“EVISCERATION:” I thundered yesterday, at the local Plan Commission meeting . . .

 

I came across this notice on Next Door a few days ago, and decided to go to the “special public hearing” with another neighbor who is also interested in public policy.

Neither of us had any no idea what we were getting into, since we hadn’t read the ordinance — not to mention Indiana House ACT 1001. I wondered if the notice was online generally. Well, it is available online, via the city’s website.

But even so, what would prompt people to go to the city’s website and find out? How was the meeting publicized?

As I said, I only saw this notice online, once.

What’s more, only after we arrived at the meeting, did we find out that it was called mainly to hear from the public! In other words, it seems that this meeting was deliberately not well publicized. True?

I had seen it three days prior on Next Door; marked the date and time, and informed GANA, my Green Acres Neighborhood Association. Wondered if anyone else besides the two of us from GANA would go; not to mention people from other neighborhoods. Turns out, hardly any. Those in the very sparse audience turned out to be mostly officials of various kinds in other city departments who, in their comments, mostly congratulated the work on the new UDO, and talked about how their department would interface with it.

The meeting was zoomed online, so if you’re interested, you can go back and check it out.

Not even our own city council rep, Hopi Stosberg, was present, although she did tune in on zoom, and at one point made a comment.

Note: Hopi doesn’t live here in Green Acres, but in the adjacent neighborhood east of us, across the Bypass, and accessed through the pedestrian tunnel at 7th St. Her neighborhood features larger homes and lots than does Green Acres.

As some clerk during this scarcely attended meeting droned on and on, reading the UDO proposal in its entirety, both my friend and I found ourselves utterly appalled. What they plan to do now is several galaxies removed from the UDO of 2019, which, for Green Acres, allowed for slow, sustainable growth in duplexes (two per year with appropriate setbacks) to replace some of the small, aging post-WW II houses used as starter homes for G.I.s returning from WWII who wanted to go to IU for their education, thanks to the G.I. Bill.

I’ve invested a lot of personal energy into this neighborhood during my 23 years in Bloomington. For example, I composed the forward to the Green Acres Neighborhood Plan of 2006, which, ironically enough, is still featured on the city’s site.

That sweet little neighborhood, with children running around, has been long gone. What replaced the new young families years ago are annual renters, student renters, mainly. But that’s typical of an academic town, and IU Bloomington, constantly growing, plus tearing down old high rise dormitories, now totals around 48,000 students. So no wonder, the need for more housing, of whatever kind they can get! And no wonder the developer takeover of Green Acres, adjacent to IU’s eastern boundary.

BTW: on the same street, one block north, five (?) more of these monstrosities are now being built, again replacing demolished small homes.

The 2019 UDO provided for two story duplexes and some triplexes, as I recall, with appropriate sizes and setbacks, so as to not  disturb the character of the neighborhood too much, with no more, as I said, than two being built each year. Of course, I was foolish enough, back then, and earlier, to think that maybe we could create food gardens all over the neighborhood . . . Or at least some green lawns for people to gather on. No.

This UDO, is already operating in a completely different universe. And BTW: I just noticed that this review of UDOs is actually state mandated, which wants to increase the amount of housing in Indiana. In itself a worthy goal, but, it turns out, at what cost to human beings, to the quality of life, to the traditional, multiwebbed fabric of community? As usual, the devil is in the details.

As I said, I was totally unprepared for the meeting. And that’s on me! I was hoping to see some maps on the walls, so that I could get a sense of what the zoning changes were proposed for Green Acres.

No maps on walls.

Instead, my neighbor friend and I found ourselves sitting there, more and more disturbed as the droning went on. The old woman in front of us was shaking her head in consternation some of the time, so I knew she was with us. And another old woman, who got up to comment, was someone I remembered from when, as she said in our little conclave afterwards (see below), “we were all working towards, we thought, a somewhat permacultural vision of what’s possible in Bloomington.” That was a number of  years ago; times have certainly changed. Our neighborhood organization has only barely begun to function again, and I wonder how many other neighborhoods, especially the older ones with small houses and lots, their original inhabitants either much older now, or dead and gone, still have neighborhood organizations which actually work to protect the neighborhood.

We in Green Acres tried to get a Conservation status two years ago, but got bogged down in the process. The Historic Commission was all for us; but the City Council? An entirely different story. Unfortunately, we didn’t know enough to actually have the City Council bring the matter to a vote, so that we would have their denial on record. Instead, we quit, just before that item on the agenda was due to come up that evening.

So now we know better. Whatever we do, have it be on the record.

After last night’s meeting, the few of us sympathetic with our plight found ourselves gathering together, and talked for awhile. One of them said, “I wonder how big are the houses and lots of the people on this committee? GOOD QUESTION.  let’s face it: what we’re dealing with here is a class issue.

But it does seem to be too late for Green Acres. Hungry developers have already devoured much of Jefferson St., (eight five-bedroom, two story duplexes on a single block: Each bedroom renting for at least $1100 x 10 = $110,00, per month altogether).

Two shots I took from when the first ones were going up, a few years ago.

And who’s in those buildings? Students, likely from big cities, out of state, either with loans, or parents that can fork over the money for their $1100 bedrooms. (An entire small, two bedroom home in Green Acres rents now for about $1600.)

As my friend surmised last night, students whose families live in Indiana are much more likely to want to live in one of our smallish homes in Green Acres, because that’s what’s familiar to them, that’s the kind of housing they grew up in.

 

So last night, sitting there, internally burning, listening to the comments, mostly from bureaucrats, I knew I would have to stand up and be counted. I assumed my friend would comment after me. (And then one more, the man who was responsible for putting up all the new toppers on our street signs, and who commented towards the end of the relatively short comment period, not even taking his 3 minutes, so internally disturbed was he to say what he was feeling about what they are doing to our neighborhood.)

About 2/3 way through the comment period, I got up, my tremor very much in evidence, and wouldn’t you know, suddenly needing to pee but successfully holding it in, and made my way to the microphone. Having no idea what I was actually going to say. Tremor got much worse as I adjusted the mike and signed in. Finally, I burst out, with the exact word needed.

EVISCERATION.

That’s the word I used to describe what’s happening to our local world in Green Acres. Mentioned the eight gigantic duplexes, mentioned our little Green Acres Village  (three homes, shared gardens, etc.),with Community Dinners to bring together both neighbors and friends twice each month, etc. all to illustrate what we are seeking, a value system which lies underneath money, identifying money as a scrim upon nature.

What are we here for? I asked. What are our values? To connect with each other, or to serve the cause of “developers.” Something like that. I have yet to view what I actually said, and will, putting it up here if possible in tomorrow’s post.

Of course, they could, and likely will, view my comments as the rantings of a batty old woman. But who knows? And who cares? Of course, I do “play the age card,” and yet underneath that is another card that I’m sure some of those present know about in this academic town: the card of “having a PhD in philosophy (from Boston University) so nobody can think I’m stupid.” This gets communicated in my attitude, my bearing. No apologies, no begging; and I don’t give a fuck if I’m “too much.”

As my mother once said, “How did I spawn you?”

When I sat back down, my friend said she didn’t need to get up and speak, that I was enough. She is probably right. I could feel the emotionality in my strong voice channelling thousands of mostly old people who have lived in this town for decades, and who are being driven out by the devouring forces of massive development.