By Will Collette
Maybe this is actually good news for the Charlestown
Citizens Alliance candidates running in 2012, but Charlestown ’s ranking among Rhode Island ’s 39 cities
and towns fell by five positions this year to #19. Last year, Charlestown was ranked #14.
The main reason for the decline is a sharp decline in affordability. According to GoLocalProv ’s yearly comparison, Charlestown ’s median housing prices spiked by
20% (though Zillow.com would disagree)
while median household incomes dropped.
That combination of factors caused Charlestown ’s ranking for affordability to
drop by 14 places to 32nd place among 39.
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What kept Charlestown
from dropping even further was an increase in the ranking of the Chariho School
System – Chariho went up by three place to come in #3 statewide.
Well, if Town
Council Boss Tom Gentz and Deputy
Dan Slattery get re-elected, they'll surely do their best to reverse that trend. Both Gentz and Slattery spent much of the past year attacking Chariho and trying to slash its already to-the-bone
budget.
And Planning Commissar Ruth Platner stepped up her attack on family-friendly housing in Charlestown
on the premise that families = children = Chariho school kids.
We lost a lot of ground by coming in near the bottom for
“Arts and Culture” (#29) and “Restaurants and Bars” (#28). What we have in
those categories – the Charlestown Historical Society, fine art spots like the
Charlestown Gallery or the Purple Shell, and our favorite restaurants (e.g. the
Cove, Hungry Haven, Gentleman Farmer, Breachway Grill) – are fine, but we just
don’t have enough. Even having the Hitching Post, purveyors of Rhode Island's finest clam cakes in my opinion, didn't change our numbers. Maybe it's because they call them "fritters."
The Town Council majority strictly rations business licenses
and has been pretty anti-business in this last term, making it hard for new
eating, drinking or cultural establishments to get going. Combined with the
anti-business attitudes of the CCA-controlled Planning Commission, existing businesses
have to fight to stay open.
But GoLocalProv
does give Charlestown
high praise for its open space, and when you come down to it, that’s really all
the CCA really cares about. That, and keeping people out. Especially children. And small business owners.
So I suppose there is some celebration on this new rating in
the secret CCA clubhouse. Due to their efforts, they’ve made Charlestown less livable for people. But
there’s always open space.