Trenton needs more than fancy lights
The news that the “Trenton Makes” sign is getting a $647,000 upgrade has now become my point of no return. I can’t take it anymore. It’s put me over the edge. It has, in fact, even made me consider crashing the county Republican party and running for county executive in 2019. I’m not even kidding. Enough is enough.
The iconic signage — “Trenton Makes The World Takes” — turns 100 this year, and the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission is sinking over $600,000 to upgrade the letters. We’re getting color changing LEDs!
“There could, for example, be alternating red, white and blue letter for the Fourth of July. Or green for St. Patrick’s Day. Or pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month,” said Joe Resta, the executive director of the DRJTBC in a press release. Lovely. It is lovely. And it’s nonsense. It’s lipstick on a pig, assuming the pig is wheezing and missing a leg or two.
Trenton no longer makes, the world no longer takes. The slogan is just flat wrong. Might as well say “Trenton: Cotton Gin Capital of the World!” or “Trenton: We Put the Bronze in Bronze Age.” Equally ancient, equally wrong.
Plus, it’s passive-aggressive. Sounds like my mom is saying it with pursed lips and raised eyebrows.
It’s time to retire the slogan, time to take the lights down. It’s not time to invest $647,000 in making them pink for breast cancer awareness. We can do better for a slogan, but not until it’s time. Because right now, it’s not time. Right now, there shouldn’t be a positive slogan up there. Right now, we need a slogan that speaks the truth.
TRENTON WITHERS, THE WORLD DITHERS
***** I’ve been working in the city since 1999, and I’d say it’s getting better in fits and starts except the starts are few and far between. Oh sure, politicians come and go with their promises and big ideas, but as I’ve written too many times to count, there has been precious little in big ideas since the days of Doug Palmer and Bob Prunetti. Decisions seem to be put off for decades at a time. And all the while, Trenton suffers. The people of the city suffer. The people in the surrounding communities suffer.
But it doesn’t have to be. Trenton doesn’t need to continue it’s 50-year decline. The bones are still there; all we need is some meat. Things like .... Tearing down the damn office buildings between Rho and the ballpark, creating a walkable, riverfront shopping and restaurant experience. Think a mini Baltimore Inner Harbor ...
Turn the “arena district” into an actual arena district. More options for food and fun ...
Take the success of South Warren Street and extend it to the neighboring streets …
Tear down anything that’s vacant …
Create transit lines connecting the train station to the Statehouse area, the arena area, and the riverfront area …
And these are just the cocktail napkin ideas.
How to do all this? Public and private investment. Offer tax deals from here to the end of time. Mix the “If they build it they will come” notion of business development with the “broken windows” notion of law enforcement, stir for 10 years, and watch what happens.
If you’re a Trenton resident, the upside is enormous. More jobs as more business comes in along with safer neighborhoods as the businesses spread out. (And yes, the jobs should be offered to Trenton residents first. No-brainer.)
And if you’re a suburban resident, think about having a thriving Trenton next door. All of a sudden, you’ve got a place to go Saturday night and all of a sudden you’re suburban home just went up in value.
It’s painful to see all the opportunity that exists and, from where I sit, watching the heavy weight of lethargy holding it back. It’s time to demand a better Trenton, it’s time to demand politicians with the will get it done. I might even be that guy. We’ll see how angry I remain.
In the meantime, Trenton makes nothing, and no pretty sign is going to change that fact.
Besides, that $647,000 could’ve bought every Trenton middle and high school student a Levovo IdeaPad laptop. That would certainly be a better investment than turning the “Trenton Makes” sign green on St. Patrick’s Day.
Yep. Still a little furious over here.