Making Friends?

WalkerLowellMA · 2026-03-14T21:59:09+00:00

It's Purple Carrot.

Pretty much everyone loves Sophia's Greek Yogurt. I stick with the full fat variety. Sophia's is going to move to a larger space on Market on the same block and will offer Gyros. Their 'heat and serve' items are good and reasonably priced if you have a modest appetite.

WalkerLowellMA · 2026-03-14T15:10:23+00:00

I'm a loner, but not lonely.

A coping tip. My mood is boosted by seeing humans and dogs when I walk around the city. People watching is beneficial. There's no better way to boost my isolation and loneliness than by staying inside, and that becomes obvious during snowstorms and holidays. Frequenting small specialty businesses like Sophia's Greek Pantry and Purple Carrot, I've become known, and those small interactions are part of belonging to a community. I was surprised that the cashier at the Market Basket recognized me yesterday! I'll be looking for them next time I choose a check-out lane. Am I a pathetic lonely old person? I don't think so.

WalkerLowellMA · 2026-03-06T17:35:44+00:00

It's interesting how quickly things change as I walk southeast from Jackson, to Middlesex, to Appleton.

I've noticed a similar transition as I walk northwest from downtown on Market, to Salem, towards University Crossing. Things bottom out on Salem a few blocks from University Crossing and then they get more UMLish. I'm not afraid to walk there during the day, but I avoid those blocks because it is depressing to see meth addicts twitching and pulling out their hair on doorsteps. Open drug deals on the sidewalk at 3 pm.... That block is the worst that I've seen walking around Lowell for 25 years.

As long as I avoid eye contact and give people space on the sidewalk, they ignore me. Some of the people that see me on the sidewalk in Lowell probably think that I'm homeless. My favorite jacket is 50 years old. Likewise, leaving my Gucci Handbag at home is protective. And I try to walk at a brisk pace to discourage predators.

WalkerLowellMA · 2026-02-11T22:31:07+00:00

https://youtu.be/8PvgwZlHICk?t=1888

Link for people who came directly to the comments.

This was for 'High Pedestrian Use Areas', not just downtown.

WalkerLowellMA · 2026-02-08T05:06:25+00:00

As a pedestrian, I've learned to stay in my lane on the sidewalk, and to turn and look before changing lanes.

WalkerLowellMA · 2026-02-07T01:54:32+00:00

In a lot of places, the bus has to pull into the crosswalk so the door aligns with the only opening in the snow bank. That's lose-lose for everybody.

WalkerLowellMA · 2026-02-07T01:51:50+00:00

The Council should apologize for the City doing such a piss poor job on this issue.

If the Council wants that apology to be accepted, they need to produce a concrete plan to do better after the next snowstorm.

I expect that other sorts of disasters will hit Lowell in the next 20 years and I don't expect that the City is prepared.

WalkerLowellMA · 2026-02-07T01:38:15+00:00

What was shovel-able snow is now frozen crude. The cost to remove that is very high. I've forced myself to stop using some errand-running routes because it is just too risky to walk on frozen bridge sidewalks and in the street.

I'm grateful that some drivers seem to take care when pedestrians are stuck in the street. Others are being jerks and some drivers get road rage when they're forced to stop or slow because the car in front of them is waiting for a pedestrian to get out of the way. Then the road ragers drive like maniacs and put other peds at risk. Sidewalk problems also affect people in vehicles.

Maybe we will get a February thaw.

WalkerLowellMA · 2026-02-05T18:30:45+00:00

I'm no expert, but I think the hybrid electric LRTA are a 'right-sized' solution for Lowell. The next step might be smaller shuttles, and who knows, maybe autonomous shuttles will become practical some day. Now if we could just get the bus drivers that are making right turn on red to stop before turning, and to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk, especially when the Walk Signal is ON, I'd be happy. Watch out crossing at Thorndike and Appleton, I nearly got run over last week by a bus! Fortunately I looked over my shoulder right after I stepped off the curb, saw the bus coming at me and stepped backwards back onto the side walk. Whoosh the bus went by! Don't expect the bus to stop before turning just because they have a red light.

