Featured photo: Fleiner Straße
Table of Contents
rural exodus
The rural exodus, which is still so encouraged and highly subsidized by politics today, is increasingly showing its negative consequences. Since the 1970s, I have been able to follow this with the example of Heilbronn and I am not happy that my fears at the time are becoming reality.
It's not just about the well-known problems of rural sprawl and the associated over-expansion of infrastructure and other negative effects on the environment, but, and far more dangerous, about the increasing fragmentation of our society.
I was able to see this very clearly today in the pedestrian zone, when residents from the lowlands come to Heilbronn every year and then look with wide eyes at the many migrants in the city - sometimes a real culture shock.
In the village, people probably haven't really noticed yet that people with a history of immigration now form the majority in all major cities. And so you can quite logically find them in the pedestrian zone and probably more often there because they don't shop on the Internet or in Milan and Düsseldorf that often and they also don't have such large apartments and houses with gardens that they can easily go to can withdraw once.
But perhaps they are also a bit more communicative and simply like to sit together in larger groups, which we “long-time residents” now tend to limit to visits to brooms and beer gardens.
But the worst thing about it is that we still have politicians who are now increasingly taking advantage of this discrepancy and making every 2 soul villager believe that they are Germany and then promising them that if necessary they will have their own Charité just around the corner .
If we all want to get along better in 2024, then we finally need politicians who take their heads out of the sand and also open their voters' eyes.
gratifying
Today I was able to read from Sofie's chatter (Heilbronner Stimme, December 30.12.2023, 27: XNUMX) that this is now also the case Joachim Friedl two things that have been bothering me for a long time. On the one hand, he criticizes them Kranenstrasse railway underpass, where the city has simply let expensive infrastructure go to waste since the end of the BUGA.
On the other hand, he discovered that many public clocks, if they work at all, also tick incorrectly. However, I was able to see how some of the watches are actually repaired - it always only takes a few weeks.
Palm-Out
This information came to me while shopping at the Palm. Since I was certainly not the first to find out about it, I was very surprised that the saleswomen didn't notice anything.
Before that, my better half and I were at the Kaufhof, which we really enjoy going to because the salespeople there are very attentive but not pushy. I also don't think the concept of a larger department store is outdated, it simply depends on what you do with it and that there are enough customers who appreciate it.
But none of this is of any use if the whole environment, like in Heilbronn, is no longer quite harmonious. Since we got our pedestrian zone in the 1970s, not much has happened there. The planned and logical expansion did not happen - people simply lived on the existing stock without any knowledge. Urban development works differently, but it requires people in charge who don't just wait for their retirement and who otherwise enjoy life. And it's no longer of any use that a few fellow citizens, such as B. currently Steffen Schoch, strive for improvement. This has to be a concerted effort with everyone involved pulling together.
What makes things even more difficult is that things are not made easy for visitors and customers. Missing Toilet facilities I have not only been complaining about them for years and the general cleanliness has left a lot to be desired for a long time.
In addition, this is clearly being omitted, as requested by the local council, in order to ensure order in the city center. In the pedestrian zone, vehicles of all kinds continue to drive around as they please, making it more difficult for customers to shop. There are still far too many cyclists and scooter riders harassing strollers and strollers. To make matters worse, more and more beggars and peddlers are turning the desired shopping experience into a third world country stroll.
Overall, none of this helps to revitalize a city center and promote the establishment of attractive shops or even to keep them.
One-euro stores, barber shops, kebab stalls and fingernail studios are part of a slightly larger city, but like sex shops and gambling shops, they would have to be regulated long ago in order not to further damage the overall picture !
This would have required appropriate concepts long ago, but also city employees and responsible local councilors who are willing and able to do so. And remember: without the pedestrian zone, Heilbronn's center would already have been an inner city ghetto of the worst kind!
The right way would be to finally accept the change and help shape it. You could, for example, For example, you can take a closer look at Metzingen and get ideas there, or you could also visit Würzburg and Ulm.
Addendum 2.1.2024
In the Heilbronn Voice (January 2.1.2024, 21: XNUMX). Wolfgang Palm today among other things quoted as follows: “The officials are very nice, but they don’t intervene,” … “soft controls” are needed. Agnes Christian he calls it “a wrong choice as mayor”. — I wonder what she would actually be good at?
His son Axel Palm criticizes the fact that the city has watched the downward spiral for far too long.
It's good that some people in Heilbronn are slowly waking up, even if it's too late for them. Which unfortunately doesn't help my years of complaining and good advice!
