USA Today recently came out with an article that cited Fall River, Massachusetts as being the fifth worst city in the United States.

24/7 Wall Street did this study in determining America’s 50 worst cities to live in by reviewing the data on the 550 U.S. cities with populations of 65,000 or more, as measured by the U.S. Census Bureau. They based it on variables such as crime rates, employment growth and decline, access to restaurants and attractions, educational attainment, and housing affordability.

By using this data, they identified America’s 50 worst cities to live in.

Now if you notice, they used the census data. How many of you have filled one of those out? The vast majority of Fall River residents see that survey and toss it in the trash. It's extra work; who has time to fill that out, right?

Secondly, I would like to point out the education median. Only 13.1 percent of Fall River residents have a Bachelor's degree or higher. I'd be willing to bet that this fact is pretty accurate, otherwise these statistics would be much higher. Perhaps more companies would come into Fall River if we valued education a bit more. That includes help to pay for said education. Violent crime wouldn't be a regular occurrence either. We wouldn't have time for it; we would be too busy studying, or working...

On the flip-side of things, Fall river's aesthetics are a regular complaint among its citizens.

It's about 100 degrees today, although it feels as if it is 150 degrees with camels walking up my street, making a pit stop at the package store on the way.

There are volunteers out from an organization cleaning up East Main Street (which happens to be the neighborhood I am moving into) called Citizens For A Cleaner Fall River (CCFR). This is one of the groups that I'm happy exists. This group moves Fall River forward in such a positive manner, and it's done with just a few generous city residents. At the same time, we had a group out called Angel's Anonymous, which decided to clean up the Quarry /Bedford/ Pleasant Street area (my current neighborhood).

If I was not working, I would have joined them, and offered them some ice cold water. I'd be willing to bet, that other than who was there, no one else really showed up or cared that these people were out cleaning in this heat.

That's one of Fall River's many problems, and arguably its biggest.We get in the way of our own progress by shrugging off the good that people do, or congratulating them and maybe taking a picture with them but never being free enough to give up some of our precious time to help out. If they get too much credit, we unfriend them on Facebook and begrudge them when they are out making positive changes in the community.

There are also the lovely Fall River citizens who know how to work social media, but don't know how to spell. They can't seem to comprehend what is actually going on around them in the city, and take pure pleasure in name calling and telling everyone that no one cares about our houses or our parks, and that Fall River is a cess pool anyway, so why bother?

You aren't happy that something has been accomplished; you would only be happy if someone catered to you.

Now, what you don't tell people is that your park and your street have been cleaned by one of us by now....but you mindlessly litter your space with scratch tickets, cigarette butts and Dunkin' Donuts cups. You let your kid run out to stone the swans or draw graffiti all over the boardwalk. And when it's time for someone to take the blame, there you are on social media, saying, "See? Fall River sucks! That's why I'm going to get the hell out of here," after you win the lottery, of course.

So my question to you: Are we your hired maid?

And, futhermore, why aren't you out doing your part?

I know, you can't right? It's too hot, it's not your job, it's too complicated.

If you don't kiss ass, you won't get credit for it,etc -- I have heard just about every excuse since I chose to get involved and do my part six years ago. Suck it up, buttercup! Get out there and start doing something for your city, for your yard, your driveway, your street...anything.

Doing anything other than sitting on your ass and complaining that someone isn't doing something for you would represent a huge improvement of what has become the Fall River norm. Fall River's motto is "We'll Try." It is sewn into our Fall River Police officer's uniforms, a uniform they wear every day, and I have to say, they do try.

They try to do as much as they can, and the salary they receive? Not so great. They dodge bullets and rocks being pelted at them. They are out riding their bikes in 100 degree weather and watching everyone walking and driving by so the area is safe for us to walk and live. Most nights, they barely get to eat supper or take a break. And, they are also out on their days off, helping us clean up the parks or a parking lot in our neighborhood. Right on the side of us, sweeping up trash and grabbing supplies. The Fall River Fire Department is out cleaning up too. They supervise our movie nights in the park and bring us generators. They attend our block parties and let the neighborhood kids check out one of their trucks. Both the Fall River Police and Fall River Fire Department come to our neighborhood meetings and inform us of what is going in the city every month.

We try.

Yet, there is still a good sized portion of our city that are about as apathetic as they come. So much so, I bet none of them will read this.

You people are the reason we can only try and do so much after awhile. That weight is on top of us all the time, continuously picking up someone else's slack, whether it is an absentee landlord, a careless tenant, a kid the parents are too lazy to watch, or a keyboard warrior who tells everyone else to move but him/herself.

We are over it!

How many more lists are we going to end up on?

Get up off your ass and help out! Fall River will never remove itself from these lists if people like you keep holding us back.

Sincerely,

A Pissed Off Volunteer Who Works Too Hard Like Many Others To See You Bitch.