Photo and blog post by John HoffFirst of all, City County Federal Credit Union at 1101 West Broadway Ave. deserves kudos for taking a bit of a risk and opening a branch office in a freshly-renovated building. I hear it's a great place to bank, though by force of habit I stick with TCF. However, one of my friends who banks there swears she will never use the ATM without somebody else backing her up and looking over her shoulder.
A couple nights ago my friend...
...asked me to get out of the car and withdraw money for her, since the night was especially dark and scary. While I was at the ATM, wouldn't you know it...some guy walked up and stopped about fifteen feet away, giving me a little head jerk and a meaningful look. I know that look. It's the "Let's Make A Deal" look.
I calmly withdrew the money, got in my friend's car...and the guy walked away.
Clearly, he wasn't there to wait in line to use the ATM himself, since he walked the other way. No, I figure it was probably somebody trying to sell dope. The ATM location at 1101 West Broadway is great for that kind of thing...go there and withdraw money, and soon enough somebody see if you want to spend that money on the spot. A massive area of West Broadway is hostage to the dope dealing and lawlessness which emanates like swamp gas from Hawthorn (sic) Crossings strip mall and the crappy buildings across the street on the "900" block. Even 1101 West Broadway is in that shadow of lawlessness, though it's two blocks away.
So that night I made yet another 911 call. Sigh. It used to be more fun to make 911 calls, and now it's as routine and tedious as flushing the toilet. But, geez, you still have to flush.
It is unfortunate that it is the case. I'm surprised that CCFCU doesn't use ATMs on the inside of the building. The Franklin location can sometimes be hairy as well. They are really a great place to bank, though.
ReplyDeleteI bank there as well. I was SO glad when they opened and now sad when they closed the inside tellers. They must hire tellers from the neighborhood because there's never a "Hello" or "Thank you" during the drive-thru transaction. The ATM has been "temporarily unavailable" every weekend I try to use it. I mentioned to them when they opened that they should have put the ATM in the drive thru, as well.
ReplyDeleteSince the inside of the branch closed, it really is no longer a "full service" location for the community by any means. Just accessible to transact ATM business or if you have a vehicle to utilize the drive through. In terms of the ATM placement, although perhaps an interior vestibule location accessible only by swiping an ATM card may be slightly preferable, it actually makes some sense to have the ATM fronting Broadway and right next to Emerson, two very busy streets. I use the ATM regularly, usually with my kids waiting in the car, and am not particularly worried, although always cautious - which should be the case at any ATM. If the ATM were back in the drive through, #1, it would be unavailable to the large segment of the population without a vehicle, and #2, it would actually be less safe, tucked behind the building and out of sight of traffic and passers by. Eyes on the street. The vision for the area, including especially the West Broadway Alive! plan, developed with community input, is for more walkable, pedestrian oriented business and interfaces.
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