3 Reasons Why We’re Shaking Our Heads in Sierra Vista

Sierra Vista is shaking its collective head over some of the things we’ve seen around town recently, and after a rather heated discussion on our Facebook page, a few common themes began to form.

I asked the question, “What are some things you've seen or experienced in this town that make you shake your head?”

The answers came fast, loud, and, let’s just say, passionate. Everyone had their own spin, but a few themes rose to the top.

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The Driving…Oh, the Driving

What bakes our brains as we’re moving around town? “All the bad drivers,” is the response, in a nutshell.

If there’s one thing we all agree on, it’s that our roads are becoming a free-for-all. We see more examples of what not to do, and it has us asking why there’s never a cop around when we need one.

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Red‑light runners, parking‑lot speeders, and drivers who treat stop signs like suggestions; it’s making our blood boil. One person summed up the “what’s got me shaking my head” question perfectly: “No contest: the bad drivers in this town.”

Another added, “LITERALLY every light had a red light runner.”

And my personal favorite: “I really have to carefully plan where to park… so I don’t get instantly creamed when I try to leave.”

Bikes, Lanes, and the Mystery of City Planning

We may need to rethink our traffic laws in this town, because we don’t seem to be very good at the whole driving thing. There are pedestrians and bicycle riders to consider, and we all need to pay more attention.

A surprising number of people brought up the bike‑lane situation, or lack thereof. One commenter said, “We have MILES of wonderful multi‑use paths… but we have no means of getting our bikes directly there.”

If you live “off the beaten path”, so to speak, getting to a place where you can safely ride is more than a challenge; you could be risking your life. One person even mentioned getting hit by a car while riding his bike. Twice.

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Parking Lots: The Wild West

And what’s going on in our parking lots? Why is it that every parking lot in town gets treated like a lawless frontier? “The sheer amount of people I see speeding through parking lots…” one person said, adding that Safeway is especially chaotic.

Another chimed in: “It’s all parking lots.” It’s true. I, too, have seen people zipping through parking lots like they’re mini-racetracks.

The People… Sometimes

A few folks didn’t mince words. “The rudest people live here!” one wrote. Other comments pointed to name-calling, finger-pointing, rude free-for-all meanness in our local chit-chat groups. The other thing that makes us shake our heads? The local social media pages of “ambulance chasers who highlight tragedy for clicks,” as one person put it, “they’re not informing the public. They’re cashing in on someone else’s pain.”

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Sierra Vista can be a really nice place to live, but if you ask our social media followers, I think we’d all agree that we need to slow down, obey traffic laws, be nicer to each other, and stop clicking on tragedy.

See more answers on the K101 Sierra Vista Facebook page: