tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290094393582943997.post1405985451948836704..comments2023-03-23T23:41:15.416-04:00Comments on LTCM: The Indie Market Experience: Tom Brown's LetterLong Trail Community Markethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17290057075762985845noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290094393582943997.post-89602929883502451322009-05-20T11:45:32.330-04:002009-05-20T11:45:32.330-04:00As mature I would like to be, the concept of boyco...As mature I would like to be, the concept of boycotting Richmond shops because of bad road maintenance is so staggeringly ill-conceived, immature, and needlessly hostile, that it makes me want to respond with a torrent of expletives. The roads in Richmond are horrible (just like Jericho and so many other towns). So why not punish the businesses with a boycott? The answers are so obvious, that anyone who would endorse this course of action must be either very stupid, or a very angry, nasty person. <br /><br />First of all, many owners of Richmond businesses live in Huntington! How does that sit with your tribal warfare mentality?<br /><br />Secondly, let's say it's not utterly moronic (which it clearly is)to punish people who's votes result in an inconvenience for you, what about the owners who were on the losing side of the vote? Screw 'em right?<br /><br />Lastly, let's say it works. Let's say your boycott forces every shop to close or move, all you will accomplish is to hurt people who, until you started this disgusting town-line tribalism, considered you their neighbors. Oh, and you have destroyed the Richmond economy. That will do wonders for road maintenance!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290094393582943997.post-74161596770222500922009-05-15T23:16:00.000-04:002009-05-15T23:16:00.000-04:00My fellow Huntingtonians, please correct me if I a...My fellow Huntingtonians, please correct me if I am wrong, but even before the bridge closure, I believe there pervaded here an attitude or perception that Richmond maintains the Huntington Road during winter to a lesser standard. I think that is pretty accurate, given everything I've heard in our general stores while drinking coffee with my neighbors. So then, the bridge closed, and yes, it felt like we were getting repeatedly and excessively guilt-tripped into not only buying local, Richmond local, but having to go well out of our way to do it. But, that's almost beside the point anyway. The real frustration is again with passers-through who perceive that Richmond was not taking care of the roads that we need to get through your town, at the commuters' expense, almost as a continuation of the discourtesy we get in winter with what we perceive to be a calculation on the part of Richmond that it's not benefiting the vast majority of Richmonders to adequately maintain the Huntington Road vis-a-vis plowing, sanding, etc. (If this makes any sense, I'll be impressed.) My point is, I think the current frustration actually PREDATES the bridge closure and is a CONTINUATION of it. I don't think the perception will resolve itself once the bridge is reopened, because many Huntingtonians will still feel like they're getting shafted again next winter. It would be helpful to determine how accurate I am about this so that we don't all become deluded into thinking this problem will magically resolve itself with the bridge's reopening only to have us all rehashing this angst again when the first snow flies or freezing rain comes.<br /><br />From another's comment: "Your response to Mr. Brown's letter is as much of an over reaction as you believe Mr. Brown's letter to have been." ....... That's exactly what I thought as I read it! Take it from a classic over-reacter, DG, that comment 'tis accurate. Unfortunately for you, as a new business owner at least, I hope you're aware that you will be paying a small but extremely predicatble price for what essentially amounted to your desire to put Tom Brown in his place by demonstrating your relative moral and intellectual superiority. That's just the way people are. In economic times like these, you might not have the luxury of antagonizing so many potential customers before you've even turned over the "We're Open" sign. I wish you the best all the same.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290094393582943997.post-6135184637749915712009-05-07T09:54:00.000-04:002009-05-07T09:54:00.000-04:00From an engineering standpoint, the roads that wer...From an engineering standpoint, the roads that were closed in Richmond present significant challenges to their upkeep. Dugway Road lies between a mountainside and the river and thus receives all the snowmelt on its path to the river. Kenyon Road is directly over the low spot of the drainage basin for the area, and current standards would not allow a road to be placed there.<br />With all due respect for the road crews in Huntington, I do not believe that there are unpaved roads in Huntington that face similar heavy traffic burdens in drainage basins. Let's not politicize the practical.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290094393582943997.post-75653492350568107042009-05-06T18:55:00.000-04:002009-05-06T18:55:00.000-04:00Maybe they should also check out the conduct of th...Maybe they should also check out the conduct of their so called road forman and see what a lousy job he is doing and has done and the way he goes about it. The town of Richmond has more problems than with their town manager and police chief if one was to really look into the facts.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290094393582943997.post-41863005700143022932009-05-06T08:44:00.000-04:002009-05-06T08:44:00.000-04:00Trust me, the band wagon began LONG before Tom Bro...Trust me, the band wagon began LONG before Tom Brown's letter. We in Huntington do not have a vote in your town while many of the business owners in Richmond do. <br /><br />It has been frustrating for us to be advertised at while being told to stay off so many of the Richmond roads. Some of Mr. Brown's frustration undoubtably arose from seeing how well the Huntington roads are maintained (the vast majority of which are gravel, not black-topped) in contrast to the dirt roads in Richmond. It is hard to see how poorly prepared the dirt roads were as alternative routes given the foreknowledge of the bridge closure. The complaint is around the fact that there was no sense of common community, simply an insistence that we belong in Richmond only to leave behind some cash. Like it or not, that is the apparent message. Community does not exist simply from stating that one will or does exist.<br /><br />Your response to Mr. Brown's letter is as much of an over reaction as you believe Mr. Brown's letter to have been.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290094393582943997.post-17949932877848317132009-05-06T08:25:00.000-04:002009-05-06T08:25:00.000-04:00Nice thoughts, but the question I put to you is......Nice thoughts, but the question I put to you is..."Did the Town of Richmond adequately prepare and maintain their secondary roads during this known bridge closure?" <br /><br />I look forward to your direct answer to this question on your blog.<br /><br />Thanks,<br /><br />Jim C. <br />HuntingtonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com