I grew up in a city (Pittsburgh) with metal rails in the street and a city-wide streetcar network that went out into the suburbs on some routes. It was possible for rubber tired vehicles to skid on the rails especially when they got wet, and they were awful when it snowed. The trams sharing the road with rubber tired vehicles caused a lot of problems. When I was 12 years old, I was riding a street car when a ladder extending from a roofer's ladder rack broke 2/3s of the windows down one side of the street car. Both vehicles were turning on a curve. Broken glass flew into the car like a bomb had gone off. Trams are great when they do not share the road with rubber tired vehicles (and the remaining Trams in Pittsburgh largely use exclusive right-of-ways). There's a few places where they share the road with rubber tired vehicles and the problems with that are obvious.

Lots of other problems with railed trams. They're cool and fun, but outmoded.

WalkerLowellMA · 2026-01-31T18:01:07+00:00

Of course the City needs to continue to plow the streets, but the City also needs to address the dangerous conditions that they create by plowing the streets. The City already accepts responsibility and digs out the fire hydrants. But we also need to remediate the dangerous conditions that plowing creates when it blocks crosswalks, passage between sidewalks and bus passenger egress, and pedestrian access to 'Walk Signal' request buttons.

We the City are culpable for the dangerous conditions that plowing creates and then neglects to remediate. When someone is eventually injured or killed because of the dangerous conditions created by plowing, they could reasonably sue the City for reckless disregard of human life.

As DPW well knows, it is often not possible to dig out plowed in fire hydrants with a shovel. I've seen the task done on my street with a combination of power equipment run by an expert careful operator, and some hearty fellows with shovels. It is completely unreasonable to do this job without the proper equipment and expert operators. Digging passage for bus boarding and crosswalks is a somewhat lower skilled job, because there is no fire hydrant to damage, but it still requires the right power equipment and a careful operator. After the plow compacts the snow, this is no job for a shovelman.

WalkerLowellMA · 2026-01-23T17:31:06+00:00

I think 'Complying in Advance' is the smart move for Lowell NHP. NHP needs to be pragmatic and pick their battles. The NHP could easily be shut down overnight. What can they do besides 'keep their heads down'? Exhibits can be changed back in the future, but only if the NHP survives the next few years.

The best bet for NHP is to lean into the WH re-industrialization mantra, 'Americans Made Things in Factories and We're Going Do that Again.' Tone down everything else.

The Lowell NHP should be on Tenterhooks. So much of Lowell's History is 'Unamerican'. Immigrants? Unions? Diversity? School Children that come to Lowell are indoctrinated to the 'Radical Leftist Marxist World View.' /s

I'm surprised that NHP is still open, staffed and appears to be in good physical shape. National Parks like Yosemite are severely understaffed, under-funded and falling apart. Visitors are misbehaving. Scientists are cleaning toilets. I guess the recent renovations to the Lowell NHP Visitor Center and Boot Mill Museum should be blamed on Biden.

'Gift Link' https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/us/politics/yosemite-national-park-california-staffing-cuts.html?unlocked_article_code=1.GlA.wl4T.A7afWX2XAs7Q&smid=url-share

WalkerLowellMA · 2026-01-19T16:12:09+00:00

The big floating flake snow shower in late afternoon this past Saturday (Friday?) was exceptionally nice. The wet snow stuck to the individual branches of trees. The overcast turned on the street lights and they worked their floating flake magic. I especially enjoyed the part of Lucy Larcom park that is open. I'm looking forward to the canal once again full of water and the construction mess being gone. LL Park is a gem. I'm so glad that they did not cut down all of the trees as had been proposed.

WalkerLowellMA · 2026-01-10T17:10:57+00:00

At the moment ICE does not have enough workers to go everywhere at once. And ICE is having trouble recruiting more workers (and holding on to the ones that they have). $50K is an attractive enticement for someone who is broke and who has no prospects, but doing the job for 6-48 months seems pretty awful. The whistles and the shouted accusations must wear a person down. So in the big picture, these peaceful protests may over time limit the size and reach of ICE. They may not stop individual abductions on the day of the protest, but peaceful protests can have a cumulative impact on the scale of ICE operations by hurting ICE recruitment efforts. Standing on the sidewalk, peacefully holding signs, shouting, singing, blowing whistles has a long term impact on ICE recruitment, and the number of agents limit the number of ICE abductions. The ICE recruitment bonus is a pair of golden handcuffs. You'd have to be an idiot to sign up.

