Tracker Pixel for Entry

Our Opinion/New benches miss the mark

Editorial | October 1st, 2015

Downtown Fargo should be open to everyone

Why have benches downtown if they are uncomfortable to sit on? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose? Recently the city of Fargo at the request of the Downtown Community Partnership installed new benches downtown without backs in order to deter transients from loitering on them. Apparently businesses are concerned about the number of homeless people downtown. The problem in downtown Fargo is not homeless people but rather intoxicated individuals. Certainly those two groups can overlap but not every intoxicated person downtown is homeless.

As Fargo grows in leaps and bounds, it’s important to take care of all of its citizens, those with homes and not. Homeless shelters a lot of the times locally are at capacity. Perhaps it’s time to look at building more rather than pushing the homeless out of downtown. With growth comes money and resources back to the city. Those resources should be used to take care of everyone, not just certain classes of citizens.

We need to be concerned about the gentrification of downtown Fargo. The growth in Fargo and in particular specifically downtown Fargo has been swift and remarkable. There is no question downtown Fargo looks way different than it does 10 even 5 years ago. It is thriving and only seems to be heading for more and more growth. But if that growth means higher rent and pushing poor and homeless people out of an area of town which they’ve been a staple for years, it isn’t worth it. When things like this happen, we need to put a magnifying glass to the agenda of the people pushing it. What are they actually trying to accomplish here? Is it just all about sweeping up downtown of anyone who doesn’t fit their mold?

This is not to say that we shouldn’t deter or prevent anyone loitering from harassing shoppers or patrons of downtown restaurants and bars or more importantly those who work in the service industry. It’s important for those people to feel safe and comfortable in downtown Fargo. But there are ways that can be done without targeting classes or groups of people.

Some have felt that there are definitely more transients and loitering people in downtown this summer than previous years. Earlier, police officials told HPR that is not the case, it’s just that they become more noticeable during warmer weather as happens any year. Perhaps instead of figuring out ways to push them out of a certain area of town, we should look at ways to get solve the issues they are dealing with. Does making the benches uncomfortable downtown really do anything but move them to a different area to sit or seek shelter? Maybe we should focus on ways to get them shelter versus ways to make them not feel welcome in area of town. Maybe we should focus on helping over intoxicated individuals get sober for even a short period of time when they are constantly harassing people in area of town.

In response to this uproar, a group of homeless advocates put blankets and pillows on the benches in order to signal to the homeless that not everyone is unconcerned about their plight. We applaud those who made an effort to show they care and that downtown should be welcoming to everyone. What is more noble than helping those less fortunate than you? Shouldn’t those who have help those who have not?

As downtown continues it’s rapid growth, there is going to be a constant struggle between the old and the new. Between what was and what it is now. That’s natural and normal and we need to find a happy medium that takes the good of both. But we also need to decide and have conversation about what we want to become. That conversation is ongoing on these pages and elsewhere across the community. From our perspective, a downtown that pushes out a class of people because they don’t like them is downtown not worth having. There better ways to address the problems they are trying to solve. Poor and homeless people, those less fortunate, should always be welcome in any part of our community let alone a section of town of which they’ve been staples for years.

Recently in:

By Alicia Underlee Nelsonalicia@hpr1.com Ten North Dakota communities will participate in the nationwide No Kings Day of Peaceful Action on October 18. The grassroots movement is a nonviolent protest against President Trump’s…

By Kooper Shagenakoopershagena@gmail.com One night, Jane Linde Capistran, associate conductor of the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra, sat and drank wine with her friends: “Jennifer Tackling, the associate concertmaster, and…

Friday, October 31, 5-9 p.m.Ziti’s Italian American Restaurant, 3150 Sheyenne St., Suite 170, West FargoSavor a delectable five course meal with beverage pairings. (Nonalcoholic beverages are available upon request, but must be…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com At the end of September, downtown Fargo said goodbye to another old friend; the Spirit Room closed its doors, marking the end of an era. The Spirit Room room has been a fixture downtown for the…

By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comWill we be banging or whimpering at the end of the American empire?T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Hollow Men” accurately portrays the end of most empires in his first lines: “We are the hollow men/…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com Holiday wine shopping shouldn’t have to be complicated. But unfortunately it can cause unneeded anxiety due to an overabundance of choices. Don’t fret my friends, we once again have you covered…

By Rick Gion and Nichole Hensenrickgion@gmail.com The wait is finally over. Those who have visited Nichole’s Fine Pastry & Cafe lately know about the recent major additions and renovations that have taken place over the past…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com Dakotah Faye is a hip-hop artist from Minot, North Dakota, and he’s had a busy year. He’s released two albums. This summer he opened for Tech N9ne in Sturgis and will be opening for Bone…

By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com Dream-factory documentarian Alexandre O. Philippe connects with a Hollywood legend in “Kim Novak’s Vertigo,” the latest in a series of features exploring the filmmaker’s many…

By HPR staffsubmit@hpr1.com Mark the first weekend of October on your calendar. It’s the weekend of the Studio Crawl, which takes us all on a wonderful, metro-wide tour of our talented (and often wacky) arts community. On October…

Press release“Shakespeare with a sharpened edge.” To launch its 2025 – 2026 season, Theatre NDSU is thrilled to team up with Moorhead-based organization Theatre B to perform a co-production of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and…

By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…

By Ellie Liveranieli.liverani.ra@gmail.com When we are sick, all we want is a cure. You go to the doctor, they give you a pill, you take it for a bit, then you are cured. It happens. But unfortunately, it is not always the case. …

By Alicia Underlee NelsonProtests against President Trump’s policies and the cuts made by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are planned across North Dakota and western Minnesota Friday, April 4 and…

By Vern Thompsonvern.thompson@rocketmail.comMoral accountability and the crisis of leadership  As a recovering person living one day at a time for the last 35 years, I have learned not to judge others because I have not walked in…