As is my habit, Julio and I went out for our morning walk on Thursday, August 21st. In the morning we take a short walk. We travelled north on Beauchamp to West Norma, turning east and proceeding to Houston Avenue. There we turned south and continued on our merry way.
In the morning Houston Avenue is very busy with people making their way to work & school. As we passed 3311 Houston Avenue we heard a terrible sound. A small car going southbound at quite a clip slammed into a large pothole. It made us both jump!
As the traffic cleared we looked at the pothole. I took a picture of it intending to open a 311 case on the matter when I got home. I knew better than to do that from my phone. In the past the 311 app had trouble uploading pictures. And a picture was definitely warranted in this case.
Arriving at my desk a short while later, I visited the 311 web site and reported the pothole. The process was easy. “Pothole” was literally the second of the quick links on the page. The 311 system responded with an email acknowledgement a few minutes later. Then I went on about my day.
The surprising part comes exactly a week later. The afternoon of Thursday, August 28th I got a call from an unknown number. A young man calling said he was reaching out in reference to the pothole I had reported. He was seeking a little more exact guidance as to the location. I was only too happy to oblige. It was just a few yards south of 3311 Houston Ave, on the east side of the southbound lane, in front of an empty lot.
The young man told me he’d found it and would proceed to patch it right then and there! He agreed it was the sort of thing that would cause a Honda Civic or Toyota Carola some serious grief.
There are a lot of things wrong is the world. So, it’s notable, and worth sharing, when things go right! In this case, the city’s 311 system worked as promised. The problem, admittedly a small one, was addressed in just a week.