To the Editor:
In 2016, my family moved from a Seattle condo to a home in Shoreline with a toddler and a baby on the way. We like the home we could afford and look forward to having our children attend Shoreline schools.
As a new Shoreline resident, I’m not so crazy about the lack of walkability in the area. Although Prop 1 won’t build a sidewalk near my home, I’m still going to vote for it because I believe it’s a step in the right direction.
As a member of the Sidewalk Advisory Committee, I learned that:
(1) we don’t have enough sidewalks thanks to the mid-20th century growth in Shoreline during ‘age of the auto’ when suburbs did not plan for sidewalks
(2) our sidewalks need repair: Consider the areas where the wrong type of tree was planted in the sidewalk amenity zone (looking at you, Ridgecrest)
(3) there is not enough funding available to build new sidewalks that are necessary for safety and connectivity
(4) sidewalks are very expensive: Like so many improvements in our area, anything related to construction, repair, or street work costs more than you think.
Shoreline needs to pass Prop 1 given that the majority of residents want new sidewalks. Funding came down to property taxes or sales tax. No one likes paying taxes, but I kind of like the idea that not just residents, but anyone who shops in Shoreline, will help build sidewalks when they pay this tax.
Lisa Leitzelar
Shoreline
I think developers need to be taxed. They pack in the houses, cut the trees, and reap great rewards.
ReplyDeleteLisa, if you wanted to live in walkable Seattle, then why didn't you buy there instead? You freely chose to buy a house in a forested part of Shoreline with no sidewalks, then started advocating to spend other people's money in order to make expensive changes.
ReplyDeleteThere's a very good reason that our sidewalk implementation is lagging: monstrous expense. Some of us are very concerned about the affordability of our area, and tacking on yet another increase to our already bulging sales tax is simply bad policy.