A letter to the editor in the MJ, states, "Where are the church leaders? You lead congregations, yet can't you follow Obama's example of what he did in Chicago and work together for the common good....."

This is Obama's Chicago housing policy legacy:

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Middletown was my home until I went to college in 1978. I loved my city, my community and the people in it. My neighborhood was home, even if I was blocks away, because we had "The Village" concept: older people were respected and they all treated you like they were your parents, too, if they caught you doing something wrong.

Revisiting Middletown, I see my community gone, and it's to the point of being nearly unrecognizable. Where tree-lined streets graced my neighborhood, it's now barren. I heard one year all the trees were infected and forced officials to cut them down. Why didn't the city replace them?

Memories of the Douglass Park swimming pool are now gone, replaced with dirt. Our neighborhood still has children who would like to refresh themselves in a pool in their own neighborhood, but now have to travel across town or use the bone thrown at them in the form of a high-end sprinkler system. Why?

Downtown and local businesses are gone, as everyone has closed or moved to the other side of town, where everything seems to be prospering and public places are graced with landscaping.

Sweet Middletown that I once loved, the ones who fought for you have died or are too old to fight for you anymore. Their voices have been drowned out. It feels like those who pass the bills, the city planners, don't care about the 2nd Ward of the city. Who are these people, allowing my home, my childhood memories to die?

Where are the strong leaders in the 2nd Ward? People have died, looking in the face of hatred and injustice, to allow you the right to vote, to have a voice.

Where are the church leaders? You lead congregations, yet can't you follow Obama's example of what he did in Chicago and work together for the common good, if not to stop them from closing up a neighborhood pool?

The city does not seem to care. They have no stake in our future. It's "The Village" that should fight for what we want — simply for what we had.

Elect officials that have our best interests at heart. Do you have a voice speaking for you in city hall? Have you heard your own voice?

I hope my letter will quicken a heart, awaken a spirit, and energize a mind to start a community network of fire in the 2nd Ward, lest we die.

Angela (Merchant) Windsor

Philadelphia, Pa.

Former Middletown resident

Being a lifelong resident of Middletown I have no interest and no patience for these whiney posts about how things have changed from people who left long ago.

My mom (now 81 years old) grew up here in the early 30’s on Lafayette, she use to take the family cow down to the canal each night to tie it up. Perhaps I should get her to post about how those good old days are gone and the town has not been the same since farm animals were banned in the city and no one uses canal boats anymore.