Letters, Dec 15, 2006

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Editor,

Apropos of the December 1 letter from Bob Freeman, I would like to ask how many people have driven up the old Caracol and seen what they propose to build there. It is easy to spot because there is a large blue sign advertising “Penthouses on the Caracol.” Penthouses sit on top of buildings, so I think that they must mean condominiums. Condominiums in two seven-story buildings! I was under the impression that the maximum number of floors in houses in San Miguel was three.

They are now digging out vast quantities of earth to make room for these structures, and it makes me wonder what that will do to the heavily traveled new Caracol. More than that, what will those buildings and their tenants do to the sewerage and water pressure in the area? I built my small house near the old Caracol 14 years ago, and this affects me directly, along with all the other people who live here, most of whom are working-class Mexicans whose homes are not fancy condominiums and who generally have very little say in what happens here.

These buildings will create another huge and dangerous problem. If you have driven on the old Caracol, you have a good idea of what it is. The road is narrow and winding (that’s why they called it the Caracol), and in the rain it can become quite slippery. There is a sign at the top, on the new Caracol, that says light traffic only. Why? Because the road will not stand up to heavy trucks and too many cars, although some buses do use it and the deep holes show it. Entering the new Caracol from the old is dangerous because it is often difficult to see what traffic is coming down, and crossing the traffic to go up it is difficult to see what is coming up behind you. At the bottom of the road is an intersection with this road, calle Allende, Cinco de Mayo and Prolongación and two other small streets leading into it. Right now, there are times when there are eight cars trying to get through. Can you imagine what will happen when the traffic from the proposed buildings is added?

I don’t care who will be making money from the project, the whole idea of building there makes no sense. It will be seen from El Centro and help destroy the beauty of San Miguel and the very things that bring people here, and what will be left? A desiccated city with a lot of big, ostentatious buildings—not San Miguel.

I built my house here 14 years ago but I have lived here since 1988 and San Miguel is my home. I don’t want it destroyed.

Syd Ginsberg

Editor,

We thought that Pueblos Magicos was a good thing; it brought millions of federal pesos into town for much-needed repairs and maintenance. Parks, main entrances, plazas, jardines, monuments and bridges were all paved with bright new granite and made beautiful. Seemed like a good thing at the time. Now, the developers are tearing down the bridge to Dolores for a three-story (with elevators), Cancún-like development called Puente Viejo. On the other side of town, different developers are putting up a six-story Acapulco-like condo/timeshare backed up against the Caracol for maximum effect of the muffler-less truck noises all night long. 

What does it mean? Mega stores are popping up everywhere and the magic that brought us all here has been supersized into a developer’s free-for-all that, in my humble opinion, bears no resemblance to a national historical monument. Something has gone horribly wrong when the Christmas lights in the Jardín would look better in front of the new Mega store. 

Robert Haas

Editor,

It seems in certain sectors of your readership there’s an uproar. The Mega store has become the latest target of biting criticism. Some see the supermarket as an eyesore. Sure it’s ugly, as ugly as runaway sewage, and Mega’s cement box and garish signs don’t lend much to the colonial and ancestral aesthetics that help define our town, but so what? Mega is not butted up against the Jardín or across from Parque Juárez. Just live with it, rather than pointing fingers and accusing unnamed officials of selling out.

And God forbid! A horrified reader wrote in that there’s a Dunkin’ Donuts sign inside a private enterprise in centro. What could be worse? Look around: are there not moving Coca Cola, or Corona, or snack food billboards on the streets in the form of delivery trucks?

Which reminds me: When the Eiffel Tower was being erected, many Parisians felt it blighted Paris’s skyline. There were demonstrations and boycotts. One social critic and prominent Parisian journalist built his reputation by writing seething articles against its existence. When the tower was open to the public, that particular journalist ate his lunch at one of its restaurants almost every day, explaining, “It’s the only place in Paris I can enjoy my lunch without having to look at it.”

Lou Christine

Editor,

This time of peace on earth, good will to all, seems a perfect time to speak of an issue that has arisen between a new, gringo development and the smallest colonia in San Miguel. We live in the little, quiet colonia of Obraje. We have one small road both in and out of our neighborhood. Recently, the development of Garumbullos has decided to turn one of our dead-end streets into an access service road for bringing in their trash trucks, service trucks, etc. This dead-end road is designated as a calle cerrada. There is a large expanse of land available to them that they own, including a large entry gate that should be used for this purpose. Perhaps they do not want to cause damage to their entry road with the future constant wear and tear of this traffic, at the expense of the tranquility of Obraje.

They are in the process of installing a chain-link fence all along the property line. They have put up razor wire to keep the neighbors out of the mountain that they have walked for years. They are a private, restricted development, and they do not want anyone to cross into their property. This is their legal right, however heinous.

However, legal is not fair. If this service gateway proceeds, this neighborhood will suffer with noise, dirt, disruption, danger, and lack of parking on our streets because they want a separate service entrance. Neighborhood children, always playing in the street, will not be safe to play. 

Old people will not be able to sit outside as they do now and enjoy the tranquility of our colonia. When this one entry road falls into disrepair, who will come to fix it?

We are not allowed to enter their development, but they may run roughshod over streets (designated “dead end”) with big trucks and tear them up. Are not the neighbors of this development important, too? Does not the flavor and ambience of this colonia hold any importance?

Especially for those of us who are foreigners, it is our duty to facilitate peace and consideration for all, especially our Mexican neighbors. Our money and desires should never disregard others. My Mexican neighbors all feel that this development will just run over them and their wishes and needs.

What an unfortunate precedent for the future development of San Miguel. In this season, it seems a perfect time to speak of consideration for those with less money.

Name withheld by request

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THANK YOU

This issue of Atención was made possible by contributions from …

Norman Araiza, MA
John Barham
Lou Christine
Mauri Formigoni
Jeremy Goodwin
Melanie Harris
Nelly Lorenzo
Charles Miller
Gary Mitchell
Rebecca Peterson
Barbara Bladen Porter
Linda Sorin
Deborah Whitehouse

Editing & Proofreading
Robert de Gast
Arlene Krasner
Luba
José Luis Mendoza Aubert

Photography
Deborah Whitehouse