On The Eve of Labour Day, A Tour of the ‘Hood

It’s quieter than the usual Sunday, because tomorrow is Labour Day in Jamaica, and many of our neighbors have gone out of town. I love our neighborhood on a holiday weekend. No cars, very few pedestrians, and we feel as if we have the place to ourselves.

Sleepy holiday Sunday. On weekdays this beautifully resurfaced road is clogged with traffic. There is a plan to plant yellow poui trees the length of the road, creating a “Golden Mile.” Yes, it’s more than possible. It doesn’t take much effort to beautify our surroundings, if we try…

We did, however, walk down the road to visit a neighbor. On the way there and back, I took a few photos of the area (which, by the way, is considered a fairly “upmarket” and expensive part of town, largely because of its proximity to business and shopping areas). When we first came here close to thirty years ago, our street was gently decaying. An old house on one side rotted in very slow motion, its verandah lonely and sad, unoccupied. Two Rastafarians (who kindly helped us try to fix our roof, in the eye of Hurricane Gilbert) lived in a small adjoining house. On the other side, a rambling old house on a large, untended piece of land was occupied by a strange collection of squatters or semi-squatters; but someone always watered the ginger lilies lining the walls.

There was strong Blue Mountain coffee, freshly baked banana bread and water melon at our neighbor’s house.

That was then; this is now. Most of the old houses are torn down. The owners had moved away, mostly overseas, long before; some had died, and their families were overseas and uninterested in keeping or living in the family property. We now have townhouse “complexes,” in varying degrees of ugliness, with inappropriate names referring to trees that are no longer there, having fallen victim to the chain saw.

As for trees, many have suffered, especially the larger ones that are inconveniently in the way.

The lignum vitae trees in the area are mostly holding their own – like these quite young ones that have been accommodated by the wall of a new development. It is mostly the large trees that have met their demise in the past ten to twenty years.

 

Guango trees, in particular, have been largely hacked into oblivion – to the point where they can no longer “spring back” but have been basically destroyed. The delicate yet hardy lignum vitae trees, with their beautiful shade, are still staking their claim, but some have also been cut. We planted two in our yard. Plus we have a largely unmolested guango tree (and large it is). A few days ago I heard the growling chain saws again, and saw that neighbors had mercilessly decapitated and limbed a beautiful, spreading poinciana tree to an inch of its life (in fact it must be dead). I only have the memory of its gorgeous flaming red flowers. I hope the residents of that yard burn up in the summer heat, as a consequence of their actions. Zero shade!

So, here are some of my photos as we walked around – the good, the bad and the ugly of urban development.

For Labour Day, I will walk to the end of our street collecting garbage strewn by passing motorists, which our rather well-off neighbors would prefer not to pick up.

Here’s a pretty view of the hills of St. Andrew from near Vale Royal, on a Sunday afternoon.

One of the few older houses in the neighborhood, which is a nursing home I believe.

The eighteenth century Vale Royal is the “official” Prime Minister’s residence (and at times the Finance Minister’s residence) but has not been occupied for many years, since Edward Seaga demoted office in the 1980s. It is sometimes used for official functions – parties for visiting dignitaries, etc.

One street near us is a shadow of what it used to be. It has not succumbed to the plague of townhouses, but has become tired, rundown and plain ugly.

Even more hideousness at the back of the abandoned complex – an ever-growing collection of old vehicles. And this is an upmarket area?

A hideous eyesore, this half-built townhouse complex has been abandoned for many years now. It is apparently the subject of a court case (a family feud) that seems never to be resolved.

This is one of the most attractive (and priciest) gated developments in the neighborhood. It looks like something from a magazine. But at least there are trees (mostly imported).

What could be a pretty flowerbed on a street corner near the abandoned townhouse development is a mess of neglected plants – and, of course, the ubiquitous garbage.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is planning to build a new, “green” headquarters very close to Vale Royal – the colonial Prime Minister’s residence. No more ugliness, please?

Nuh Dutty Up Jamaica! This disgusting broken bag of garbage is just a stone’s throw from a beautiful designer mansion.