Letters

No Man’s: Don’t wait for government
       Once again I've read about “No Man's Land” in the Feb. 16 edition. It seems to me that everyone wants one or more local governments to do something while they sit on the porch and drink tea, hoping government will come up with a plan. In a previous edition, you ran a picture of a traffic island [on Colorado Avenue at Columbia Drive] that was full of weeds and looked bad and asked which of the many governments would do something about it. Well, only businesses will benefit from improvements to Colorado Avenue. A local business could have pulled the weeds, planted flowers and put up a small, ole timey looking wooden sign stating “donated by Joe's Café.”
       This is just a drop in the bucket of what businesses can donate up and down Colorado Avenue and get free advertisement in return. Residents can participate as well. My wife and I are considering pulling those weeds this spring and planting drought resistant small plants that won't grow above drivers' field of view. Let's stop waiting on government to do something. The people can accomplish many things if they can get together and do something nice for their cozy little town. People want but don't want to give.
       We live one block from no mans land in a 100-year-old house. We love the old cozy neighborhood and would like to see the improvements to No Man's Land stay consistent with the surrounding historical homes and history. Old lamp-style street lights with LEDs inside them would be warm to the eye.
       If the cities of Colorado Springs and Manitou were smart they would get together with funds to fix up No Man's Land and watch revenue start flowing in from tourism and from people coming to the Westside from other parts of town for a cruise in their classic cars.
       Let's take the lead on this as citizens and stop watching local governments make all the decisions that are almost always not in the best interest of us all. My idea is a no-brainer and is used in many parts of the country.

Steven Martin

P.S. Vagrants deter repeat visitors from out of town.  I know because I’ve overheard them on several occasions while walking down the street with my wife.