March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Mindless consumption

In response to Emily B. Wesson’s letter, “Paving paradise” (BDN, Dec. 22).

Yes, the mall sprawl does worry others of us in the community. I, too, have watched pastures turned to pavement at the outskirts of Bangor while the downtown founders in neglect and abandonment. I have wondered who these faceless developers are who have bulldozed roughshod over the landscape. All politics aside, one wonders how much time there is left when the blacktop spreads like a cancer and all is given over to the ubiquitous automobile.

I grew up in Bangor; I played in those fields on the margins of the city and explored the woods beyond. I did my exploring on foot, discovering the marshy nooks and crannies abundant with life. It was a vision of a river city which held me to this place, a vital downtown where people met one another on the street and revelled in the sense of place. It’s hard to envision a community surviving when its sole purpose is mindless consumption of goods.

Already the warehouse-like structures surrounded by deadened parking lots are becoming vacant. The developers move on to “greener” pastures. What is this city to them? Is it home? Wallace F. Warren Bangor


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