Infrastructure in Jamestown, NY

Infrastructure in America has been a problem for years but for some reason we have done nothing about it. I’m from Lakewood, NY a small town in WNY near the border of PA and it is a very well kept up neighborhood. But the neighboring city Jamestown needs some work on buildings, roads, and bridges the list goes on and on. Personally, I have noticed when I am home there has been no change to fix the infrastructure. I recently went down to my hometown over the weekend which reminded me of how poor kept Jamestown really is. Old buildings falling or soon to fall, bridges are cracking, and roads have potholes as big as craters. The Wegmans parking lot in Jamestown is so unmaintained that many people including friends of mine, will pop their tires or get car damage because of how poor the city fixes its problems. While in Lakewood and Jamestown I got pictures of what it looks like. The city just spent over $5 million on a new gym for our high school when our old one was not even close to being as bad as the roads, buildings, and bridges. Out of curiosity I asked my father on how long these potholes in Jamestown have been there. His response was, “Your mother and I moved here in 2001 the year you were born. The roads around the town and county were noticeably unstable and clearly needed work. There were some small changes by fixing up potholes hear in there but nothing drastic. The potholes on Fairmount Ave (the main street of our town) have sitting there for as long as I can remember. It’s horrible we need the county to fix it now.” In the summer the Bemus, Lakewood, Jamestown area is very popular because of the Chautauqua institution being in the middle, as well as Chautauqua lake. The area is a tourist attraction for many families, but the county still does seem to run away from its problems and instead goes to pointless projects like the new gym. I plan on sending a letter in the mail or emailing the county or city governor to consider fixing the infrastructure problems of our thriving community. Knowing that my town has these problems made me think “How many other small towns in America have this problem?” so I did some research and found New York alone is number 7 for the worst infrastructure so I can only imagine how bad the other 6 at the bottom are.