In Blumentritt sein das erste mal/Being in Blumentritt the First Time

    I went to this place in Alejos corner Retiro in Laloma, QC this afternoon to check it out. In order to get there, I have to ride a jeep in Blumentritt st. down in the Blumentritt LRT station. I have heard of Blumentritt so many times, including its namesake. Tim Tayag, during a stint in Lakbay TV, even went there to eat some puto.

    The section of Blumentritt between Avenida Rizal and Leonor Rivera Street is crowded with pedestrians and outdoor vendors. There's an existing jeepney route there but because of the cramped space, that particular section is now one way. Imagine Blumentritt minus the pedestrians, the vendors, the trash; it really has a lot of space. I wonder why that part came to be.

    Probably the root cause was the line of squatter colonies which used to occupy a stretch of the old PNR line (now demolished for the PNR rehabilitation). Mismanagement, poverty, bad aura coming from the design of the LRT Line 1, mixed zoning (industrial, commercial, residential), and bad governing from past Manila city mayors had but reduced Manila's former financial center (all areas surrounding Avenia Rizal) into a polluted, poverty-stricken urban jungle!).

    I'm still hoping that by the time that whole PNR line (Northrail and Southrail) is fully rehabilitated and modernized, good development will come to these areas such as Blumentritt.