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JAMESTOWN – Dilapidated sidewalks were among the top conversation during a community walk on Jamestown’s westside Thursday night.
Starting at Lincoln Elementary School, the walk of Ward IV took place as part of a push by local leaders to gauge resident’s concerns.
Common problems brought up highlighted the brick roads, now falling apart, homes in disrepair, and as resident Mary Zdrojewski tells us, just trying to find a decent place to walk is even difficult some days.
“I used to walk this loop, and I don’t walk it anymore, because the sidewalks are nasty,” explained Zdrojewski. “I’d rather walk like on McDaniel where there’s no sidewalks.”
While the Department of Development talked about potentially changing the pedestrian infrastructure in the area, Resident and Teacher Jim Cama noticed the amount of walkers and animals seen on the tour.
“We’ve seen a lot of people walking their dogs and stuff. Maybe if there was a collective area for something like that,” stated Cama.
Doug Scotchmer explains there have been many problems with his area in terms of flooding basements when there is a big storm or snow melt.
“I’ve been in four or five neighbors’ houses over the years, in boots, because all kinds of water is coming in their basement and trying to either help them get their drain back in the floor or trying to figure out what to do to try to get the water out,” explained Scotchmer.
These walking tours do not only give community feedback, but also show city representatives, like Director of Development Crystal Surdyk, first-hand the problems being presented to them.
“The conversations that we had and the feedback that we’ve gotten I think was really helpful to us and will help us as we continue to develop this year’s Annual Action Plan,” Surdyk explained.
For those who missed the walk, or have additional input, are encouraged to contact the Department of Development directly. You can either call them, or, send a message via the City’s Website JamestownNY.gov.
This walk was the third in a series of six, the next walks for Ward V, and Ward II, which was rescheduled due to weather, is taking place Saturday May 7th at 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. respectively.
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