if you lived here, you'd be bored by now

our fair city has been doing a lot of construction recently. there were a few weeks when getting on & off the beltway was kind of a nightmare, but things seem to be coming together. the most recent change is a fancy brick sign announcing your entrance to college park. the sign says,

COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND
A Livable Community

i have a history of being easily amused by civic slogans. there's a sign on I-40 in north carolina that i pass when i drive from winston to chapel hill and it makes me laugh every time. it says, "Alamance County - Your Link to the Future!" since the only part of alamance county i'm familiar with is burlington, this always led me to believe that the future must have something to do with outlet malls and discount cigarettes.

a slogan like that is humorous in its self-importance, but college park apparently went for the opposite approach: low self-esteem masquerading as humility. a phrase like "livable community", while certainly true, is hardly a ringing endorsement. you might as well advertise your town as "able to support sentient beings". so of course, steve & i started coming up with our own slogans:

COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND
That which doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger.

COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND
What, you think you can do better?

COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND
Meh.