I liked Tater's sentiment posted on blue 11/2007
"Our high school is almost five miles away. For thousands of local students it’s both too far and unsafe to walk to school. Many students carry far too much with them to make walking feasible even if they have a safe route. Participation in extra-curricular activities depends on the family’s ability to arrange transportation."
It would be nice if someone on the school board acknowledged the fact that distance matters; in case the subject comes up again and there's a chance to help be more inclusive towards helping students and families be more able to participate in extra-curricular activities (a vital part of the school experience) at all grade levels. I never heard this concern or acknowledgement from any of the current board members throughout the entire process.
What was that comment in reference to? Just curious. She seems to be saying that distance and safety do not allow children to walk to school. Then you add the "books, instruments, et cetera" into the mix, and it becomes even more difficult.
In the case of our area, only takes 20 minutes to walk to WV but lack of sidewalks, two-lane road make that walk unsafe.
The original post:
(Next week's will be on all day K, this one was written and turned in before the SB meeting)
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaco....ATAR_S1.articleThe distances of my childhood were measured in blocks. My children live in a world of miles.
When I was growing up, it seemed that people lived near most of the places they needed to go on a regular basis and most households could get by with a single car. In recent decades subdivisions have been popping up all over that aren’t laid out in blocks and usually aren’t in close proximity to schools, churches, stores, medical facilities, recreational areas, or jobs.
I lived on the corner of Fourth St. and Maple Ave. where there were so many kids on our block that the city put up a “Watch Children” sign. The kids in my neighborhood walked to school at Bardwell (2 blocks away), Good Counsel (1 block), Waldo (8 blocks) and East High (11 blocks). There were several places we could stop on the way to or from school including Sheagren’s, Buchner’s Bakery, Neitzel’s, Twirly Top, Prairie Chicken, and other small local businesses. The district’s administration building was close enough to the high school that we were able to easily march over there when we had a “Save our Sports” walk-out, after taking a small detour past Waldo to gather more marchers.
Our high school is almost five miles away. For thousands of local students it’s both too far and unsafe to walk to school. Many students carry far too much with them to make walking feasible even if they have a safe route. Participation in extra-curricular activities depends on the family’s ability to arrange transportation.
My family belonged to Fourth Street United Methodist Church, just a block from home. Several other churches are/were located within blocks. Being so close to church meant that I could easily participate in church activities like Youth Group, Children’s Choir, and Confirmation whether or not they coincided with times my parents would be at church. Many of my church friends lived nearby and attended school with me. On my wedding day my bridesmaids and I got dressed at my house and walked to church.
I don’t know of any Methodist churches within five miles of where I live now, and there are no churches at all within walking distance. The church I attend now is ten miles away and a 20-30 minute drive depending on traffic. There are lots of activities my kids might like to do but they are limited due to the distance. Our Wednesday evening and Sunday morning church driving winds up fairly complicated as schedules vary by person. Despite this being a large church, very few people my family knows from church attend school with our children and none live in our neighborhood.
In the past, many lived near downtown, and downtown had it all when it came to shopping! There were major retailers, car dealerships, drug stores, restaurants, and stores selling furniture, clothing, sporting goods, hardware. There were shops and restaurants at Northgate, West Plaza, and Ashland Avenue and later at Fox Valley Mall. There was no need to drive far for shopping. We frequently walked to Buy Rite (5 blocks) to buy a few groceries. We got our bikes from Crosby’s downtown and loved visiting the Aurora Pet Shop and getting treats at The Corn Crib. Nowadays there are much fewer neighborhood stores and most local households don’t have access to one. Our nearest stores are two miles away across busy roads.
Copley Hospital, where I was born, was also just a few blocks from my house, as were our doctors’, dentist, and orthodontist offices on Lincoln Ave. All were located in a residential neighborhood where people would have an easy time getting there for medical services or to visit loved ones in the hospital. In junior high I volunteered at Copley as a candy striper. Numerous times I walked over to visit people in the hospital. One such occasion was when my great-grandmother was hospitalized on her 85th birthday and a couple dozen of us went up to sing to her and bring her cake. My nearest hospital now is five miles away. I don’t know anyone who walks to a hospital.
When I was growing up, most of our recreational activities were near home. Kids went to Saturday gym at the grade schools, the zoo, fishing, and ice skating at Phillips Park, and participated in park activities at numerous parks available within easy walking or biking distance. We flew kites and visited the Bookmobile in the Good Counsel parking lot a block away. We rode our bikes on the Gilman trail. Sports participation didn’t require our parents to drive us anyplace. I wasn’t aware of any traveling sports teams. Now most who are in sports need rides and frequently the places they’re going are nowhere near home.
Most of the adults worked nearby. Business in the Aurora area was booming and there were thousands employed by area factories. During high school and college I worked within blocks of home – at Ice Cream Castle (Lincoln & Galena), Donino’s Family Foods (on Root Street), and Fox Valley Medicine (at the old Copley). It seemed unusual for people to commute over ten miles, and a rarity for Aurorans to work in Chicago.
These days working near home seems to be the exception rather than the rule. People are often a bit envious when they hear that I work only four miles from home. Many now have long commutes and/or travel frequently for business.
For decades there were several locations showing movies in Aurora –three theaters downtown, the Hi-Lite 30 and Skylark drive-ins, West Plaza, and later Fox Valley Theaters. Now Aurora is the second largest city in the state and has no movie theaters at all but we are fortunate to still enjoy live entertainment at the Paramount. From what I’ve read, Aurora offered even more recreational opportunities long ago with the Aurora Driving Park, Exposition Park, Riverview Park, and three opera houses to name a few.
While some in Aurora may be fortunate enough to have most of life’s amenities practically in their backyard, I contend this is far more uncommon these days both due to the fact that thousands live in newer areas that weren’t built this way and the fact that many facilities have moved out of the older neighborhoods and downtown – including employers, stores, churches, movie theaters, medical and recreational facilities. This way of life for many here is long-gone, and some don’t even know what they’re missing.
SherryTatar@ameritech.net