Coming in Second Place Doesn't Make Us a Winner...

...Part One the Portage Avenue Construction Detour chronicles

If you have driven north on Portage Avenue lately hoping to make your way to Cleveland Road, then you should have stopped by my house and said hello. Why is that you might ask?

Here's why...

Because Portage Avenue, being a main north-south artery of the city - busy enough to warrant a brand spankin' new roundabout - now detours directly onto Bergan Street where my house is located.

Mind you our humble, very narrow, two lane residential street, that allows parking on one side of it and also contains 3 blocks of a School Zone (Marquette School) with no posted speed limit signs, did not complain at all that it wasn't completely the first choice as the detour route.


(Look closely at this picture and notice how people in the neighborhood are now parking on their lawns because they are so scared of having their vehicles hit by cars speeding by. And, this house is within feet of the school!)

Originally, the northbound traffic was routed onto Bergan, up 2 blocks through the School Zone, then turned right onto Johnson Street which dead end's at Lathrop, from which the detour continues up onto Bendix. Then suddenly it all changed.

What prompted the change? As far as I can figure, since the scene at the one-story apartment slum (located on the corner where Johnson and Lathrop streets meet) is filled with dirt lawns, broken down cars, drunken skanks, random drug dealer loitering and public intoxication arrests just waiting to happen - I'm guessing city officials or maybe just citizens unfamiliar with the usual suspects of that particular corner, got scared of being stopped there. (I'll try to get a photo posted of this outstanding property that I have dubbed "the perfect example of code enforcement's inability to make any difference in our neighborhood" later today.) And so the route was changed.

The new solution? Keep people on Bergan Street up a few more blocks and then safely route them to Lathrop. And why not?

Until this happened...

... Bergan Street seemed like a fairly decent place (unless you looked closely and discovered that there are no less than seven vacant and/or abandoned houses (and that number isn't made up!) just within the detour portion and that's not counting the 5 others that are up for sale. Keep in mind folks that is all within 4 or 5 blocks!

Well, you might say, the detour had to go SOMEWHERE. My answer is yes, I suppose it did, but couldn't the city have at least posted a few speed limit signs in the School Zone or maybe put a police officer there in the morning/afternoon to make people slow down while kids are walking to/from school? How about the novel idea of AT LEAST a crossing guard at this corner of the school's property? Are any of these things too much to ask?

Here is the morning view of the traffic from the bus-stop directly facing Marquette School field on the corner of Bergan and Brookfield Streets. Now that it's barely light outside at morning school time, the children have even less of a chance that cars will see them.

(It's not only cars, but we also have trucks and semi-trucks coming through as well.....)

Notice the lack of a crossing guard? Not many parents are actually walking their children to this school in the morning. The kids (even small kids- like 2nd graders!) walk there and across this major traffic detour ALONE.... but, that's another story.

This corner is a bus-stop for neighborhood kids that go to other elementary schools, because even though they live across the street or within blocks of Marquette, the school has such a poor reputation, their parents won't send them there. Again, a story for another day....

I suppose that's enough for now! I'm off to call the Street & Traffic departments to ask why there's no speed limit signs in the neighborhood School Zone/Construction Detour area.

The 'Broken Heart' of South Bend, IN

Welcome to our new blog, The 'Broken Heart' of South Bend, Indiana - A Declaration of Community Outrage & Grassroots Action


South Bend, Indiana (located in St. Joseph County, on the northern border of the state) "tries" to work with what it's got to make our city livable. However, I think there are quite a few people and organizations, including business leaders, elected officials, city departments and county government agencies that can work a whole lot harder!

With current budget crunches, police department cash flow problems, loss of funding for neighborhood revitalization programs, employee lay-offs, etc., the people who run our city have more work than ever on their plates. Now is the perfect time for us, as concerned citizens, to hang out some community "dirty laundry" that either goes (or will go), unknown, unnoticed, unfixed, unenforced/under-enforced or just plain swept under the rug - for everyone to see.

