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Ah yes, the little burg where I reside. I have written about many aspects of Temple City lots of times in the past. In a week where there were many things I could have written about, like Janet Jackson’s breast, and the ridiculous amount of time that is being spent on it, a couple of things happened that made me once again reflect on my own backyard.
When I do write about it, it is usually to fixate on it and point out faux pauxs on the part of our city government or to comment on the day-to-day mysteries that make up our existence. This is not to say that this little ditty will be free of those types of observations, I’ll just be looking at them from a slightly different angle.
I keep hearing from many long time residents, who are near to my age, that given the current state of our city and the direction it seems to be heading, that as soon as their kids graduate from high school that they will be moving to a different area. Their view is that Temple City is losing sight of what made it appealing to them throughout their residency. That being its “small town feel.”
It’s not so much losing its feel, as it is Temple City’s inability to enhance it. They have the basics at hand, but they seem unable or unwilling to work within the parameters that are there, instead of trying to reinvent the wheel. The idea of starting on the outside and working its way to the downtown area only works if you have an anchor. Unfortunately, a restaurant alone won’t do it.
If you look at any successful city layout neighboring us, you will notice that close to, if not the nucleus, there is a movie theatre as an anchor or destination point. Unfortunately, our anchor sunk without a line with the closing of the Edwards Temple Cinema. Unless it is replaced with another one we, as a city, took a giant step backward. Exactly the type of thing that residents point to when giving reasons for moving on.
Overcrowding is another sticking point. With the types of homes that have been built in the last few years, replacing single-family dwellings with multiple homes on the same property, or ones that are obviously designed to hold more than a single family, this building glut has, of course, had the trickle down effect on the city.
The equation is simple; more people equals more traffic and more burden on an overflowing school system. Schools that are one of the main draws to this area. Our teachers are still in arbitration with the school district over pay and health insurance. With the increased class sizes this can only equate to doing more for less, and it won’t be long before our best teachers start looking for better jobs elsewhere, and who would blame them?
And now there is a monument to the overcrowding issue that has impacted some of our athletes and athletic programs in our city. It comes in the form of five new temporary classrooms at Temple City High School that now stand on what used to be the Junior Varsity Softball field. It was also used by Little League during the times that it wasn’t being used by the JV’s. In a city where any space to have a practice for your team is at a premium, it is a slap in the face to our young athletes.
So why, you say, would you want to stay in a city beyond your kid’s tenure in the good schools? Maybe the people making these statements are on to something? Let me tell you why I’ll stay. It’s because it’s home and many of us still have hope that the city will once again be the place it once was and still is if you look close enough.
For me, it is little rays of hope. Like Peter Tran, a seventeen year old, that has lived in our city for ten years. After reading an article I had written about the state of the city took the time to write a letter that showed an understanding of what I was saying that was lost on most adults. His love of the city that he moved to and has seen transformed into something less appealing showed that he was wise beyond his years. I hope to see him run for city council in a few years.
It is also that hometown feel that you get when you go into a small business, if you are lucky enough to find one that actually meets your needs, like S-N-S Postal Center, where Agnes calls you by name when you enter her store. Or when you go shopping at the grocery store. You remember those days, and every time, you see at least two people you know, sometimes even more. I’m not saying that you wanted to see them but it’s a comforting feeling to see a familiar face.
Then there are those moments, where a small group can make a difference. Last March, when a group of parents of our Varsity Baseball team felt that the team needed a lighted scoreboard and were told no by the school district, took action. Kristen Dearth hosted a silent auction and dinner dance at her home to raise money. Varsity Baseball Coach Barry Bacon called a friend at How’s market who, through the How Family Foundation, granted the rest of the money. It was just installed and come the first week in March, the switch will be thrown and the team has its new scoreboard.
Then there are those little exchanges that really make you know that you have that small town mentality, which I obviously do. Every morning, as I drop my son off at Oak Avenue Middle School, as I did the two years before with his sister, I try to practice what I preach. In this case, not drive like a fool when dropping them off. I try to pull all the way forward in the drop off zone and drive slow through the entire area.
Last Monday morning after dropping off my son I approached the crosswalk that Wanda guards. Just as my front tires hit the front line of the crosswalk I hear Wanda yell stop. The thing was, there were two vans parked right at the corner which completely blocked my view of her orange hat and vest and large red stop sign held high. To me, she was invisible until she was four feet into the intersection. Even though I had never met her before I felt bad.
I don’t know why I dwelt on the thought of what Wanda thought, but the next morning I went back to explain to her why I didn’t stop. For some reason I didn’t want her to think I was one of “those” drivers. I also wanted her to understand that there were times when she wasn’t visible, even in neon orange.
As I explained to her the situation and the visibility issue she actually listened. She understood and took what I had to say in the vain in which it was given. I was trying to be helpful, not combative. As we parted ways I felt as though we were new acquaintances. I felt that despite the circus that unfolds on Oak Avenue every morning we were together going to become part of the solution and not part of the problem.
When the thought of leaving Temple City ever enters my mind I think of Agnes, Peter, Kristen, Barry, and Wanda. The people who make this a good place to live and gives it that hometown feel.
It may not be Mayberry anymore, but it is still way better than Metropolis.
The Shrub Speaks: If you want to be blunt about what has taken place, sometimes when you don't measure, you just shuffle kids through. Then you wake up at the high school level and find out that the illiteracy level of our children are appalling. Washington, D.C., Jan. 23, 2004
B.D.’s Response: He sounds like he has firsthand knowledge of being shuffled through. The fact that George Butch can butcher the English language the way he does and has still become President of the United States gives all illiterate teenagers hope.
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