Minor rants and kvetches

I don't know if this year's Pulitzer Prize winner wrote Monday's Post-Star editorial, a "boo" about how Saratoga County should not be spending $550,000 to extend the Zim Smith trail north from Malta into Ballston Spa. "While walking trails are nice local amenities," the distinguished editorialist lectures, "they hardly provide jobs or permanent economic development benefits that would justify such a large taxpayer expense." The Saratoga County Board of Supervisors has been notorious for allowing and promoting the spread of suburban sprawl. But when the people manage to persuade them to do the right thing, to extend a trail or preserve the occasional farm, I guess we can rely on editorial writers to shriek with horror. Does The Post-Star really imagine that the leaders of GlobalFoundries want the county government to forswear all spending to improve the quality of life, or that other major players will invest there if such a policy is adopted?

Sticking to Saratoga County, I never minded the ostentatious mansion the Riggis built a few years ago on Upper Broadway in Saratoga Springs, figuring it was better that putting up a McMansion on a cornfield out of town. But there's no conceivable justification for their current plan to tear down a neighboring brick house, which appears to be structurally sound, so that Mrs. Riggi's many pampered pooches can have more space to frolic. Are these people competing with the leaders of Goldman Sachs to be first in line for the guillotine? 

My apologies to anyone in the past week or two who has tried to comment on this blog. There is some systemic problem which I'm trying to resolve with TypePad. 

Comments

[Brian]

The Post-Star's editorial line is that the only aspect of quality of life is taxes. They are pretty consistent about that.

This is why their editorial urgings are usually ignored by their readers on election days, especially school budget votes.=

[Mary Cafarelli]

Glad to hear you speaking out about the potential destruction of a piece of
Saratoga Springs history, i.e., the house adjacent to the Riggi mansion. Much of the charm of Saratoga Springs comes from the lovely old homes. What a shame that some folks think ostentation = social status. Mary Cafarelli, New Jersey