lament for a lost love

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What a sad country to celebrate America 250 in. Our founding fathers are rolling over in their graves.

‼️ Warning, if you’re from the other side of the aisle and still think a man who kills a rose garden is fabulous, DO not leave a comment. I am not interested. Leave it to YOUR space, not mine.‼️

Our founding fathers fought blood and died for our freedoms, not so freedoms could be abused and be subjective, depending on who you were and how much money you had that’s part of why they left Great Britain in the first place.

This isn’t a post about Democrats are all good and Republicans are all bad (or vice versa) especially because I am an Independent not that it’s anyone’s business but my own. The politics of extremism continue to ruin this country. That is a simple truth.

I cannot in good conscience support elected officials who never served in the military playing war. They should’ve had more G.I. Joes and stayed in the sandbox.

I cannot in good conscience always just sit with my mouth shut while people who are the least bit different from the person next to them are ridiculed, reviled, harassed, and berated for who they are or even just an opinion that somebody else doesn’t like.

I remember being a kid and being so excited for the bicentennial. And we did cool things thanks to our parents like ride in a covered wagon to Valley Forge Park. We met reenactors of the continental Congress – politicians from both sides of the aisle, who came together for the greater good and remembered why our country was founded. Most of those people are now gone. I keep hoping more like them will step forward.

As part of the next generation approaching and attaining retirement at present, I am terrified of the future that there will be nothing left, (even though we’ve all worked our entire lives) to have basic things like Medicare and Social Security. more and more people every day are in dire financial straits and you can’t just say “oh it’s their fault.” These aren’t people looking for a handout. These are people who worked hard and this country is deserting them as businesses fail, and we have false bravado about an economy that quite frankly sucks.

My country ‘tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty should be more than song lyrics.

We are not experiencing the best of times as propaganda would have you believe, we are literally experiencing kind of the worst of times and it makes you wonder how people felt just before the Civil War doesn’t it? Or how they felt before either world war, or even what it was like in 1930s Germany.

I speak for no one else. These are just my random thoughts. They’ve been bubbling in my brain for a while.

Again, if you don’t agree with me, or you feel the need to educate me, quite simply put: don’t.

BIG meeting for gladwyne civic tonight?

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For anyone interested in the bougie nightmare that they’re trying to create in the 19035 there is a meeting tonight. It is a PUBLIC civic association meeting.


The regular business of the Civic starts at 6:45 PM and I have been told the location this time is Gladwyne Elementary School. I am told the Haldon House stuff starts around 7:15pm?


The only reason I’m bothering with this is because the Civic doesn’t update their website anymore and there’s nothing on any of their meetings found easily- which of course speaks volumes. I doubt very much they are recording or zooming it so you need to show up if you’re interested.


The address of Gladwyne Elementary is 230 Righters Mill Road, Gladwyne, PA

I also have to ask is it wise to have the potential developer of the village as a business sponsor of the Gladwyne Civic Association? Is it just me or does it make you wonder about the people in charge of the civic? (I mean any more than their secretiveness in general about Gladwyne like it’s a gated community?)

Anyway, if you are so inclined, please show up. If they allow a zoning change, that historic village is DOA. Adaptive reuse and historic preservation aren’t the problems. A potential zoning change and nouveau development circus are. And yes, I can have that opinion because if you know Gladwyne, that is simply the truth.

yo’ gladwyne be grateful for the charm that exists: no need to tart it up.

moo. do you know about white horse farm?

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Moo.

Went to White Horse Farm in Willistown yesterday to pick up an order. We are part of their Butcher & Cream Club and have been for about a year now.

It’s nice to know your farmer and literally know where everything is coming from. This is a spectacular property in Willistown. You can’t just wander up the driveway, we were invited as we were picking up an order.

https://whitehorse.farm/

hey now tredyffrin and villanova, can you hear mt. pleasant now?

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This. Finally. People all over now understand what the residents of Mt. Pleasant have been dealing with for YEARS.

Anyway, my cup runneth over in gratitude for Philadelphia regional media digging in to what has been going on for far too long in this historic old neighborhood in Tredyffrin. It is gratifying to know that they care about people in the region enough to hang out and talk with these people for a while because basically no one else has.

