| Author | Message | ||
     Robert Livingston Citizen Username: Rob_livingston Post Number: 1900 Registered: 7-2004  |
Did Scrote just ask me on a date? What the hell was that??? | ||
| The Notorious S.L.K. Citizen Username: Scrotisloknows Post Number: 1421 Registered: 10-2005 |
RL, How in gods name did you get from point A to point B? And you want me to trust you with your politics? Don't flatter yourself. -SLK | ||
| LilLB Citizen Username: Lillb Post Number: 1676 Registered: 10-2002  |
I've seen lots of "For Sale" signs go up lately everywhere (not just Maplewood) - isn't this the most popular time of year to put your house up for sale? Did you survey those people who are selling to ask them what their reasons for moving are? How can you conclude that their reasons for moving are because they don't like living in a diverse neighborhood? I live in a pretty mixed neighborhood and to be honest, the question of what color/creed/orientation/nationality of who would be living next door didn't even factor into the decision to move here. I don't even think I thought about it when we looked for a house. | ||
| Bajou Citizen Username: Bajou Post Number: 375 Registered: 2-2006 |
Dear Notehead. may I ask where in Austria you performed? I amd from Austria and have many black friends through Music and Limnology (http://www.oeaw.ac.at/limno/) and we go out all the time but never had a problem. I cannot imagine that this happened in any normal sized (they are all small) city because Austria is very diverse. Some facts on size comparison: Austria's population was estimated in July, 2005 as 8,184,691 persons. The population of the capital, Vienna, exceeds 1.6 million (2 million with suburbs), representing about a quarter of the country's population, and is said to constitute a melting pot of citizens from all over Central and Eastern Europe. In contrast to the capital, other cities do not exceed 1 million inhabitants: the second largest city Graz is home of 240,000 people, followed by Linz with 187,000, Salzburg with 147,000, and Innsbruck with 116,000. All other cities have fewer than 100,000 inhabitants. Now if you were in Podunck Austria then you have to understand that 80 % of the population has never seen a black person in real life.   I am sorry this happened to your friends please apologize because this is not like my county normally acts. We are famous for our "Gastfreundschaftlichkeit" | ||
| Case Citizen Username: Case Post Number: 1595 Registered: 2-2005 |
Bless you. (If you don't get it, PL me). | ||
| Lester Jacobs Citizen Username: Lester Post Number: 113 Registered: 10-2005 |
I know of several people who moved here from NYC, Boston, etc over the past 2-3 years that are now moving out. I don't think it has anything to do with blacks moving in, but I know that many didn't realize when they bought that the Southeastern part of town was a ghetto, or about the gang problems, or that the schools were so bad. I can think of 3 young families around me who hightailed it out to suburbs west of here that are not burdened with these types of issues. | ||
| junerose Citizen Username: Junerose Post Number: 28 Registered: 6-2001 |
I think most of us missed Psycho's point. Perhaps I have a wrong view of this message board. I thought it was about sharing different points of view? It just seems to me that many postings come off as attacking/debating/defending rather than to consider the opinion of others. We don't know one another personally,so sometimes the written word does not express ones personality very well. We should try to give one another the benefit of the doubt. Sadly, i know many people from Maplewood that have sold for reasons stated by Psycho.Clearly, many of you are lucky to not have known anyone who has left Maplewood for this reason. Or perhaps they just have not stated their views openly,especially to those who don't share this point of view. | ||
| Bajou Citizen Username: Bajou Post Number: 380 Registered: 2-2006 |
Dear june - Frankly I am not upset about people leaving because a black person has moved into their neighborhood. Good riddance to such people. However I do know that some people that move here get disillusioned about the crime they didn't expect (be it gang or other stuff) but then they didn't move to the country they moved to the suburbs of major cities (New York and Newark). Frankly that's the trade off to a 30 minute commute instead of 1 1/2 hour commute. Diversity brings with it good and bad. Depending on how open minded one is. To me it brings only good. I grew up in a little town in Austria and back then (30 yrs. ago) it was probably close to 99% white and austrian. There is not much expansion of the horizon happening. Thank god that has changed back home. Diversity in my kids school is also a positive in my book. The kids of today will be adults in a more globalized world then we ever imagined. They better learn to accept and appreciate differences in people now and take this knowledge and hand it down to my grandchildren. We are all one people that's all there is to it. | ||
| Scully Citizen Username: Scully Post Number: 487 Registered: 8-2005 |
Bajou: GREAT post! | ||
| tjohn Supporter Username: Tjohn Post Number: 4332 Registered: 12-2001  |