What will happen with these problems and issues is any one's guess. But a wise person once told me, "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" and I've never forgotten it.


What will you find at this blog??

South Bend citizens who want to make their voices, photos, videos, concerns, outrages and actions about/in and around our "21st Century City" heard. We will try to verify when possible that issues raised on this blog are legitimate. Please keep in mind that since many matters are centralized to certain areas and neighborhoods, we hope contributors, readers and commenter's will help us sort fact from fiction. There's always more than one side to a story and we invite everyone to share their feedback and opinions. Updates, actions, solutions and resolutions to problems are encouraged and appreciated. If you feel more comfortable and for the sake of personal safety in some instances, anonymous submissions and commenting will be allowed.

For a perfect example of a community blog that helps get citizen concerns publicized and addressed, I encourage everyone to check out this blog, The 'Broken Heart' of Rogers Park in Chicago.


What won't you find at this blog??

You will not always find perfectly crafted sentences or grammatically correct sentiments. Thankfully we do have a spell check that we will attempt to remember to use. We will also not always be "playing nice" - face it, somethings in city life aren't kind or pretty. After all, putting hanging flower baskets up on light posts doesn't make it any safer to walk city streets after dark.


Why start this blog??

A few things come to mind....

We are tired of sitting by and idly watching our neighborhood fall into decay. We are tired of watching the "For Sale" signs go up and the houses sit vacant and unattended to for months. "For Sale" inevitably turns into "For Rent" because no one wants to buy a house in this area anymore. "For Rent" inevitably becomes occupied and quickly turns into a new hot spot for code violations, drinking, fighting, children & toddlers with no supervision, oh, and don't let me forget - open-air drug dealing!

We are tired of sitting in our living room and watching car after car speed down our residential street (in a School Zone nonetheless) at 40? 45? 50? mph, while children play on the sidewalks within arm's reach. I know it will shock all of you to also know these speeding cars include Police Vehicles. Our street also allows parking on one side of it, which compounds the problem and makes leaving your vehicle out in front of your own house a crap shoot. Hmmm... park my car vs. having it smashed in the rear to bits by someone (most likely by the abundance of uninsured drivers in the neighborhood) who will most likely then drive off. Believe me when I say that I am speaking from experience on that one folks.

Then, there is that special and most recent event that holds a special place in our hearts called the "Portage Avenue Detour". City officials have been gracious enough to have chosen our narrow, SCHOOL ZONE (Bergan Street)- with no posted speed limit signs!!- as the detour off of Portage Road from now until NOVEMBER while they build the MUCH NEEDED Roundabouts. Unable to help myself, I must comment on how much more entertaining and enjoyable participating in funeral processions will be once the roundabout is completed directly outside of the city's 2 oldest and largest cemeteries! (I fear roundabouts in St. Joe County are a whole 'nother blog unto themselves.) But, back to the topic of our street becoming a detour route.... You can only imagine how much I love taking my son out to the bus stop at peak traffic time, especially now that it's barely light outside in the mornings. Maybe the city should have issued all the neighborhood school children safety orange reflective vests to wear outside while the detour is in effect.

Let's not even go (for now) into the plethora of murders and other violent crimes that seem to be spiraling out of control lately. Or, the fact that Elkhart County's Meth Labs seem to all be relocating to SJC....

So there you have it! A brief preview of the reasons for starting this blog and that was just off the top of my head. Now it's your turn...


Let's get started!

First, send me your issues, problems, topics, rants, photos, videos, and more (related to South Bend) to brokensouthbend@comcast.net

Second, forward a link to The 'Broken Heart' of South Bend, IN to anyone you know of living here in St. Joesph County. We need to get the word out about this new citizen forum!

Third, check back often to read about our topics and get involved by posting your own thoughts and comments.


Thanks in advance to all my readers and in the immortal words of the king of all neighborhoods, "Won't you be my neighbor?"