Perhaps somewhere up above Miss Mazie Hall and her pal Margaret Collins are smiling? I mean developers could tear down Mazie’s house, but neither predatory developers nor animal house college students have a right to destroy this neighborhood. It is that simple.

https://www.audacy.com/podcast/kyw-newsradio-audio-on-demand-12880/episodes/loud-music-trash-late-night-parties-could-villanovas-new-cabrini-campus-make-things-worse-for-neighbors-19460

So Tredyffrin Township, it’s time to get off your collective asses and stop ignoring this neighborhood because everyone knows if this was an expensive McMansion district you’d be hopping to PDQ. Yes I am in fact saying that if this wasn’t a historically black neighborhood, this problem would have been dealt with years ago. And by the way, the McMansionette dwellers in the new big huge town houses are not happy with this issue either.

And Villanova University, walk the walk, don’t just talk the talk.

well lookee there tredyffrin, a BIG article about mount pleasant and what residents have been dealing with for decades.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/pennsylvania/chester-county-villanova-cabrini-student-housing-20260512.html

https://ujsportal.pacourts.us/Report/MdjDocketSheet?docketNumber=MJ-15102-NT-0000043-2026&dnh=Z7W%2BOQ0b8dGkWtYzKKUPwA%3D%3D

https://ujsportal.pacourts.us/Report/MdjDocketSheet?docketNumber=MJ-15102-NT-0000044-2026&dnh=m96B5LiVbQqFUUkXo036ZA%3D%3D

Also overnight, international news (The Daily Mail) picked up the story….

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15824195/Quaint-neighborhood-safe-ruined-students-Villanova-University.html

welcome to east whiteland: litigation station over data centers has begun…

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Courtesy of those amazing East Whiteland residents protesting data centers

Welllllpppp…the litigation trains have left contemplation station. Residents have filed against East Whiteland Township. The topic? DATA CENTER planned for Swedesford.

Can’t say I am surprised but I bet the township is. Wake up over there on Conestoga Road in the township building. It’s never too late to do the right thing for residents is it? Mebbe Captain Green Fig can move the data center to his back yard in Willistown?

Sarcastically yours while telling East Whiteland I told them so. I told them this was a bad plan…..around 2018 for the first time….and continually since….

#saygoodbyecharlie

#nodatacenter

well lookee there tredyffrin, a BIG article about mount pleasant and what residents have been dealing with for decades.

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Has a rainbow come to Mount Pleasant in Tredyffrin? Not sure exactly, but a mighty fine centerpiece article from The Philadelphia Inquirer has arrived.

I am so happy for the very beleaguered residents of this small historic neighborhood. I am honestly really happy that a bona fide reporter listened to what the residence had to say and wrote about it fairly.

See Tredyffrin? Told ya.

See Villanova University? Others do care about Mount Pleasant, even if your off-campus students and student rental slumlords there do not and just out of curiosity how many of those student rental landlords are alumni?

https://www.inquirer.com/news/pennsylvania/chester-county-villanova-cabrini-student-housing-20260512.html

Yes there is a paywall but I actually know someone who subscribed today just so they could read this article. Tredyffrin’s inactive chickens are coming home to roost in Mt. Pleasant with this article. A reporter, the photographer to look into what has been even documented on social media.

This is a large article and I hope the message has been received that it is time to stop offering lip service, and deal with this.

As for Tredyffrin Supervisor Carlotta Johnson-Pugh who was quoted? She really shouldn’t dance. She should just say what the residents tell her: if this wasn’t a historically black neighborhood, people would care more. THAT is the truth and reality.

I don’t know where half of these Tredyffrin Supervisors were years ago when the original student housing ordinance was coming in to play, but I remember quite clearly how much it took them just to get around to doing an ordinance. It was somewhat disgraceful it took so long. And maybe the police department only has a certain number of calls on the books for the school year 2025 to 2026, but I have to ask were all of the calls investigated? Are the residents taken seriously?

This is what one neighbor said in the article:

📌 “When the parents aren’t getting on them, the college is not getting on them, the police are not getting on them, and then you got the neighbors, and all we can do is make a little fuss, but there’s not a lot we can do,”📌

This is a centerpiece article IMHO. The curtain has been lifted beyond a curtain raiser. Tredyffrin’s zoning officer is lazy at a minimum and could be doing more.

The township manager wasbrought up by Dave Bashore in Radnor before Tredyffrin (https://patch.com/pennsylvania/radnor/scoop-what-happened-to-dave-bashore) is a Tredyffrin RESIDENT (https://www.mainlinemedianews.com/2018/02/15/main-line-banter-meet-tredyffrin-township-manager-bill-martin/) so he should care more about a lot of things than he does. He can be a part of the solution. These residents have deserved better than what they have received for YEARS.

