Every November when I write during National Novel Writing Month, I set my stories in the CNMI, and I realize how limited my imagination is. The weather in my stories always seems to be whatever it is at the moment; the environment is always November; etc. So I'm starting a "notes" file where I put in bits and pieces about the current weather of the day, the environmental /seasonal notes, and any other bits.
Today's "headline" news is that they tore down the Round House in San Vicente. Bulldozed out of existence. (Noticed this yesterday on the way home from work.) This was an iconic hangout for the neighborhood teens and a bus stop shelter , as well. They're also surveying the roads and it appears we're in for road widening--newspaper says cross-island road. Wonder if they're going to be paying for the land taken in the road widening.
Loads of tangerines on the trees. Plumeria blooming. Today's weather--sunny, bright white puffy clouds--too many, covering the sky, giving a heavy oppressive feel, but cool breezes.
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I don't think another road should be build without a bike lane and/or a sidewalk. But who am I? Just somebody interested in town planning who thinks it's a good idea.
It is a good idea...just try to pound it into the brains of the engineering firms that design the roads on the islands. What sidewalks and bike paths? We have no sidewalks or bike paths in the PI.
What is the point of widening the Cross-Island Road? Like the widening of Middle Road from Lower Base to San Roque a few years ago, there is nowhere near enough traffic to justify it, and if there were, that would be a sign that it was time to reduce the number of cars on the island, not widen the roads. The result of this is going to be the chopping down of innumerable roadside trees, the destruction of old landmarks like the San Vicente roundhouse, higher speeds, more accidents, and the increased needless urbanization of remaining rural areas. And all in the service of the colonial mentality that the more modern, the more concrete, the more "AMERICAN" everything is, the better. This is the kind of thinking and planning that made Guam the way it is. But at least Guam is big enough that it can do a lot of this kind of thing and still not cover the entire island with it. Saipan isn't.
I agree, Cactus.
We need better planning and a respect for village life.
We don't need a 4 lane highway across the "back" of Saipan.
We do need fewer cars--more bike paths and sidewalks. More people will talk with each other with pedestrian traffic.
The CNMI is following an "old" model with this plan. Time to step up to the times and return to a lifestyle that is once again being cherished, a lifestyle that is eco-friendly. We need to realize that what we were doing as islanders was "green" and better environmentally, better socially, better in many ways.
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