing out the obvious flaw in what someone is doing you might want to stop and ask someone who knows rather than posting it to Mail Call, especially when your tone suggests you know more than you really do.
Mail Call – Early Dismissals at Washington County Schools
"I'm calling - the Washington County school system has done some absolutely appalling things in the past, but today has got to be the worst - allowing their teachers to go home as an early dismissal, but requiring the ... other administrative staff to stay, and to use personal or sick time in case they felt it unsafe and needed to leave because of the weather, was absolutely ridiculous." - Hagerstown
Mail Call - The Herald-Mail Online - News for Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia
God forbid that staff might actually have to put in a full day's work when it snows outside, this goes for the teachers to some extent too. There really is no reason why people need to leave that early due to some bad weather. The world does keep going when there is snow and freezing rain and the majority of us never have the ability to run home from work just because the weather is bad. If the staff has a problem with working, then I suggest they come with me to work on a day with bad weather so they can see what commuting to Rockville is like days when you spend 15 hours in your car and at work just to have to do it all again the next day.
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Herald Mail Makes a Play for More Balanced Commentary
The Herald Mail (http://www.herald-mail.com) recently announced that it is bringing in Rush' Limbaugh’s younger brother to balance out their commentary each week but I have yet to see the value in bringing in either far left or far right columnists to a paper. They are guaranteed to do only one thing, make 50% of the people at least somewhat happy, and 50% of the people at least somewhat unhappy. What ever happened to the value of having someone with a more balanced and thoughtful viewpoint? Why can we not find some more centrist columnists that don’t take one extreme or another but actually logically think through an argument and make real insights into the situation at hand.
Not once has a Rush Limbaugh or a James Carville done this because they are paid to create controversy. Unfortunately this is rarely helpful for the task of having a civil conversation about a topic. Me personally, it has come to the point where I don’t read or watch or any of them. Once people realize that the center is actually the way to get things done, the sooner this country can actually move forward and stop wasting time worrying about whether the right or left is more crazy.
Here is a compromise to get you thinking: Guns should be legal under the bill of rights but clearly the spirit of the document was not to allow people to keep high-powered assault rifles in their homes and create dangerous situations for their fellow citizens. People should be able to keep their hunting rifles and their handguns but turn over their AK-47s and AR-15s. You can protect your self filth an handgun or hunting rifle, but you don’t need to mow down the entire neighborhood with an assault weapon.