Carpe Diem. Tredyffrin supervisors and staff need to walk the walk not just talk the talk.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/pennsylvania/chester-county-villanova-cabrini-student-housing-20260512.html

Allow one more (brief) quote from the Inquirer article today from Villanova University:

📌“Students are subject to the University’s Code of Student Conduct whether they are on- or off-campus, and the University follows up on all reports it receives from local municipalities,” the spokesperson said in a statement.📌

Ok good to know based upon this familiar email. I say familiar because I’ve been told people have received variations on the same theme:

Now to be fair, in the past I have found Villanova’s security folks helpful to residents to the best of their ability. But heavier lifting needs to come from Villanova University decision makers. I think they promised to be better during that meeting last year with residents once they acquired Cabrini?

hey villanova officials have you actually been to mt. pleasant?

A lot of schools in this country have directories on file for where all of their off-campus students are residing correct? Why can’t Villanova do this? I think I’ve been asking this for like over 20 years haven’t I? Why can’t they have a better grip on where these kids are living and how they are behaving vis à vis their policies they have in place for their students in general?

https://www.villanova.edu/university/offcampus/information-for-undergraduates.html

You know when you talk to these residents, they understand the college students want to have fun because a lot of them were college students once upon a time. However, these are literally animal houses that Mount Pleasant has been dealing with for far too long. And there needs to be palpable culpability on the part of the property owners who are renting these houses, perhaps?

I think this is a big stay tuned thing because I think this is a story that’s going to keep growing until the problems are solved in Tredyffrin like in Mount Pleasant.

Here is past stuff:

https://www.tehistory.org/hqda/html/v12/v12n1p002.html

https://pattyebenson.org/2010/03/25/need-for-college-student-rental-ordinance-not-just-a-mt-pleasant-issue-this-is-a-township-issue/

Mt. Pleasant Neighborhood. . . How Can We Help?
Tredyffrin planners against subdivision
Housing issue resolved in Tredyffrin
when is it enough in tredyffrin?
let’s talk mt. pleasant in tredyffrin.
follow up for the no-no queen of tredyffrin zoning re: mt. pleasant
hey villanova officials have you actually been to mt. pleasant?
hey tredyffrin: remember mt. pleasant in the panhandle? it’s blue tarp party season.
romper room in tredyffrin ?
nothing like a couple of obnoxious notes from a nice catholic on st. patrick’s day
dear residents of mount pleasant in tredyffrin’s panhandle

ties that bind in honey brook township and more tales of the politically pathetic?

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Oh Honey Brook Township Liberty Biberty mush mouth Steve-O 🤣 is at it again (must’ve lost his binky and needs attention) and he really shouldn’t give up his day job, but nobody’s really sure what it is right now because he’s doing all this stuff again, right??

It’s all of the same lame arguments that they tried to apply to Valerie Shultz before she beat the pants off of him (frightening mental visual BTW) in the fall election as a Republican.

There is even a pathetic attempt to resurrect the kids are unsafe issue because Scott Stilson as a Republican committeeman asked a school if they would consider being a polling location because the polling location that serves their precinct is outgrown for the most part. That’s common and happens all across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania every year and all across the country, and it doesn’t mean the kids aren’t safe. That is a fear mongering lie, and it’s like the other lies.

You know it’s all being spread thicker than pig manure on a cornfield out there because they are THAT desperate.

And then when blather hoodie wants to talk about his close personal friend, Gary McEwan who’s been on the school board for how many decades at this point (is it like 33 years?) and involved in politics for how many decades at this point like his dad before him and that’s a reason for term limits is it not?

And then Steve mentions John Burdy the toady (his wife is Laura Burdy the toady who is a supervisor and isn’t it all so cozy?) who is running for Republican committeeman who is also just a yes man warm body for the status quo on the Twin Valley School Board along with Sally Dee Gee’s son Baby Nicky (or maybe he still wants to go by his sock puppet account on Facebook called Jack Wilson?) who is a college student, so they want to set him up not only on the school board where he’s just a warm body to say yes to whatever the school board president wants, but then they can set him up to keep the political control going of Tammy Hall in the cornfield in Honey Brook, right?

People, is time for change in Honey Brook and this is a small but important opportunity to keep that mission going.

Be the change you want and don’t vote for any of these people. I mean, come on they’re even slashing political signs and destroying them, which is something that they swear they don’t do right? And then there’s the whole question of debate, this time they asked for it and now apparently they’re not doing it?