Lester, Have you moved yet? Or have you already moved and are just coming back to share your "glass is half-empty" joy? | ||
| Lester Jacobs Citizen Username: Lester Post Number: 114 Registered: 10-2005 |
tjohn: I am moving out to Mendham next year. Currently I am in the process of tearing down an old farmhouse to build my dream house out there. I will still have a MW presence though since I plan on converting my current house into a 2-family as the market is begining to slow considerably. Concerning the "commute", that is the biggest myth around. Moving to Millburn, SH, Summit, or Chatham would only add 10-20 minutes. That is just an excuse for people who move to MW (like myself at the time) because they can't afford to live in a nicer town. I think the glass is completely empty | ||
| tjohn Supporter Username: Tjohn Post Number: 4333 Registered: 12-2001 |
Well, if the Hundred Acre Wood has room for Eeyore, MOL certainly has room for Lester Jacobs. May we call you Eeyore. | ||
| Duncan Supporter Username: Duncanrogers Post Number: 6349 Registered: 12-2001  |
Houses go up for sale at this time of year so that people with children can establish residency and get into the schools. Has been that way. Always will be. JB and Psycho...if your experience is valid, so is everyone else's. I live near the Clinton School, as you did Psycho, and it is what it is. I'm not going to count the street, suffice it to say our stretch of Burroughs Way has just about everything, everyone, and every combination you could ask for. We have been here 10 years and as houses sold on our street the new occupants didn't fit a majority profile. They could afford the house and liked it. So they bought it. | ||
| Bob K Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 11553 Registered: 5-2001 |
Duncan, you are exagerating!  I know for a fact their are no Aleuts living on your street!!!!! | ||
| crabby Citizen Username: Crabbyappleton Post Number: 617 Registered: 1-2004 |
Except for Eeyore. He has to tear down old farmhouses to get his rocks off. Makes him feel important and better than those who don't show off their $$. | ||
| Joel Janney Citizen Username: Joel_janney Post Number: 52 Registered: 6-2004 |
I'm responding solely to Lester Jacobs' point that an additional 10-20 minutes of commute time is irrelevant. Let's call it 15 minutes each way, 30 minutes a day. Between the morning and the average time I get home, there is a total of 1.5 hours a day to spend with my kids. Lester's 30 minutes is a third of that time. Even if I didn't have kids, that 30 minutes would be 10% of my awake time at home. This is not a "myth". As for the "nicer town" comment, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and anyone who honestly prefers Summit to Maplewood wants different things than I do, which is fine. Lester should move to where he'll be happier - he's rather convincing that he'd be happier in Summit than in Maplewood. I'd rather rent in Brooklyn than own in Summit. | ||
| Dr. Winston O'Boogie Citizen Username: Casey Post Number: 2104 Registered: 8-2003  |
how about we all offer to help Lester pack if he promises not to return to MOL after he moves? | ||
| Parkbench87 Citizen Username: Parkbench87 Post Number: 4205 Registered: 7-2001  |
"how about we all offer to help Lester pack if he promises not to return to MOL after he moves?" I've cleared my calendar for the next year and promise to bring the Lemonade | ||
| Hank Zona Supporter Username: Hankzona Post Number: 5604 Registered: 3-2002 |
it's clear that completion of his dream house is not just a dream of Lester's. | ||
| Nohero Supporter Username: Nohero Post Number: 5407 Registered: 10-1999  |
When Mr. Jacobs moves, he can join the conversation on the Mendham message board. http://inmendham.com/discus/messages/1/1.html In contrast to the folks here, in Mendham they complain about the town government, the police, the schools, taxes, and whether the moderators play favorites. | ||
| HOMMELL Citizen Username: Hommell Post Number: 186 Registered: 11-2005 |
Tear it down.  | ||
| crabby Citizen Username: Crabbyappleton Post Number: 622 Registered: 1-2004 |
and also their "lazy ••• teachers"  Get ready Mendham....heeeeere's Lester! | ||
| Bob K Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 11558 Registered: 5-2001 |
Those folks posting on the Mendham board sure are opionated and nasty. Glad this board isn't like that. | ||
| Phenixrising Citizen Username: Phenixrising Post Number: 1676 Registered: 9-2004  |
Looks like the freshman class at Mendham High is trying to resurrect the immortal "Is Mendham High" sign that graced the front of the building in the 70's. Toking some reefer in the stairwells and slugging down a bottle or two of vino before first period seems to be on the rise again. Wonder how long it will be before the website(forgot the name,created by some parents who freaked last time this happened) starts up again." Wow haven't heard this at CHS! That board is something else.  | ||
| mem Citizen Username: Mem Post Number: 6170 Registered: 5-2001  |
Phenix, Those words could apply to CHS when I went there. We used to refer to CHS as "The Columbian High". Good times. | ||
| Glock 17 Citizen Username: Glock17 Post Number: 946 Registered: 7-2005  |
