Mt. Hope/Helix Heights Residents Association

Beware Atrocious Housing Developments

May 12, 2006

The vacant "Urban League" property is just ripe for the picking. We have vultures in the wings, waiting for the opportunity to add multi-family, multi-level housing, with commercial on the bottom story. This is the advent of so-called mixed-use development which has ravaged the downtown area in the past few years.

Mt. Hope has always been a "sleepy" urban hamlet. In 1987, we wrote the Mt. Hope Planned District Ordinance and down-zoned the area north of Market Street to accommodate single family residencial homes on 5000sf lots. This was done to ensure the suburban comfort in an urban setting. We as long-time residents of the area felt and still feel that we can maintain an area supportive of families with children, who are guaranteed protected play areas in their own back yards.

But here come the bulldozers, and tall buildings with "roof-garden-type" play areas for our children.

Forget about digging in the dirt in Granny's backyard. Forget about watching the birds in the fruit trees. Forget about all that is Mt. Hope and most woefully, forget about sharing the ambiance of common unity.