Murder Ignored

Everyone who lives or has lived in a small town knows what it's like to live there. The feeling of family and security is present around every corner. However, nowadays, most small communities are being developed into cities. I live in one of those small towns undergoing extreme constuction and development. In my opion, the only things benefieting from it are companies.

Ijamsville, Maryland is pretty much an unheard of town. Most people don't even pronounce it's name right (pronounced Iams, like the dog food). However, in the last few years our small community has grown into a monster. We used to be known for agriculture, but almost every farm in Frederick county has been sold to developers and been rezoned from agricultural land to residentail land. Around Urbana High School, it used to be open, grassy fields. Now, a development known as the Urbana Villages has been built. At first it was only townhouses, but it has now grown into outrageously large houses. The Urbana Villages have caused more problems than you could have ever imagined one neighborhood could do.

The first major problem is within the school system. The Villages have attracted many young couples with children that will now be attending the schools in our area. However, Urbana High School is already over it's limit, even with the new additions that were added LAST YEAR. Most other schools in Frederick County hate Urbana High because the county's money has gone to us to update the school. It isn't our fault that developers didn't think ahead and build more schools for the people they created homes for. Now, the county is dealing with the consecences and spending money on us and the students are also dealing with it because every other school hates us.

The second big problem the Villages have caused us is the people in the villages themselves. Most of them have moved here from Motgomery County, which is ranked to be one of the richest counties in the NATION. First, they complain about how busy traffic is around them and that they can hear the cars on the road from their houses. My one thought is Excuse Me?!? You are the reason there is traffic. It's one of the many unpleasant things you have brought to Ijamsville. And if you didn't want to hear the traffic in your houses, than why did you move right next to the road?!? The people who live in the Villages, also known as the Village people, are outrageous! They also brought with them when they moved here their high crime rate. Since the Village people moved here, theft and robbery has increased dramaticly along with vandalism and destruction of property. I recently went running at the middle school and the elementary school and saw that both were spraypainted with profain words and images. The Village people also complained about the crimes which they brought with them. The last thing the Village people have done is demanded more stores. When we moved to Ijamsville, the only thing we had was a 7-11 gas station. Now, since the Village people are rich and currently don't have anywhere close to waste their money, they rudely requested new stores. So, as always, their wish was granted and atleast 10 new stores have gone up in a very small area as well as a supermarket. Sure, it's nice to have a local grocery store but the fact that the traffic is going to become even more congested is sickening. I would rather drive to run my errands than sit in traffic the whole way to the supermarket. When we first moved to Ijamsville, there was no traffic lights. NOw there is one on just about every corner, some only less than a hundred yards away from each other. A huge change from small, unheard of Ijamsville right?

Lastly, you have to think of the environment. Trees have been cut down everywhere to build these new houses and stores. What a great way to eliminate our oxygen supply. Also, I can't go over a mile away from my house without seeing multiple animals that have been killed by cars. Most wild animals like to stay away from people but with all the recent development, they have been forced onto our streets and highways. At first it was just squirrels, chipmunks and a few deer. Now, I have seen rabbits, foxes, birds, groundhogs, racoons, skunks, oppossums and turtles along with those animals laying dead on the side of the road. I've even seen a black bear pushed out of it's habitat walking beside the highway. But traffic says why stop at wild animals? Let's kill people's pets. I've started to see plenty of cats and dogs dead on the road, most with collars and name tags. A grey hound was even hit by a school bus recently. These animals weren't just living in the woods. They had a home, with a family that loved them and took care of them. Imagine the child who just lost their best friend to the carelessness of the Village people. Imagine the sorrow of someone losing a pet they have had in their life for years. Pets are members of people's families.

I leave you with one final thought about these individuals. The developers built these new buildings and houses knowing the problems they would cause. The Village people moved to this area knowing the problems that they would cause. The slaying of animals by automobile , wild and domestic alike, has been done by these people. This isn't manslaughter people. This is murder.