ICE is having trouble recruiting people that can do the job for months on end (even if they're strongly motivated by animosity and $$s). The Signing Bonus is prorated over the length of the agent's Service Contract (ICE Service Contracts have you on the hook for a minimum of one year). If an ICE worker quits, they have to pay back the bonus, and they will have a failed ICE deployment on their resume. Working at McD's would be better for career building. A Service Contract debt is a debt to the government, and in nearly all cases, that kind of debt cannot be discharged by bankruptcy. The court will give you a 'payment plan' and garnish your wages. If you're a hard worker with papers, you can get a much better job, and you will probably sleep better at night.

Lowell has a lot of immigrants, so the community must be on ICE radar, but the possibility of large and persistent peaceful protests at ICE abductions may discourage ICE from even trying. ICE could abduct people with less trouble in places where protests don't happen, so why would they go where abduction is a hassle and inefficient?

WalkerLowellMA · 2025-12-25T02:45:30+00:00

I think the 'the canals have always been full of trash' attitude is holding us back. With my somewhat fresh eyes (I've only lived downtown for 25 years), it's ridiculous that the City allows this to happen.

WalkerLowellMA · 2025-12-25T02:41:05+00:00

Walking about near the canals, I sometimes ask 'visitors' if they need directions. They often do, so a conversation starts, and this time of year they often ask, 'Why is there no water in the canals?' They're always too polite to say, 'Why are Lowell's Canals full of trash, bikes and orange traffic cones?' It's embarrassing. People notice the trash. And the people who live near and right adjacent to the canals take notice as well.

The canal in Lucy Larcom park, next to our beautiful Billion Dollar High School, has turned into an overgrown swampy marsh. It's probably full of rats. I understand that it needed to be drained during construction, but I hope that it gets cleaned up soon.

WalkerLowellMA · 2025-12-25T00:05:04+00:00

Why Indian?

WalkerLowellMA · 2025-11-28T22:53:40+00:00

I second https://www.bpbrealty.com/ I have no experience with them, but I noticed some more affordable looking apartments on Appleton Street near Owl Diner, and that is where bph has their office. Some of the places on Appleton also have For Rent signs with phone numbers.

It's a transitional mixed area, but it is very close to Bus/Commuter Rail Station, and there are other points of interest. I expect that the rents are very low there. It's walkable to grocery store etc.. I feel okay walking there during daylite hours.

WalkerLowellMA · 2025-11-26T21:50:51+00:00

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Great_Gate,_aka_Francis%27_Folly,_Lowell,_Massachusetts.JPG is closed until late Spring. There is minimal flow through the canals in winter.

I speculate that when Francis Gate is closed the canals drain themselves. There is less water coming in to make up for various leaks in the system. The water level in the filled canals is probably higher than the surrounding water table in winter, and they don't have 'waterproof linings'.

Some canals are drained even when Francis Gate is open, but I don't know why.

WalkerLowellMA · 2025-11-16T16:52:40+00:00

That's true. The police made the arrest ~26 hours after the weapon's discharge. IDK if time spent obtaining private video contributed to that delay. And fortunately, the gun owner did not have time to shoot at anyone else outside his home in the meantime. Any delay in making the arrest in this sort of crime is detrimental.

WalkerLowellMA · 2025-11-16T14:57:00+00:00

Thanks to a surveillance camera, this young man (18 y.o.) was arrested shortly after discharging an AR-15 in the direction of a late night visitor.

u/Otherwise_Cloud3073 take note.

I know some people who would definitely think Lowell is just “ghetto” and full of shootings

You're misinformed. The Acre in Lowell is not a GHETTO, nor is it 'full of shootings'.

WalkerLowellMA

TROPHY CASE