Katy, Bar the Door

Human nature is to slam the door shut behind you.

Established Americans hated the new immigrants. Trendsetters can’t stand when their favorite band gets popular. The little restaurant you like seemed nicer before everyone started going there.

We want to stop things from changing — or if possible, control the way they change. Nowhere is this more apparent than neighborhoods, and this week in particular in Albany’s Warehouse District.

A group of urban pioneers and entrepreneurs have gained a foothold in the city’s unfashionable commercial section, and now they are in a panic that a nightclub, Sneaky Pete’s,  may move in. They feel that the place — known for it’s loud music and raucous patrons — will hurt development in the area. Several of the opponents own bars in the neighborhood. One lives directly across from the proposed nightclub location.

I feel for them. It must suck to find a really cool place to call your own and then have an undesirable move in, especially if you have a financial interest.

But that’s human nature. I would have done anything to keep my little suburban street a dead end years ago. We used to be able to climb over the guard rail and walk on paths through the woods. It was a tiny refuge from the sprawl, but now it’s all houses. I miss it.

The funny thing is that the development probably improved my neighborhood, but at the time I too would have closed the door and locked it.

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