I came across this article in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle about Rush from 1979. Back then, when everyone got the Sunday paper which was as big as a telephone book, there was a "Magazine" section called "Upstate". It was in color and had a glossy kind of paper finish. Longer more involved news was in it. It was published on Sunday, June 10, 1979.
My family and I were too busy to care.
I was a Junior in High School. That June my friends and I were taking the Regent's Exams that mattered the most. We took SAT and ACT tests that would determine if we got into the colleges we wanted. This meant studying.
Commencement was on June 23rd that year, and that meant playing in the concert band at the Dome. We had rehearsals. I was working at McDonald's. My sister had 4H activities and her end of the year concert and other things going on. My parents were too busy driving us all over and feeding us and they had their own activities. My dad was working at Kodak, and he was big into model railroading. The Kodak Model City Railroad Club had a big anniversary open house that year.
I could go on and on about the happenings in our lives that early summer of 1979, but the honest truth is we were all too busy to care. It's probably the same way now with everyone in Rush. Why should we spend any time on local stuff? I got my Eagle Scout so I could check off the "community thing" on my "must do for college application" list. I was studying so I could get into college on early decision. We did a family trip to Washington D.C. to see the brand new Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. What possibly could we care about in Rush?
When I read this article I realize that nothing has changed in Rush in the 40 years since it was published. It describes the same fight against development and tax problems and neglect to change. It's got town officials that want to do good while balancing the whims of a divergent, outspoken minority and somehow keeping the peace and doing it within budget.
The article talks about how the town planned for change in the past and how little was done towards that plan. The Route 390 expressway was not done yet, and there were thoughts and opinions on the promise and pitfalls of the big road coming.
The main focus of this 1979 piece is a new proposed housing development at the corner of Lyons Road and Pinnacle Road. The developer was an heir to the Neisner's Department stores. He had purchased the land and called the development "Cobblestone Farms". He probably took the name from the Cobblestone House at the corner of Lyons and Pinnacle Road.
One of my childhood friends lived in that house. This picture hung on their wall. I only recently figured out that this woman is my Third Great Grandmother. My Second Great Grandfather was raised here, and all the surrounding land was formerly owned by my distant family. The developer was going to turn what was left of a farm that had been in my family for generations into houses. My family and I were too busy to care.
Luckily, some people of Rush did care, and the vocal raised their objections. Of course they were the neighbors of the project and of course the resident of the cobblestone farm house, Louise Boger Harris.
'We moved out here to see the deer and the ducks. We don't want the development" - Louise Boger Harris
Read more from a Town Planning and Conservation Board meeting in 1979. Sounds just like a few recent meetings I have attended:
I can't find out what the immediate outcome was, but the logical one is that the proposed development posed environmental problems as well as political ones. Houses were built on a few lots over the past years, but the full subdivision was never built.
Today, the land is still in the hands of the Neisner's, but no planning is being done to develop it. Judging by the age and temperament of the owner, the land may stay fallow until some newer, younger, more determined owner tries again to do something with it. And just like in 1979 when the subdivision was first planned, and just like today for any number of projects, there is always energy to protest by a vocal minority that is affected enough to care.
Yet still the majority of Rush residents fail to implement any plan to out maneuver initiatives they disagree with. Checkers instead of chess ...
They are too busy to care.
Comentários