Be the change. End Tammany Hall style politics in Honey Brook.

the song remains the same in honey brook and dangerously obsessive much?

PS to address one of drama hoodie’s erroneous claims of last week was insinuating that there was something wrong with the Honey Brook Township Manager leaving? No state secret, just MONEY…

https://amp.centredaily.com/news/local/community/state-college/article315653930.html

Bwahahaha 🤣

yo’ gladwyne be grateful for the charm that exists: no need to tart it up.

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Gladwyne is a wonderful place with a historic village. The nouveau and uninformed see it as this money-laden Main Line place to be conquered. Yeah, so they have done that enough in general to the Main Line, but there are some places that they should just leave alone. That includes the literally historic village in Gladwyne.

Yesterday was Azalea Day at St. Christopher’s in Gladwyne. It was the 73rd year.

I went to Azalea Day from the time I was 12 pretty much until I moved to Chester County. It was and is a perfect example of the magic of the village and surrounding environs which just don’t need tarting/messing up.

Historic preservation and adaptive reuse YES.

A zoning change and development circus? NO.

Gladwyne doesn’t need to be other than it is. Maybe people can’t stop Lower Merion from approving horrible out of place LEGO infill development McMansions, nor keep predatory development out of Ardmore with BS plans every few years for Schauffele Plaza, etc., but Lower Merion needs to be proactive with stopping the madness in the 19035.

It’s like Groundhog Day in Gladwyne every few years when a bad plan arises. The only thing now is that they neither have a civic association with people willing to protect the historic village, nor elected officials who are willing to do so and did you ever think Gladwyne would be in this predicament? Honestly, I did not because all of my observing prior to this was admiration for Gladwyne sticking up for Gladwyne.

Historic preservation and adaptive reuse YES.

A zoning change and development circus? NO.

Now there are still some people on Gladwyne Civic who were part of the magnificent years where they STOOD UP and fought for Gladwyne and the historic village. But they are the minority and probably tired. And my so much civic “leadership” yet where IS the leading? Oh I am sure they don’t care for my opinions and they even tossed me out of the closed Facebook group started by a friend. They have social climbers from Chester County in the group, but I am a threat. They tried once before this to remove me unsuccessfully.

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So I am out of the group now, which is no great loss as it is quite the insipid government ass kissing shadow of the group it once was….and civic it once was.

They will say that I am talking about this because it is merely sour grapes and no it’s not. If they kept such close tabs on my activity there before the co-prez removed me, they would see that I really did not visit much as the involvement of my friends lessened. That and knowing that I could not keep my mouth shut over the insipid nothingness that was being posted. Gold foil stars for all, and the nerve of that horse for not picking up its poop!

I had posted about what was happening in the historic village district because THEY WERE NOT. And it was and IS important. But now I realize WHY they aren’t and it’s sad that I realized it’s in my opinion a combination of a lack of spine and it would mean actually working for the community, right? For these people it’s easier to have a “greenspace” and gazebo that is not needed and for the historic village district to lose protections with a zoning change and an overlord they can bow and scrape to isn’t it? And if this goes through like this, history in my opinion, will not remember them fondly.

Again, for the cheap people in the expensive seats: historic preservation and continued adaptative reuse is a GREAT thing. Creating a fake narrative and a Peddlers Village/Disneyesque landscape is NOT. Potentially changing the zoning, tearing down houses and undoubtedly trees is also a BIG MISTAKE.

I can indeed have these opinions. My opinion remains the same: yes to historic preservation, tree preservation, and adaptive reuse. No to zoning changes and the ensuing circus. It’s still supposed to be a historic 18th/19th century crossroads village and THAT is ok.

The Gladwyne Civic needs to recover where they left their collective balls.

Lower Merion Commissioners need to not sit on their hands.

Residents can’t depend on either the commissioners or civic association here and they should go to every single meeting possible to save the village.

Historic preservation and adaptive reuse YES.

A zoning change and development circus? NO.

Vanity projects can be useful, this project has many problems. The developers here should use their big money for good….if they are really listening, that is?

Historic preservation and adaptive reuse YES.

A zoning change and development circus? NO.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=146338

back to the 19035 and the “plan” that still appears problematic….

back to the 19035 and the “plan” that still appears problematic….

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screenshot of updated Gladwyne plan…

Well….it’s better but certainly not there yet.

Gladwyne Village HARB 2Download

Among my issues?

The “greenspace” and then shoving parking next to private homes of residents who were there first. Quite disrespectful at a minimum if it matters to these people.

