Here's a lightly edited version of the email I sent Albany (New York, USA) Times Union columnist Chris Churchill in response to his April 1, 2025 column entitled "Soccer in downtown Albany? Here's plan 2.0."
Dear Mr. Churchill,
Besides affordable housing, building things has no relation to what downtown needs. People with money come downtown already, but they go back to the suburbs to spend their money for two reasons: It's difficult to get around downtown, and seeing the suffering of poor folk occasions various unpleasant emotions. I have two proposals.
Second, create and advertise a free bus that circulates downtown. Living downtown, I can attest to the difficulty of getting around, which defeats part of the purpose of having a city, which is ease of accessing services. Basketball analyst Rebecca Lobo was a few blocks east of a wide variety of entertainment when she famously said, "Good luck finding something to do in Albany."
First, invest in the well-being of the residents. The Roman Empire was better than we are at building things that lasted, but what was the point if most people were miserable? To me, the Kingdom of Heaven is an Earthly regime that values the welfare of all.
Incidentally, while the Kingdom of Heaven is being established in downtown Albany, we could address so-called aggressive panhandling by giving poor folk something to sell. I have many ideas, including a homeless newspaper.
Thank you for all you do.
Best wishes,
James
P.S. It was recently shown that Roman concrete lasted so long because of the impurities it contained. Imagine the good it would do struggling folk to praise the contribution to the cohesion and proper function of society made by people who stick out as different, much like the ash and lime Romans added to concrete, dopants in semiconductors, dandelions on lawns, and ink on previously pure-white pages. Let's fund art, philosophy, theology, and literature, to formulate and disseminate that praise.