Moving Right Along

Has Duluth ever been this disconnected? There seems to be no cohesion, no momentum in any given direction and the City is as lethargic and detached as I have ever seen it. It's almost as if we're all just standing around waiting for something to happen so we can respond to it. In that sense it seems Duluth has become irrelevant. We're like the slumbering bear waiting for Spring to roll around so we can go out and eat something.

A few days back, I had my kids and we were looking for something to do. It came down to doing something we had done a hundred times or leaving town. Duluth and Duluthians seem content that the City during the Spring is a place where there is almost nothing to do. This time of year, when the banks are still high, the snow too mushy for Winter sports, the ground too wet, mucky or slushy to do much outside, it hits you like a brick; Duluth is a dying community. Sure, this weekend things will come to life for the adults with the DSSO and other weekend fare but for the kids, there is relatively little for them to do. I remember days gone by when me and a few of my buddies would huddle around the pinball machines at the Morgan Park Goodfellowship Club and see who could post the high score. We could go downstairs and bowl a few frames or make a few extra bucks setting pins for the afternoon. We could check out a couple rackets and play racketball or shoot some hoops...all indoors. We could just run around the elevated track and play tag. There was plenty to do and all within walking distance from our front door.

I suppose a lot of those activities are still available to the kids these days but most require mom and dad to drive them somewhere, spend an exhorbitant amount of money and time and the activities are more one dimensional. The reverberating sound in Duluth is one of needing jobs and an economy that isn't almost solely based in tourism. This false economy has dropped the bottom out of the traditional American Dream in Duluth unless you are in the Medical profession or a public employee.

Where are the leaders of this community? What are they doing for Duluth? It seems the lethargy is coming from the top down and despite our best efforts, the best they can come up with is banning pigeon feeding and endlessly discussing the City's bowhunt for deer. The issues of greatest consequence, such as jobs, retiree healthcare, our failing infrastructure and bloated City budget get little more than a sideways glance. Apathy has not only infected the voters, it seems to have crippled our Council and administration. Is there anything we can do to motivate them? It seems not. Status quo is apparently preferable to moving any real agenda forward.

Progressives are in charge and we are waiting anxiously for progress. Will they deliver?