Joe Soucheray: Road to hell surely paved with good intentions. ...

A fellow who fancies a brick-paver street and apparently lives on one, Craig Peine, wrote a letter to the editor the other day suggesting that I had a tirade against his brick pavers.

[county taxpayer]

Gosh, Joe, my alley is still pretty good after +100 yrs. It is made of the old puritan brick pavers and has had no maintenance done on it. Ever. I don't think, although I have not researched it, that asphalt would last that long.

[steve baker]

county taxpayer wrote:

Gosh, Joe, my alley is still pretty good after +100 yrs. It is made of the old puritan brick pavers and has had no maintenance done on it. Ever. I don't think, although I have not researched it, that asphalt would last that long.

Traffic is what wears out pavement. Normally alleys don't get even 10% as much traffic as streets.

The bricks are more expensive, but they also, in theory and general practice, increase property values and thus, property taxes.

Also in theory, brick steets are cheaper to repair. But in practice, once they've been removed and replaced,(say to repair a water line), they tend to become problematic. This is less of an issue in areas that don't have frost.

[sally]

As far as the election is concerned were there debates?
Commercials? Voting place postcards? Did I know there was an election? No! Not like in a presidential election year. No information was given until the day of the election, where was the press coverage on this one? When I did find out, I didn't know where to vote!

[PBR]

Sally what rock are you living under. It has been on the news for about 2 weeks. Radio and Tv.

[sally]

ooh 2 weeks! Wow!! that's alot of coverage!! Were there debates?? Where was I suppose to vote!! No polling cards sent out.

[A guy down the block]

Defensive, are we? Looks like you actually did some homework for this one.

[jim moore]

They have a block of paver bricks on Goodrich, on Sen Coleman's block, there ugly, and your teeth rattle when you drive over them. I usually miss the block but for some reason I forget sometimes. The people on this block also made a lot of racket when they were replaced because of storm sewer work. The bricks look silly and add nothing to the neighborhood. I don't think the city needs to be so generous in their offer to allow the residents on a particular block to br allowed to make these silly choices. On Goodrich between Grotto and what was in the past Pleasant Ave and Kenwood Pkwy there are paver bricks. These are authentic and do lend some historic value to the neighborhood. But if they ever need to be replaced, no way,

[A guy down the block]

While brick pavers may increase the value of adjacent homes, thereby increasing the share of our taxes those homes pay, they do not affect the overall amount of taxes collected. That is determined by the tax levy, i.e., the amount the city decides to collect. Brick pavers may be a good maintenance practrice, but I've yet to see any actual numbers comparing the two. They certainly can be seen as an extravagance at any time, but particularly now.

[fruit bat alert]

county taxpayer wrote:

Gosh, Joe, my alley is still pretty good after +100 yrs. It is made of the old puritan brick pavers and has had no maintenance done on it. Ever. I don't think, although I have not researched it, that asphalt would last that long.

In this economic downturn, taxpayers should not be paying for 1 chosen street to have pavers. Your alley gets in NO WAY the same amount of traffic and is irrelavant. There is no extra money for extravagance right now and the council and mayor were irresponsible with taxpayers money. Again.

[A guy down the block]

My doorway was full of flyers and my neighborhood well littered with campaign signs for months, Sally. Then, too, I read the daily paper (such as it is) and other news sources. I met Eva Ng at the State Fair, standing in the Republican booth, distributing her literature, kissing babies, etc. If you missed this election, it's on you.

[WiseGuy]

Right on target, Joe! Once again, Joe goes straight to the heart of... of something, anyway. mega[yawn]dittoes.

[Dave]

It continues to amuse me how crusty old joe is still able to rile all of ya'll up, even after all these years. I do enjoy him though.

[MN Born]

I respect your use of logic and reason, grounded by fact, to assess social issues in our community. Curmudgenly, mayhaps, but it suits a reader like me just fine. Thanks!

[MN Born]

I respect your use of logic and reason, grounded with fact, to assess social issues in our community. Curmudgenly, mayhaps, but it suits a reader like me just fine! Thanks, Joe!

[Druggy Rush]

Go Joe, you tell 'em not to pay any taxes.

And also tell 'em to shut up and fight the wars with borrowed money. And not to repair the bridges. And no health care for sick and powerless, let 'em die.

Hooray Joe, give 'em heck.

[Gramps]

Wow Joe.... a whole 17%. Makes me wonder just what the percentage of that were government and union voters? I can remember back when they dug up the brick on Cedar in front of the Centennial Bldg. for the new heat pipe system, then re-laid the brick. Then about a year later did the same thing to complete the capital tunnel from the VA Bldg. to Centennial Bldg. They sure saved the tax payer's a bundle back then too didn't they. Keep the column coming though Joe, you've got another reader who enjoys it.

[ItchyRainbolt]

There were once upon a time a few streets in Minneapolis that were paved with cedar blocks. In really heavy rain they tended to float up and out of place, but other than that they were pretty durable. Maybe we should make cedar blocks an option, and hang the expense. Imagine how quaint that would be. There's nothing quite so nostalgic as the sound of horses' hooves clomping on wooden blocks. Oh, I guess we'd have to mandate bringing back horses too, but let's not stop with half-way measures, as long as we're being nostalgic!

[Jake]

Make the bricks out of recycled polar bears and spotted owls. Then it would be worth it.

[Doubtingthomas]

steve baker wrote:

<quoted text>
Traffic is what wears out pavement. Normally alleys don't get even 10% as much traffic as streets.
The bricks are more expensive, but they also, in theory and general practice, increase property values and thus, property taxes.
Also in theory, brick steets are cheaper to repair. But in practice, once they've been removed and replaced,(say to repair a water line), they tend to become problematic. This is less of an issue in areas that don't have frost.

You should ask for some of your tax money back if they never improved your alley

[LGA Larry]

Millions spent to move huge downtown buildings and then selling the at a loss,

paying for brick street pavers rather than cheaper, longer-lasting concrete,

expensive bandshells that a seldom ever used (Raspeberry & Harriet Island),

$100K/year for "Human Rights Coordinator" at City Hall to protect the public from the Easter Bunny and Poinsettias ,crews and special equipment to water hanging baskets, "sanctuary city" status to ensure illegal aliens come and use government schools and services without being hassled...I could go on. Yeah, no waste in St.Paul