To the editor
The town fathers are to be commended in their continued effort to extend the sidewalk network within the township. Sidewalks make it convenient and inviting to visit other areas and neighborhoods in our town. Or do they?
On a recent early Saturday morning I was walking my dog up Deanna Drive, down across the brook and out again to Andrea Drive. This is a walk I have taken many times during the nine years I have lived at Brookside. This particular morning I ended up back in the Brookside Square Development and noticed a woman walking her two Shiatsus.
I approached her and said "hello." Her reply to me was, "I’m following you." I said, "Excuse me? Why are you following me?" She then explained to me that I had been trespassing on Deanna Drive and that the area was posted to keep trespassers out.
I asked if this was the neighborly thing to do and she informed me that were signs up and that I would be reported. I didn’t know weather to laugh at the absurdity of the incident or to cry for this woman who had nothing better to do with her time. Upon leaving our development on her way back to hers I asked to whom she was going to report me. Her reply was "To the board."
Hillsborough will eventually be a community with a downtown shopping area thoroughly interconnected by a network of sidewalks. However, only the citizens of Hillsborough create the "unity" in "community."
Sidewalks alone will not do the job. As neighbors we are the community, and how we respond to each other will be the determining factor in how strong a community we build.
Unfortunately, sidewalks in developments with no trespassing signs work against the establishment of a strong community.
Brookside Lane