Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread (Part 2)
LOL, I've not been to Schenectady but have worked in Lynn for 30+ years so, yeah, i get what you're saying. In Lynn, they are just starting to realize that they actually are on the Atlantic Ocean have oceanfront property and maybe in some millennium soon, they will, you know, maybe develop it??
Since I think I'm the only one on this whole forum who actually lives in Lynn, i have to weigh in. I've lived here all my life except for college and a couple of years after. The first thing people have to understand is Lynn is a city, it's not Durham, Newfields, or even Haverhill (of which Bradford is a part). We have over 90,000 people, and while it is has some pretty nice neighborhoods, including the one across from the ocean, it is always going to be what sociologists call a gateway community. We have thousands of first generation Americans now, no different than when my grandfather came from Italy more than 100 years ago, no different than the parents of kids I went to high school with in the 60's. Lynn, like any city, struggles with the ability to make life for its new residents as best as possible. The municipal budget is continually strained ( schools, cops, fire, etc) because of the burdens placed on the city, leaving little for amenities such as the parks, rec areas, and our fabulous golf course. I know enough about what goes on here to know that it is a constant juggling act, keeping 5 or 6 balls in the air at the same time. Not crying about it. It is what it is and, all and all, my adult experience here has been great - friendships, business, my daughter's Lynn Public School education, etc.
If I have bones to pick it is with the uninspiring political leadership that Lynn has endured as long as I can remember. We have a wonderful promenade at the ocean, but that is courtesy of the state which administers the area. The rest of the waterfront, along the harbor, is dotted with industrial uses, underutilized commercial areas (a vacant Building 19), the auto dealerships and, get this, probably the only waterfront dump in the United States. Vision of what Lynn could be has been lacking for decades and, based on what I see now, is unlikely to change. Of course, the other big problem is Sterlippo's employer, General Electric, which has been downsizing for years from its heyday in the late '60's and early '70's. At one time there were over 20,000 people working for GE in Lynn, now it is something like 3,500. And GE's actions over the past couple of decades indicate to me that they will be leaving Lynn someday just like they did, ironically, in Schenectady. They've torn down building after building that, obviously, were never going to be used again. They sold off one manufacturing plant (vacant for years) to Market Basket and I just read in the local paper the other day they are now marketing a piece of land on Lynnway, near the waterfront, in hopes that a hotel chain will buy it. This trend is obvious. I just hope GE doesn't leave behind the mess that they left in Schenectady.
Obligatory hockey reference. Lynn is the home of Larry Pleau, former Canadien (his name is on the Cup) and Hartford Whaler, former GM of the St. Louis Blues, father of one former Wildcat Steve Pleau, and father-in-law of another, Tom Nolan.
