APD having a chat with college aged youth carrying a 12 pack Townhouse Apartments
The long weekend went a l-o-t better than I thought it would as far as (serious) rowdyism goes.
Sure there were the usual problems associated with our annual spike in population, returning Amherst to a "college town" after a quiet summer: zombie herds traipsing up and down Phillips Street, North Pleasant and Fearing Streets, large gatherings in the west quad of Townhouse Apartments and of course old standby Hobart Lane.
Townhouse Apartments Saturday afternoon
But there were no serious incidents of drunken mob mentality manifesting itself in the form of rocks, bottles and cans being hurled at police officers, aka Blarney Blowout.
Although Amherst Fire Department had the usual tie up in services due to drunk runs with ETOH students.
Amherst police stepped up their game as they always do. APD Neighborhood Liaison officer Bill Laramee worked with UMass Neighborhood Liaison Eric Beal to keep a lid on the usual pressure cooker areas.
The Rental Permit Bylaw ordinance that went into effect 18 months ago is making a significant difference by holding landlords accountable for the (late night) activities of their tenants.
And UMass, by building newer plusher accommodations on campus -- North Apartment (800 beds) and Commonwealth Honors College apartments (1,500 beds) -- gives young tenants a reason to be proud of their humble abode and much more likely to treat it with respect.
Revived my Twitter audience
You mentioned the zombies, but this was not a post on town meeting?
ReplyDeleteMaybe the cops haven't been aholes to enough of them yet?
ReplyDeleteEver considered that???
Sounded and looked to me like the other way around.
ReplyDeleteDr. Ed. The cops lock up 5% of folks in their 20s. Perhaps it is just are just afraid of loosing the productive years of their lives to one silly interaction with a frustrated cop who can do no wrong. I know this is a pretty common sentiment among Americans of all ages. We all know the deal is talk to a cop you don't know, 50/50 odds of walking away in peace. Many don't report crimes because the police will make their lives worse. Now if you know the police like Larry, you are a higher class citizen, you are treated different and you don't understand why people would feel this way.
ReplyDeleteLosing he means.
DeleteWe're #8 but I won't hold my breath waiting for your blog post on this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.boston.com/real-estate/community/2015/09/09/the-safest-college-towns-mass/7taFKwpiV1Pinruyo1B5MI/story.html#sthash.R4Stlf1y.dpbs
or on this: http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/09/umass_ranked_29th_in_latest_us.html
Feel free to start you own "good news only" blog and post whatever you want.
ReplyDelete