Recent letters to the editor addressed the rapid growth and changes to our area. One writer argued that the planned downtown Vancouver street improvements don’t reflect community use. Another wrote about the overdevelopment of the area. Both good points made.
The proposed street improvements make no sense. I’m assuming the “no curbs” is to help drivers who will have to parallel park when that feature is changed. News flash: increasingly, auto manufacturers are now including automated parallel park functions, but these don’t work well without curbs. Curbs also protect pedestrians, the ones you are widening the sidewalks for. Autos are the current, and will remain for some time, majority users of these streets.
Developers make a pile of money. Why do we give them tax breaks and not make them share more responsibility for infrastructure? You can’t stop change but you can control it. Strong and informed city and county councils are the key. It would also be nice if what they approve weren’t so ugly. Case in point: McNair Plaza in Battle Ground. I doubt any resident of this city is going to approve of this unsightly architecture.
