My Thoughts, Exactly:

Is my memory already failing me, or were the streets of the Crescenta Valley much wider 30 or so years ago? Then again, maybe it’s all of the vehicles lining both sides of most of the streets in these fair foothills. I mean, drive through any neighborhood either above or below Foothill Boulevard today and you’ll find very few linear feet of curb space that isn’t occupied by cars, trucks, dumpsters, trash cans and an odd assortment of other wheeled vehicles or objects.

It has gotten so that many local streets are in danger of becoming impassible (impossible?) at certain times of the day. As evidence, your Honor, the people introduce Exhibit A: Orange Avenue between Pennsylvania and Ramsdell. I challenge anyone driving anything wider than a Razor scooter to maneuver that particular section of Orange Avenue on a school morning or any late afternoon without feeling like they’re in a segment of American Gladiator on Wheels.

Long gone is the time when a car going west and one going east could pass each other without slowing down dramatically, or worse, pulling over into a gap between parked cars to let an oncoming driver squeeze by. I’ve even seen drivers heading in opposite directions on Orange approach each other, stop, roll down the drivers’ windows to fold in their side mirrors. They then proceed cautiously ahead. This delicate dance reminds me of our family’s often harrowing off-road adventures on steep, boulder-strewn terrain where the rules of the rocky road dictate that the 4-by-4 going uphill has the right of way in any tight spot. The driver going downhill must back up until finding a wide enough spot in the trail to let the uphill driver pass by. I fear we’re getting close to needing this sort of etiquette on our own residential streets.