Galesburg, you’ve disappointed me. You always had several things going for you: Amtrak service, a cute downtown with restaurants that put Peoria to shame, and that tiny liberal hangout Knox College. Sure, you had some things that weren’t so great (ahem, 120 freight trains a day crisscrossing the city) but I still thought that you’d be a decent place to raise a family.

Then I found out that quite a few of you hate sidewalks.

Steele said even if there were sidewalks in her neighborhood, she still wouldn’t let her daughter walk to school. “It’s not traffic I’m worried about, it’s predators,” she said.

…

If the money available for the project is not used by Galesburg it would be moved to another project outside Galesburg, she said. Her statement was greeted with shouts of “let them have it,” as residents voiced their opposition to the plan.

Holt asked those present at the meeting to think about the wider community, and not just their own subdivision, when considering the sidewalk proposal. “You are one piece of a bigger puzzle,” she said. “But it’s our piece of the puzzle,” countered resident Ron Noble.

And now, it seems, bibliophiles will need to look elsewhere. Waldenbooks, the omnipitent mall bookstore, is shuttering after 30 years, leaving Galesburg with no place to purchase books. I realize that this particular chain isn’t exactly ideal, but it certainly beats having to drive 40 miles to Peoria for their book needs.

Hong said she was “devastated” when she heard the news. Her husband called it “a setback for Galesburg.”

Quackenbush said it was different when Starbucks, which was not even here for a year when it was announced it would close, left town.

“That doesn’t stir me, as much as I like a good cup of coffee,” he said.

Go ahead, you have permission to snicker a bit at the surnames mentioned. But in all seriousness, I worry the current economic recession might convince a lot of idiots that things like the arts and literature are luxuries we can do without.