It’s been interesting to follow the ongoing debate of the clash of cultures, colors and the general shabby condition of down-town Madera. In my opinion, downtown Madera accurately reflects what Madera has become. Shabby, ill educated, run down, poverty stricken and yes: a little Tijuana.

Besides seeing it with your own two eyes, simply turn to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The following are facts from the year 2000 report: Madera is 67 percent Hispanic (59 percent Mexican) with 32 percent non Hispanic. The language spoken at home in 55 percent of households is something other than English. Is it any wonder that the signs down-town are in Spanish? Unemployment averages 11 percent. Some 2,424 families and 13,921 individuals live below the poverty level. And we wonder why downtown looks poor? Some 31 percent of adults 25 and over do not have a 9th grade education. We wonder why we have so few skilled workers. Of foreign born residents, 93 percent are from Latin America. Why does downtown look like little Tijuana?

All this in a population of 43,207 in the year 2000.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t think that all of downtown or all of Madera is a flea-ridden dog tow, best served by a massive trash fire — but that description certainly fits some large parts of both.

Like it or not; downtown is a reflection of the face of Madera. Love it, leave it or try to change it. For me, I think I’ll brush up on my Spanish. Adios.

Don Williams,
Madera

This entry was posted on Friday, July 25th, 2008 at 1:15 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.