West End Clean-Up is Sunday Morning

Want to help making things a little better in Bristol?
There's a clean up planned for Sunday morning in the West End, a neighborhood so many people love to criticize.
I wish everyone who feels entitled to slam the West End would get up Sunday and join city Councilor Ken Cockayne, neighborhood residents and business owners and lend a hand toward cleaning it up.

If even half of those who post hateful comments about this struggling neighborhood on the Bristol Press website after my stories about the West End would join in the clean-up effort, the transformation could be amazing.

They're meeting at South Side Meat Market at 141 West St. at 9 a.m. and expect to be finished before noon.
The city is providing trash barrels, police are posting temporary "no parking" signs to keep the streets clear for cleaning and Bill Englert, the community-minded owner of City True Value and Just Ask Rental on Route 6, is generously donating the use of some power equipment for volunteers to use.
Volunteers should bring their own gloves and brooms if they have them. To keep from getting burned, wear sunscreen and a hat!
Cockayne said there are at least 25 people he knows are lined up but said he hopes a lot more will show up on Sunday. The effort on Sunday will not involve bulk waste or cleaning up in the Pequabuck River.
Questions? Call Cockayne at 860-584-5918.

The Latest Word on the West End

Bristol is lucky to have a city planner like Alan Weiner. He's smart and hardworking and advocates for the city. He's been at it a long time and rarely gets a pat on the back, but I believe he deserves one.
One of the things I like best about Alan is that he takes the long view (that's the planner in him) and has a fair amount of patience. He also says what he thinks is right, even if it's not the popular point of view. That's what I respect about him.
He's been tirelessly pushing for a renewal of the West End, which is not hte city's most popular neighborhood. It's struggling, but I agree with Alan that there's a lot of potential in the West End.

I went to the last meeting on the West End study last week. The Bristol Community Organization hosted it and about 20 people showed up to add their two cents before the final draft of the study is finished.
Whether the study sits on a shelf and gathers dust or becomes the blueprint for an active neighborhood makeover remains to be seen.

As Alan correctly pointed out to the people at that meeting, though city officials play an important role in determining whether the West End gets government funding, a lot can be accomplished by residents, property owners and business owners who have a stake in the neighborhood's future.
There's been a lot of talk about forming a neighborhood association, and that certainly needs no government action to occur. Look no further than my pals at the Forestville Village Association for inspiration on that front.

It makes a whole lot more sense to get to work on the West End rather than sit back and anonymously trash it, which seems to be a popular online sport in Bristol.