Greenspace is great, but have these people also actually paid attention to Gladwyne?

Right across Youngs Ford Road is a most marvelous park, and some of the best trails and open space anywhere are already existing in Gladwyne and have for many, many years. That “greenspace” is lipstick on the proverbial pig and a vanity thing along with the “water feature” and most of this project. And yes I can have that opinion. (Creeks and a big river are apparently not enough of a NATURAL water feature?)

A lot of people were not around to remember the “water feature” that worked for like ten minutes in Ardmore at the “gateway” on Ardmore Ave by Bryn Mawr Trust (don’t know what it is now). And the water feature was crooked, as in not level.

Today it is an oversized flowerpot that whomever owns the property should care for, but not sure who does?

Gladwyne is a beautiful area with natural water features, not an urban center that needs the calming influence of the sound of water so you don’t hear buses and taxis etc etc.

This is a useful snippet about Gladwyne from the Lower Merion Historical Society website.

I am all for historic preservation and adaptive reuse, not Disney.

Gladwyne does not have to be Peddlers Village, there already is one.

Gladwyne does not have to be anything other than the sweet village it already is.

Reading and reciting history to (in part) appease HARB and the public doesn’t mean you get it, and part of the whole they aren’t there yet, is they do not get Gladwyne any more than a lot of the nouveaux who have moved in over the recent past.

What I have sadly observed is I do not think that the commissioner who now serves this ward including Gladwyne gets it, nor do most of the 14 member board of commissioners.  The current leadership of Gladwyne Civic either doesn’t get it or they in my opinion have personal agendas and yes, I can offer that opinion.  One co-president in particular is a problem and he treats Gladwyne as a gated community, which oh my means he won’t like it in the end if the village turns Disneyesque. The other co-president is nice (and his wife is fabulous.)  The civic today seems to not have the same spirit past iterations have had, and a lot of the people willing to get up and fight for Gladwyne have moved and even passed away. Can we send up a prayer that Gladwyne Civic finds it’s lost spine?

BUT (and it’s important) If the commissioners allow that zoning change it will mean eventual disaster for a little, VERY historic crossroads village, which historically is supposed to be just that. Nothing more, nothing less, it doesn’t have to be.

The other thing is this: there are other areas the “developers” AKA new village owners could pour their energies into. Like Narberth, which is no longer a magical small town that I used to call Main Line Glocca Mora, it’s a hot mess with local borough government that acts like they all have had lobotomies or something. (Cue trying to sell Sabine Park for development, right? Or the disgraceful condition of parts of “Main Street” near the old market.)

Look, the bottom line is these people see a PROJECT in Gladwyne, and IMHO it is still a vanity project because I still feel they don’t SEE Gladwyne for who she really is and can remain.  Again, I don’t object to restoration and adaptive reuse AT ALL, but as for some of the rest of it, there was something one of my grandmothers said once upon a time: just because you CAN do something, it doesn’t mean you should.

Enjoy the screenshots courtesy of the Lower Merion Historical Society and my photos with many happy memories of the village of Gladwyne.

Here’s hoping they figure it out.  Here’s hoping they realize that some places can retain their historical and beloved character and it’s ok just the way it is.

(Also, I had heard that there MIGHT be some kind of a meeting possibly at Waverly Heights on May 19? Is that just a regular civic meeting or a special meeting? And ummm on Election Day? That’s kind of shady isn’t it? And if it is happening, where is it posted so people can verify it? Or can’t the public attend?)

I am also including in the post, proposed changes to historic preservation stuff in Lower Merion and Class I and Class II resources. (It is a draft of a historic preservation plan.) As I know longer live there, doesn’t affect me, but it bears reviewing by the public before the commissioners act upon it in the future. I will note that the LMT employee head of HARB, Greg Pritchard, is a really good dude and incredibly knowledgeable. I came to know him years ago when he was with the Radnor Historical Society. He helped me research the Wayne Natatorium when I was submitting it to the state for the historical marker.

Historic Preservation Plan – 4.22.26 DraftDownload
what to do about the gladwyne of it all?
the 19035: they can’t just let *anyone* in…
the gladwyne market house, once known as delaware market house closes and is sold…again
should gladwyne’s historic village be reimagined to be like peddler’s village-lite?
gladwyne village is fighting for survival from bad development.

well alrighty then in east whiteland….

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Now people should be pushing for that old plan to be RESUBMITTED. And any “studies” need to be updated.

It ain’t over.