IS IT TRUE? June 16, 2011

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The Mole #??

IS IT TRUE? June 16, 2011

IS IT TRUE that the Evansville Police Department has released the news regarding the number of police runs that were made in 2010 to the 65 public parks in the City of Evansville?…that the number is a startling 1,467 or just over 22 per park?…that on the surface this is not all that high if the police runs are evenly distributed over all of the parks?…that if the crime is evenly distributed that this is only 2 police runs per park per month?…that we seriously doubt that the crime in parks is evenly distributed?…that we think a deeper analysis of the police runs to each individual park will reveal that crime in our parks like crime in our city is concentrated?…that a priority analysis of a list of the specific parks, the types of crimes, the time of the crimes reported etc. would yield a list of places to patrol often?…that this data contains information that is capable of being used to devise an action plan that will work?…that this is what gathering feedback is all about?…that this is a first step at understanding where the problem parks are and then determining what to do about it?…that someone that draws a paycheck with the City of Evansville at the top of it may just be starting to get it?

IS IT TRUE that the crime rates in the City of Evansville vary greatly from census tract to census tract?…that the EPD knows this better than anyone?…that the census tract bordered by Walnut St. on the north, the Ohio River on the West, and zig-zags through the area south of downtown Evansville has the worst crime rating in the City of Evansville?…that this tract will contain the new hotel if when we get one, the Central Library, and the public housing just south of them?…that the Crime Index for this particular tract is 3 which means that 97% of the tracts in the entire United States have less crime?…that single digit and low teen crime indexes are common?…that the best crime indexes in the City of Evansville are in the 60’s and are concentrated on the east side and the far north side?…that McCutcheonville in the unincorporated part of Vanderburgh County is the best overall with a ranking of 96 that is comparable to gated communities with private security forces?…that we are willing to be a lunch that just as our census tract data can statistically tell us where crime is that the police run data will quickly enable the City of Evansville and the EPD to pinpoint the crime rankings for the City of Evansville parks?…that the link below will enable one to examine where the crime is in Evansville should they choose to do so?

http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/in/evansville/crime/

IS IT TRUE that with the end of the school year that the subject of brain drain is being discussed at many evening dinner tables in the Evansville area?…that there are many recently graduated young people with a college degree (the ones we need to keep) who would like to stay in Evansville that are faced with no job, a retail job that they could have done 4 years ago, or packing their bags and heading elsewhere?…that this situation has not substantially changed in 40 years?…that it is not just young brains that drain from this market either?…that there is a shoe salesman in the mall with an MBA?…that there is a retail clerk on Burkhardt with a Ph.D?…that these people are still in town because they can’t sell their houses?…that these two and probably hundreds more will brain drain this place someday too?…that if one were to tabulate the professionals that are underemployed or just dropped out of the workforce in Evansville that the number could easily be in the thousands?…that in elementary school that we were all taught that a mind is a terrible thing to waste?…that many minds are being wasted in Evansville every day of the week?

IS IT TRUE that one of our favorite sons, former Congressman Brad Ellsworth was honored by the Vanderburgh Democratic Party with a Lifetime Achievement Award last week?…that his wife Beth accepted the award on his behalf?…that she did so because Congressman Ellsworth has taken a job in Indianapolis?…that Brad has been a supportive and upwardly mobile professional for his entire career?…that when he reached the level of success of becoming a United States Congressman that his expertise became so valuable that Evansville was no longer the best opportunity for him to choose for the betterment of his career and his family?…that we wish him well but feel some remorse for seeing Congressman Ellsworth become our most visible brain drainer thus far in 2011?…that we will all talk fondly of memories of Congressman Ellsworth when he used to live and work here as we do about the other brain drainers who have gone on to great things in other locations?

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4 COMMENTS

  1. Concerning the poor state of our parks. Perhaps we should stop hoping that the City will maintain/restore our parks and setup something modeled after the Central Park Conservancy (http://http://www.centralparknyc.org/about/)? This organization would partner with the City and the Dept. of Parks and Rec to maintain all of the city parks. The City could give a chunk of money to the Conservancy and additional money can be raised through public and corporate donations. The City would still be responsible for crime prevention, maintaining roadways, lighting and utilities in the parks, but the rest of the maintenance (grass/landscaping, trash, cleaning & supplying restrooms, etc…) would be done by the employees and volunteers of the Conservancy.

    On my recent visit to New York City, one of the several parks I visited was Brooklyn Bridge Park. The evening I was there, the park was crawling with visitors young and old. I know people were there because of the spectacular views of both the Manhattan skyline and the Brooklyn Bridge, but it reminded me somewhat of our riverfront. One thing that they had was an ice cream shop and a stand where you could by beer/wine, soft drinks and snacks. They had a roped off area with a canopy/tent where you had to sit to drink the alcohol as you took in the views and people-watched. I thought something like this would be a great addition to our riverfront during the good weather months. I’m not sure where the best location would be, but I was thinking somewhere around the Pagoda. The seating area would have to have a view of the river. Food truck type vehicles could sell ice cream, snacks/sandwiches, and beer/wine. For those that think it would draw a bunch of drunks to the riverfront, I don’t think it would happen. Drunks don’t like to frequent places that sell beers that cost $8 or $9 each. I know that on any given day/evening, our riverfront has many visitors, but the river is Evansville’s biggest asset and anything that can be done that would make the riverfront more of a destination should be considered.

    Finally, I also visited Prospect Park in Brooklyn. This park reminded me very much of Garvin Park only larger. It was old and you could tell that it’s facilities and equipment was well used, but it was cleaner than Garvin Park and there was a presence of maintenance workers who were emptying trash, performing maintenance on trees, etc… Everywhere you looked, there were people walking/jogging, walking pets, picnicking, etc. The impression I got was that the people of NYC don’t have a lot of green areas due to the population density, but they respect and take care of the areas that they do have much better than we do.

  2. Editor, can you fix my link? the closing parenthesis and question mark are messing it up.

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