If you're going to kick someone to the curb, make it a good looking curb.

Friday, January 5

I"m going to tell you right up front - I'm out of town for a few days.  So there will be no shopping in Lansdale.  But I will still be talking about spending money!

We'll just talk about money that is spent, but not every day.  When I left Pennsylvania, we had warm days and rain that had washed most of the snow away.  And I once again could see my curbs.  At the risk of sounding odd, I had never been happier to see a mixture of broken stone or gravel, sand, cement, and water in my life.

So I was going to write about the thaw.  And then I wake up to snow.  Dammit!  Well, I'm going to write about it any way.

I think that I shall never see, a sidewalk lovely as a  . . .

It seems nothing rhymes sufficiently with sidewalk, so I'll go in another direction.

We had to put in new sidewalks and curbs a few years ago.  Not because it was in our master plan, but because Towamencin Avenue was being redone as part of the York Avenue reconstruction project.  And, like all homeowners, we had to replace defective curbs and sidewalks.  And ours were in pretty bad shape.

Now this is an expense.  A huge expense.  But a necessary one.  Because new sidewalks and curbs promote safety.  A absolutely add to the revitalization of our town.  Crumbling sidewalks and curbs do not make a town look inviting.

We've seen the borough make West Main Street more attractive and inviting with the streetscape project that transformed the look of downtown.  Over the next two years, you'll see an ever bigger project tackling East Main Street.  And I'm looking forward to it.  Not the inevitable mess and inconvenience as is is underway, but the finished product.  Which is more than worth the mess.

And our neighborhoods are as important as our business district.  If they don't look good, then the borough does not look good.

So when it came time to replace our sidewalks, we turned to John Kleckner Concrete & Mason.  John is located in neighboring Souderton, but is a property owner in Lansdale.  And sidewalks are something you just don't go to a store to buy.  They're kind of heavy.  So I'll call him a local business.

John puts in great sidewalks.  If you see a good sidewalk in town, it's most probably one of John's

Now John doesn't seem to be very connected.  In the Internet sense.  I couldn't find a web site or on-line profile.  So this Google search will have to do.  Give him a call.

Why are sidewalks so expensive?  Well, take a look at the equipment that tears it out and puts it in.  Heavy duty equipment for heavy concrete.  How heavy is it?  I think my side walk must weigh a gazillion pounds.  But in reality, a four inch thick square foot of sidewalk weighs about fifty pounds.  Multiply that by 150 feet by 48 inches . . .  Math.  Ugh.  I think I'll stick with a gazillion pounds.

So concrete contractors need expensive, heavy duty equipment.  And lots of manpower.  It's a labor intensive process.  But don't ask me, ask John.  His number is 215-721-7029.

So, today’s score:

ONE opportunity to shop/eat in Lansdale met (a trip down memory lane)

Let’s see what today brings!