I want to thank David Brauer for showing exactly how the car creates havoc on the community level. The Kingfield board had to wrestle with a problem that faces many neighborhoods that try to balance the needs of people, many of whom like the disabled, the elderly and children cannot share the "freedom" of cars with people who drive cars.
Most drivers love their cars , but they hate the car in front of them or the car that cuts them off or the car that parks in front of their house and they hate the ugly businesses that gas them up and fix them...that's why poor neighborhoods have a lot of gas stations, car washes and auto body shops and upscale neighborhoods don't. If you look at car ads, they usually show only one car. Love is blind and like Chrysler says, "Drive=Love". The reason I oppose the removal of housing for parking at 38th and Nicollet is that it begins the process of transforming the urban, pedestrian friendly nature of that business node into a suburban style strip mall. Other businesses in Kingfield will surely petition to have nearby houses knocked down to build parking lots. Wings 'n Ribs , I've heard has plans to replace a nearby house with a parking lot. And if our neighborhood business node starts stealing automobile business from other nearby business nodes, the cry will go up all across the city to knock down houses for more and more parking spaces. Another problem is safety for pedestrians, especially kids who may walk that block to the nearby King Park. If this parking lot is built, they will have to walk a block long gauntlet that already includes a big church parking lot and a car wash. Inviting more people to drive in what is already a congested area is also a safety and air quality problem. I agree with David that the owners of the Nicollet Hardware Store are wonderful neighbors. Kingfield has many wonderful businesses. The question should be: Where do we draw the line? What will we say if this business or other businesses come back to the board in the future and asks for more parking spaces? We just had an election where the majority of voters said the environment and affordable housing were their major concerns. I think elected officials should heed that mandate even if it makes them lifelong enemies among the business interests that are affected. That's politics. Like Truman said, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." I think a tough zoning decision like this should be made at the City Council level with neighborhood input. Perhaps a recommendation like this is too hot and nasty a job to expect from part-time, unpaid volunteers. Ken Avidor Kingfield _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
