This year, I have a small garden of herbs, tomatoes, lettuce and a few other things. So I am thinking about gardens a lot. My garden is not in the city, but I drew this one below the other day. The idea of city gardens is interesting to me— I’ve done a number over the years. Maybe it’s the way people are resourceful, that even in the concrete jungle, they strive for the self-sufficiency of gardening. This one below is a simple combination of something in the news and personal experience.
It’s plausible to think of cities as organisms that with care and feeding will thrive. But cities are also the work of human hands, created to meet needs that in the fulness of time become obsolete. Plenty of cities have withered on the vine. How much was it worth to salvage them?
As it happens, I’ve walked the streets of a dead city, and in one of those fits of poetical hubris that sometimes afflicts me, I wrote about it:
More prosaically, I will just note that ”affordable housing” goes both ways: If it’s not affordable on the supply side, it won’t be available on the demand side.
I do try to bring thought and inspire thought in what I draw....although sometimes I just try to make people smile. Thanks for your input. So true, they are organisms, and I have seen dead cities as well. It's sad.
My dad tilled up the entire back yard of his first house in the Frogtown neighborhood of St Paul, MN and planted a Victory Garden which he promptly put us five kids to work weeding and watering. In the fall, my mom canned everything from corn to tomatoes to okra, made sauerkraut ... we didn’t need to shop for groceries pretty much all winter. If the world went to crap, I could grow, can and cook food ... in case anyone starts an upstate commune when the country implodes ... I have ZERO desire to do it because tending a Victory Garden summer after summer as a kid in a state that brags about the mosquito being the state bird will beat every desire to garden out of you for life! Oh.. and that house sandwiched between two other houses five feet between, house after house dense with four bars on the corner, block after block cost my dad $12,000. But it was his and no shortage of housing. Last I looked, that thing sold for $230,400 last year. So... yay, gentrification...
In 2018, my better half took what was a dump, devoid of life space behind our building and turned it into an urban oasis. Plants of various kinds bring color and vibrancy. The addition of an herb garden right in the middle of that where residents can pluck fresh basil and other herbs for their meals brings a sense of community to the building. As a result, we know our neighbors better.
As for the costs associated with living in NYC, there is a double edged sword in the mix. Many think these problems are the result of greed. In some cases that would be true. Newspapers always finds the bad landlords and everybody gasps and says, “See, they’re all crooks!”
However, as the head of our condo association, all I can tell you is that the costs of operating buildings has more than tripled, and in some cases quadrupled since I got on our board in 2018. The costs of water, electricity, general day-to-day maintenance, staff salaries, fuel, increases in wages, insurance policies, facade inspections, etc, have all gone up. And unfortunately, somebody has to pay for that.
The other layer that must be considered are the policies being set in both Albany and the city council. There are quite a few local laws that were dropped on us almost daily over the last few years that have increased operating costs on a monthly basis and there’s no end in sight. Many people have left the city and I can see why.
It’s a sad difficult spot to be in. We all want safe buildings and good living conditions for all whether they be rentals condos or co-ops. But if they keep creating policies that are driving up costs on a weekly basis, that’s sort of like talking out of both sides of one’s face and you really can’t have it both ways.
Bry, thanks for this reality check. If I had given it further thought, I would know that this is not just about greed. I have a wonderful building, great Super and a managment company that seems great. It's just sad that things have gone this way.
The rent hike is a sad sign of the times and a reflection of the meanness inherent in human nature. Thanks Liza for this food for thought.
It is sad, yes. Thank you for your comment.
Here again, you’ve served food for thought.
It’s plausible to think of cities as organisms that with care and feeding will thrive. But cities are also the work of human hands, created to meet needs that in the fulness of time become obsolete. Plenty of cities have withered on the vine. How much was it worth to salvage them?
As it happens, I’ve walked the streets of a dead city, and in one of those fits of poetical hubris that sometimes afflicts me, I wrote about it:
https://unwokeindianaag.substack.com/p/poetry-corner-184
More prosaically, I will just note that ”affordable housing” goes both ways: If it’s not affordable on the supply side, it won’t be available on the demand side.
I do try to bring thought and inspire thought in what I draw....although sometimes I just try to make people smile. Thanks for your input. So true, they are organisms, and I have seen dead cities as well. It's sad.
My dad tilled up the entire back yard of his first house in the Frogtown neighborhood of St Paul, MN and planted a Victory Garden which he promptly put us five kids to work weeding and watering. In the fall, my mom canned everything from corn to tomatoes to okra, made sauerkraut ... we didn’t need to shop for groceries pretty much all winter. If the world went to crap, I could grow, can and cook food ... in case anyone starts an upstate commune when the country implodes ... I have ZERO desire to do it because tending a Victory Garden summer after summer as a kid in a state that brags about the mosquito being the state bird will beat every desire to garden out of you for life! Oh.. and that house sandwiched between two other houses five feet between, house after house dense with four bars on the corner, block after block cost my dad $12,000. But it was his and no shortage of housing. Last I looked, that thing sold for $230,400 last year. So... yay, gentrification...
In 2018, my better half took what was a dump, devoid of life space behind our building and turned it into an urban oasis. Plants of various kinds bring color and vibrancy. The addition of an herb garden right in the middle of that where residents can pluck fresh basil and other herbs for their meals brings a sense of community to the building. As a result, we know our neighbors better.
As for the costs associated with living in NYC, there is a double edged sword in the mix. Many think these problems are the result of greed. In some cases that would be true. Newspapers always finds the bad landlords and everybody gasps and says, “See, they’re all crooks!”
However, as the head of our condo association, all I can tell you is that the costs of operating buildings has more than tripled, and in some cases quadrupled since I got on our board in 2018. The costs of water, electricity, general day-to-day maintenance, staff salaries, fuel, increases in wages, insurance policies, facade inspections, etc, have all gone up. And unfortunately, somebody has to pay for that.
The other layer that must be considered are the policies being set in both Albany and the city council. There are quite a few local laws that were dropped on us almost daily over the last few years that have increased operating costs on a monthly basis and there’s no end in sight. Many people have left the city and I can see why.
It’s a sad difficult spot to be in. We all want safe buildings and good living conditions for all whether they be rentals condos or co-ops. But if they keep creating policies that are driving up costs on a weekly basis, that’s sort of like talking out of both sides of one’s face and you really can’t have it both ways.
Bry, thanks for this reality check. If I had given it further thought, I would know that this is not just about greed. I have a wonderful building, great Super and a managment company that seems great. It's just sad that things have gone this way.