Forgotten Cape

A forgotten son returns to Cape Cod

I was born and raised on the Cape. From celebrating 4th of July parades to watching Barnstable vs Falmouth football games on Thanksgiving, I spent my childhood here and when I left to pursue a bigger future I kept a part of this still small place in my heart. I returned last week after seven years to my family, friends and roots. I have also returned to what some may suggest is a wake up call and a small place with disastrous monsters lurking over it. From the cretaceous forms of buildings to the murders of young men. (no matter how they lived their lives)

Now I was here in the late 90s and early 2000s and so I had the unfortunate right to see the over excessive building, crime, poverty and homeless rates grow. Yet here I am back now and asking myself how is it that it went on for even more over the past 7 years? At the age of 34 I know a few things about the politics of the Cape and I can understand and see where some of these ideas came from and in some ways see how they might have helped. But I keep asking myself, why didn't anyone stop them?

Why are we allowing:

• More retail stores to be built?
• More two story or higher retail and commercial units to be built?
• A homeless rate to grow more then 3 times it did during the 80s?
• A crime rate that has soared across the Cape's entirety and is mostly perpetrated by locals?
• Town Halls that have overcome the plight of the taxpayer by turning their stress into bidding wars?
• Selectmen who do not only not know many of the area's they represent but who in turn aren't even Cape Codders?

Many readers of this post who are past my "young" age will undoubtedly be saying right now, "it's nothing new". I feel you on this and wish I had said something more as a younger man. I love Cape Cod, I love the people of Cape Cod and yet I get sick to my stomach now if I have to be in such places as Hyannis for more then an hour. A town that once had so much glory. There are roads, historical establishments and Inns that bear my last name in Hyannis and yet the days of being proud are almost over.

I'm not touching on anything new in this post and I still see the beauty that is here but over the next few weeks I hope to bring an eagle's eye look into what really has happened to the way of old. To see why we build buildings for bankrupt company's, to see how we can all help to fix the homeless problem, research and post suggestions to help reduce the crime and poverty rates and so much more. I look forward to being apart of CapeCodToday.com and hope to bring more to the community that I have loved through the thick and thin of it all.

15 comments »