I've seen both at CHS. | ||
| Bajou Citizen Username: Bajou Post Number: 386 Registered: 2-2006 |
Maybe Lester and James Brown could become friends and Lester could talk James into moving in next door....ahhh day dreaming is nice. By the way Lester...let's sing along: This old house was once for dancing, This old house once filled with joy. With its beauty so entrancing, Every little girl and boy. Now its halls are filled with darkness. Its rooms are dusty, cold. This old house is growing so old. Take a walk into the ballroom, Now it hardly looks the same. Now its chandelier is shattered, Only stillness here remains. Long ago there was the laughter Through the stories that were told. This old house has grown so old. Carefull of the stairs, Don’t sit on the broken chair. Peole passing by Used to pause out in the square. Now they go on by, No one even stops to stare. It’s so all alone, No one cares. They’ll tear down this house come morning, Build a new one in its place. Put an end to all its glory, Put an end to all its grace. And the sun will set when evening comes, Stars will fill the sky - And stars will fill the sky.  | ||
| gj1 Citizen Username: Gj1 Post Number: 353 Registered: 11-2003 |
Lester, is the town aware of your plan to convert your house into a two family? Doesn't this require an approval of some type? | ||
| greenetree Supporter Username: Greenetree Post Number: 7714 Registered: 5-2001  |
I love the Mendham website. A random click took me to a thread of a parent complaining about how PC the town has gotten. There is a transgendered teacher in the HS and in the good old days, this person wouldn't have been able to corrupt the children. The post finishes with "thank god my children go to private school".  Lester, it appears that you may not be safe in Mendham, either. Might I suggest SW Ohio, near Cincinatti? Very cheap cost of living, plenty of land to build your dream home and, best of all, you will enjoy the social groups prominent in the region. No danger of the PC police there..... | ||
| C Bataille Citizen Username: Nakaille Post Number: 2625 Registered: 5-2001 |
I have to say I was distressed to hear about Lester's plan to profit from the neighborhood he apparently despises. Why crowd two residences onto a property designed for one? Sounds like simple greed to me. How often do you think this landlord will come around to care for his property? Just what we need, another absentee landlord who doesn't care about our community! Neighbors of Lester, is this what you want? Make your opinions known to the local zoning board. They count. Message to zoning board: Just say no! | ||
| Phenixrising Citizen Username: Phenixrising Post Number: 1677 Registered: 9-2004 |
Maybe Lester and James Brown could become friends and Lester could talk James into moving in next door... AMEN! Sounds like that mendham site might be my guilty pleasure for entertainment! | ||
| MeAndTheBoys Citizen Username: Meandtheboys Post Number: 3765 Registered: 12-2004  |
Methinks Lester Jacobs is, to put it nicely and use one of my grandmother's phrases, "Full of Soup!" | ||
| Parkbench87 Citizen Username: Parkbench87 Post Number: 4215 Registered: 7-2001 |
I wonder if Lester is related to Willie Tyler and Lester?  | ||
| Tom Reingold Supporter Username: Noglider Post Number: 14346 Registered: 1-2003  |
Psychomom, my question remains. What leads you to believe the people leaving are doing so because blacks are moving in? | ||
| notehead Supporter Username: Notehead Post Number: 3293 Registered: 5-2001  |
Bajou, I sent you a PL about my tour in Austria. | ||
| harold Citizen Username: Harold Post Number: 372 Registered: 5-2001 |
Tom, I've lived in the Hilton section for over 15 years. Don't try and tell me there wasn't white flight in this once pre-dominately white section, I've watch most of my neighbors move out. A lot of these houses went for under 100k, I was one who purchased one. You have more questions, ask the guys at Realty 33. | ||
| greenetree Supporter Username: Greenetree Post Number: 7716 Registered: 5-2001 |
With the wealth of knowledge and resources on this board, someone's got to have a copy of the Exit Interview Survey results. Whoever you are, please post the link to the results. Thankey. | ||
| Tom Reingold Supporter Username: Noglider Post Number: 14348 Registered: 1-2003 |
Thank you, greenetree. Yes, Harold, we know the fraction of blacks has increased. As greenetree points out, there is no exit interview, so we don't know that whites leave because blacks are moving in. All we know is that both are happening. For all you know, blacks are moving in because whites are moving out, though I doubt that, too. Or gee, maybe it's because of global warming. And now recent reports say that the Hilton section is becoming more white, because it's perceived as a good value for folks moving from NYC, though I gather the fraction of blacks is still rising in the town, overall. | ||
| crabby Citizen Username: Crabbyappleton Post Number: 624 Registered: 1-2004 |
I don't feel too sorry for harold. He stuck it out and now his $100 has turned into gold. | ||
| greenetree Supporter Username: Greenetree Post Number: 7719 Registered: 5-2001 |
True enough. He can nail himself to his platinum cross. |
