Bethlehem Sidewalk Seating-- BAD IDEA?

From the 'been there, done that' department...

There are certain people who are once again extolling the virtues of sidewalk seating. This time in Bethlehem's Southside. Yeah good luck with that!

When my mom was still alive in her senior years she rode the bus to downtown Allentown's mall at least 4 days a week. She complained incessantly about the bums and skateboarders who would use these as their home away from home.

Oldsters like herself (in her 80's), shoppers and cafe users never stood a chance. This especially was the case on rainy days under the mall's canopies.

She was not alone...

City Removes Benches In Downtown
June 10, 1993 by CHUCK AYERS, The Morning Call

"The city's removal of the benches was motivated by a longstanding problem. The benches served as magnets to the city's vagrants and homeless. They'd often sleep on them at night, sometimes in the day. The benches were viewed as a significant part of Allentown's perception problem -- that the downtown is filled with homeless waifs and dirty bums... Don Bernhard, Allentown's director of Community Development, said that downtown business owners and community leaders have been complaining about the benches for years. "Literally, I've had 100 different requests to take them out. No other bus stops in the city have benches to sit on," Bernhard said...

So far, the plan has moved those normally sitting on the benches to large concrete planters -- the loitering crowd, bus riders and shoppers. But Bernhard has a plan to eliminate those sitting spots, as well. The city is planning to cap the planter walls with cast iron ornaments that will make sitting nearly impossible."If Southside Bethlehem wants to invest a bunch of dollars and things turn out differently, good for them. But I wouldn't go all out on this latest brain storm idea before seeing whether or not things will turn out differently for them. Especially considering the Lehigh university night time crowd.

The problem I have with all these bright and brainy ideas is that most of them have been tried before. These young social engineers who presume they thought of this first need to get a grasp of the local history on these kind of things. I suggest first trying one seating area at a time and see how it goes before going hog wild. If things turn out differently, good for them. If not, don't be too surprised if history were to repeat itself.

File this one under, "what's old is new again"