Let's Not Become California
I was born in Los Angeles and grew up in both Southern and Northern California before "escaping" to Spokane in 1975. As a consequence, I am very conscious of the impact of development — both short and long term. And when decisions are made that seem more focused on increased civic tax revenue than any "lifestyle" considerations, I think we all lose; and trust in government and in our elected officials drops. Proposed developments that, in my mind, have major negative impacts on traffic, congestion and lifestyles must be aggressively opposed by citizens.
I would like to address the preposterous claim by Greenstone Homes that "the addition of 230 residential units and commercial space" to the South Hill area will have little or no impact on traffic and congestion. My rebuttal to that claim is easily summed up in two short sentences. At 3:30 pm yesterday afternoon, I turned east onto 29th Avenue from S. Bernard Street, heading for Miller's Hardware in Lincoln Heights. I pulled into their parking lot off 29th, east of Regal Street at 4 pm!
It doesn't take a professional urban planner to conclude that adding "230 residential units and commercial space" might have a negative impact on an already frustrating situation. I'm not suggesting that a trip to Miller's today should take the same time it did in 1975. But one of the reasons we left California was to avoid the frustration that is generated while waiting in a bumper-to-bumper line of cars for three signal cycles to get through an intersection!
It has been suggested that more meetings are planned before the city would consider approving this proposed development. We have recently seen where citizen action has stopped a proposed development on S. Regal Street by Ferris High School. Hopefully the city will keep the citizens apprised of further meetings on this development.
Keith LaMotte
Spokane, Wash.
Readers respond to a story about Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers' position on the Trump administration's child-separation policy (6/21/18):
Tammy White: Believing in the Devil does not make you a Christian.
Michael Mentzer: Have any of you figured out yet that "conservative Christian" is an oxymoron? Or that Cathy puts party and her future ahead of any other concerns? Yes! Vote Lisa Brown! (And this is coming from someone who has denounced the Democratic National Committee.)
