I have always been proud to say I was born and raised in Estevan and I truly think we have a lot of great people residing in the community.But, boy oh boy, there are days that make you wonder what goes through the heads of some people.For much of the past year, there has been all kinds of talk in the city about beautification and with good reason. For too long, making the city look nice has taken a back seat to, well, pretty much everything. However, in recent years, the City has placed a greater emphasis on beautification and the results have been impressive. There is still a long ways to go but at least there is an effort being made.One of the projects the City should be commended for is the move to take back some of the long forgotten green spaces in Estevan. An example of this is the area west of Souris Avenue north, which runs behind homes on Yardley Place.Although it is not a park, the area is one of the few nice grassy areas we have that hasn't been paved over, turned into lots or something else along those lines.Unfortunately the area in question has been used as an impromptu parking lot by a host of local oil companies and people who frequent our neighbours next door at Houston Pizza.To reclaim the space, and prevent people from parking on the grass, the City hired a company to install a row of wooden bollards alongside the road. The bollards make it pretty clear the City doesn't want people parking on the lawn which anyone with a stitch of common sense should have figured out in the first place.Yet here we are on Monday at noon and wouldn't you know it, there are five trucks parked on the small sliver of the green space the City didn't place bollards on. Apparently the row of roughly 100 large wooden poles protruding from the ground didn't get the message across.This may seem like a trivial point to some but I have to admit, it's a major pet peeve of mine. People love to bitch and moan about a lack of parks or green spaces yet when the City tries to improve the situation you get donkeys who just plop their truck on the lawn.This is why we can't have nice stuff, folks.On what planet does this make sense to anyone? People here have it in their heads that it's their God given right to park anywhere they want, not to mention how they want. Don't get me started on the A-holes who take up three parking stalls at a time.Answer me this. If you were going over to a friend's house and couldn't find a parking spot nearby, would you just pull up on his front lawn and park there? What would your reaction be is somebody parked on your front lawn?So why is it any less moronic for you to park on the grass owned by the City? I just don't get it and likely never will.We have made a lot of great strides in this community but we have a lot further to go. And if we are going to get there, we need a concerted effort from all of our residents. What it boils down to is this - you're either part of the problem or you're part of the solution. It's your decision.
