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One of the things that keeps me here in the city of Temple is the feeling that even though I am surrounded by bigger cities, I actually live in a small town. That small town feeling I know and love is what keeps many residents here as well.
For many years we, our elected officials and citizens, seemed to be the keepers at the gate. Doing whatever it took to preserve that feeling regardless of what neighboring cities chose to do. While Arcadia chose to allow homes to be built that were more suited to San Marino or Beverly Hills we maintained our small town dignity and protected our single story one family dwellings.
Unfortunately, a few years back things began to deteriorate. I think it was about the time that the fourth or fifth bridal shop moved in to our downtown area that our community seemed to be up for grabs. All of the things that we had for years protected, namely our neighborhoods, looked to be at the mercy of whatever construction wind was blowing at the time. Just like our downtown area was taking anything that blew its way. Well if we can’t get a Krispy Kremes or a Vromans to move in, well hell, let’s just throw in the towel and take what we can get.
That attitude garnered us 15 bridal shops and made our community the laughing stock of our valley until the planning commission, seeing the error of their ways finally, even though too late, said enough. I don’t know why it took them so long to see that a trend was developing and that it needed to be nipped in the bud before it got out of control. But that was then and this is now.
Speaking of now, has anybody begun to be alarmed at the frightening rate that many of our single story, single family dwellings, are being converted into multi family, multi unit dwellings? I know I am. Just as the over saturation of bridal shops and nail salons have consumed our downtown area this over saturation of multi-unit dwellings has now begun to do the same to our neighborhoods.
In case anybody hasn’t been paying attention, that is exactly what has been happening. If you have chosen not to pay attention, or if you are clinically blind, all over Temple City, there have been numerous homes sold, demolished, and replaced with either massive single dwellings or multiple massive homes where one house once stood. Dwellings in our neighborhoods that would never even be permitted, if they would fit, in the downtown area. If you want to keep our downtown with a small town feeling, then keep the neighborhoods of Temple City the same way.
These new developments are completely devoid of yards or any type of foliage and their only purpose is to house as many people as possible while its residents are sucking every possible government resource available out of the system. Like the woman I saw in Albertson’s the other night that purchased her groceries with food stamps and left the store in her 2003 Lexus. If you think I’m kidding, or saying this tongue in cheek, you’re wrong. This is a rapidly growing problem that needs to be stopped and re-evaluated immediately before more of these million dollar flop houses are built.
The prime example that I have spotted lately is on Ardendale Street between Rosemead Boulevard and Oak Avenue. If you are in the mood to be outraged, drive over there and take a look. Believe me you can’t miss it. It’s like an elephant at a cocktail party; it’s a little hard to miss.
If you approach this monstrosity from the Rosemead side check out all the houses that are on the street. Very nice, well-maintained, single family houses, a real neighborhood. Why it is such a good example is because it is on a long straight street so the outrageousness of its presence is perfectly accented. If this bloated eyesore has less than ten bedrooms in it I would be stunned. Is there a doubt in anyone's mind that multiple families will be residing in this house? I checked a map and it appears that this house is just one street outside of Temple City’s city limits but it is a prime example of what has been happening within our city. The planning commission in Temple City may not have given the green light on this particular mini version of one of Saddam Hussein’s palaces, but there are plenty more that we all could point to.
How would you feel if you lived down the street or heaven forbid next store or across the street? I know it’s hard, but just think how you would feel stepping out your front door and seeing this atrocity day after day. Maybe that is part of the grand plan. Pick a street full of single story houses, build a gaudy, horrendous house that so outrages the residents that they sell off their properties, so more horrendous houses can be built. Repeat until the dream of a single family dwelling in Temple City is nothing but a distant memory.
Or how about an even worse scenario, the property next door is sold and instead of one massive house they want to put in anywhere between 3 to 7 of these over sized blights to our landscape. How would you feel if it happened to you?
Aside from the personal inconvenience of having such a house or houses built near or next to you, there is also the strain that it puts on the community as a whole. The schools in this community are already reeling from the state budget cuts and the numerous people outside of our school district who cheat the system and have their children attending our schools. As we continue to build the type of aforementioned houses we will be choking off our schools from providing the education that we have come to expect in our city.
Unlike the cities that surround us, land is at a premium, which means the properties that our schools now occupy are it. There is no room for bigger schools to be built. The best we can do is to add minor modifications and additions, band-aids if you will. If you look at the size of the campuses in this area, these band-aids will not last long especially if this careless rampant building is allowed to continue.
Along with the congestion in the school system there is the worsening congestion on the streets. As we all know our area has been plagued with some of the worst drivers on the planet. So now, in addition to feeling frustrated over their inability to drive, the number of these drivers will only increase with each multi family dwelling. How many cars do you think the “hotel” on Ardendale is going to bring to the party?
I have nothing against development or redevelopment as long as it is done responsibly. Granted there are many houses that are very old and dilapidated and should be torn down and replaced, just not replaced with a three story version of a 17th century English castle in a neighborhood full of single story homes. If for no other reason than it is rude and shows a complete lack of respect for the people who live there.
I know most residential developers are of the mind set that all single story homes should be leveled and replaced with two story homes. That’s fine if the home fits the neighborhood and the hometown feeling of Temple City.
Otherwise Temple City will become a place full of homes that most people can’t afford in a place that most people won’t want to live in due to overcrowding.
The Shrub Speaks: Syria just needs to know we expect full cooperation. And that we strongly urge them not to allow for Baath Party members or Saddam's families or generals on the run to seek safe haven and find safe haven there. We expect them to do everything they can to prevent people who should be held to account from escaping in their country. And if they are in their country, we expect the Syrian authorities to turn them over to the proper folks.
-- Bethesda, Maryland, Apr. 11, 2003
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