There are times when a neighborhood is in peril and this is one of those times. The city asks us to make room for more residents as they give tax and other benefits to developers who build multiple storied condos on a lot. What has happened on West Craig—six three-and-a-half-story condos on a lot in a street of bungalows—is the new model for development. Tobin Hill North is fighting a similar development in their community now, and Alta Vista is seeing the same there. Our tax dollars are paying for the demise of our neighborhood. Instead of creating housing downtown, they are zoning for more hotels.
Once our neighborhood is gone, it is lost forever. These homes, designed and built in the 1920s, ’30s, and ’40s, are unique and cannot be replaced. More importantly our Beacon Hill community cannot be replaced. What can you do? Attend meetings and contact your elected officials.
Right now, the most important thing you can do is VOTE. What candidate do you feel will stand up for us, protect these precious neighborhoods, and advocate for a more thoughtful approach to development? Talk to your neighbors and attend the candidate forums. Find people whose opinions you trust and talk it over. If we vote, our numbers become a force that can challenge developer money and the huge influence they seem to have on our elected officials.
Don’t let your neighborhood down. VOTE. – Cynthia Merla Spielman, President