Fontana, CA: The present that ain't no good.

[swa]

See this article about Fontana's plans for Foothill Blvd. (Route 66).

Fontana has no idea what Route 66 is about if you ask me. Landscaping medians, decorative light poles and attracting more (chains) to it aren't the solution, they are part of the problem.

But to agree with Bono: "At least they are trying". Still I can't help to feel that what they're trying is far from what the Mother Road needs as an 80th birthday gift.

So what should they do? My suggestion would be to preserve the old look and feel of the road itself in the first place, the roadside businesses such as Bono's and that last remaining fruit stand and keep the nicely manicured landscaping, shiny happy and new colors away and ban new construction along the old road. Instead reinstate some of the groves, reconstruct some of the fruit stands, help historic places like Bono's to restore their property.

I'm not asking to roll back time, but destroying more under the (false) pretence of preserving just isn't right.

I feel that seeing all the happy shiny destruction of Route 66 carry its name is more an insult than something to look forward to.

It's bad enough that there are people who think Route 66 ends as they pass into LA county (oh they'll end up in Santa Monica on the pier (using the Freeways). But if this attitude goes on, eventually it will tell those people they are rightfully skipping it.
[BTW: Today those skipping LA county and painfully wrong in doing so, there's stil lots to see and explore and you need lots of time to see it all.]

I'm actually a bit sorry to sound so negative about it, but I see little to no positive side to this. I can understand that such a -misguided- beautification project gets support from local (even historic) businesses as it'll attract people, just not people truly interested in Route 66.