The only other city I visited when I had decided to move from Austin, Texas five years ago was Fayetteville, Arkansas.  It turned out to be too hilly and too hot there for me. And, rather bland after living in Austin.  I will never forget, though, looking down at the smooth white sidewalks that were marked throughout with little sparkly pieces. Why, I remember thinking, I could take off my shoes and walk barefoot on these!

I chose Morgantown.  I now live in a beautiful old house in a nice neighborhood, with flowers and trees, in the Greenmont section of town.  But I challenge you to take a walk with me some summer morning at about 10 am, on the route I have to take to school each day.

First, we have difficulty even getting across Brockway Ave because of all the traffic. You must wait for the countless large trucks belching black smoke and the endless lines of cars. There are no traffic lights. They will not stop for a pregnant woman with a stroller and small children in tow, why should they stop for you?

Then you make your way to the Walnut Street Bridge, only two persons wide. You will step over piles of dog droppings and vomit and rotting food. Should you happen to see a person whose dog has just shat on the bridge, and simply ask if they maybe don’t have a small plastic bag with them,  you will unleash a torrent of invective directed at yourself – who are you to say anything? If you don’t like it, just walk around it, and there is a guy who comes and cleans up the bridge anyway, isn’t there?

You share the bridge walkway with frequently sullen individuals, many of whom you would not want to meet on a deserted street at other times. In a way you are lucky. If it were winter you would likely find that the bridge walkway is a slick sheet of ice; it has not been cleared or salted.

You make your way past more piles of dog droppings once you leave the bridge. Then you make your way to the corner of Spruce Street. There is construction going on, so the sidewalk is closed and you must cross at Walnut or Wall Street to get across Spruce. Standing on the other side of the street, directly in the walkway, is a gathering of disreputable looking individuals who all take time to pause and stare at you and look you over. You are lucky if they move out of the way so that you can make it down the sidewalk. You walk by more such individuals as you pass the free medical clinic. They apparently feel they own this area of the city and you are lucky that they allow you to pass on their turf.

Or maybe you decide to go straight down Walnut instead. You pass a mission type place that has more individuals waiting outside, or you must side-step bags of donated items left on the sidewalk. You are careful to avoid more piles of vomit and pee in the area as there is also a night club here.

You are somewhat relieved to get to High street. It is OK for a while, with people going about their business. You can easily dodge the occasional piles of vomit as it is usually next to the buildings and the sidewalks are reasonably wide. Then when you get to Dairy Queen you see something land on the sidewalk in front of you, barely missing your head. It is a glob of spit. You look up and see a person hastily retreat into their window. That’s OK, they must be thinking. I’ll get someone the next time. So you are careful to avoid this part of the street in the future, which is why you normally go down Spruce Street.

Just a bit ahead are some stairs in front of a church you pass where others are lingering.  The church has installed some ridges on the adjoining planters to discourage sitting. There is not much they could do with the stairs. These people may ask you for money.  If you will give money to one them, why not to every one of them?  If you give today, why not every day? Once you start, they will surely expect it to continue. You know they have various places to eat free meals – they are frequently coming back from the one on Willey Street after breakfast when you walk down Spruce.  They are no longer hungry. Now they need money for cigarettes and some beer or drugs – won’t you please help them?

Or you can cross High street. There you have to pass the others that are sitting on the bench between the phones, or sitting on the brick posts near the dry cleaners. Won’t you help them, too?  Only a little more vomit and refuse. Then you make it to Willey Street and most of the worst is over. You are on campus now.

Have you enjoyed your walk? Do you enjoy starting every day this way?

Morgantown is a great place. The City has done much street repair recently, and they do many beautification projects.  I know, I was a volunteer on the Urban Landscape Commission for two years. Just look up and see those artistically done and meticulously tended flower baskets on many light posts around town in the summer time. They really do care about the infrastructure and the landscape of our town.

The biggest area of neglect, however, is the sidewalks and walkways.  

When I first moved to New York City years ago, the streets were a mine field of dog droppings. Trash was everywhere, and not just during a garbage strike. Then Ed Koch became mayor, and things changed for the better. You would be hard pressed to find conditions like that anywhere in that city, even to this day. If a city the size of New York can be turned around like that, then Morgantown can be, too!