Oh my, to develop or not? Allowing more dense development in downtown San Luis Obispo could bring increased vitality to a community, but without increased infrastructure supports, it can bring blight. Is there sufficient acreage in the landfill to address the increased garbage that will result if San Luis Obispo builds more housing? Is there sufficient potable water for the proposed increased numbers? It is obvious that parking will be an issue, and with parking and an increased number of cars, there will likely be an impact on air quality. With more people needing food and hard goods, more trucks will be headed this way—what is the condition of our roads? Tank Farm Road and parts of Buckley can be a slalom ride to avoid potholes already.
How about sanitation services? Are there enough beds in our local hospitals to accommodate an increased population? Do we have the classroom space and the teachers? Will we be uprooting the elderly to areas with fewer services?
And of course, our unhoused folks? Shall we address sanitation, health, and well-being for them first? Some folks will want to live rough/off the grid, but they still merit decent health care, and protection from bodily harm.
I ask the community “elders”—shall we fall into the pit of a desperate Band-Aid society looking for solutions, or shall we enter the future with eyes wide open and prepared?
L. Goldman
San Luis Obispo
This article appears in Feb 9-19, 2023.
The foundation of commentaries like this one is that unless a project is 100% good, it must be 100% bad. And because no project is 100% good, we must therefore do nothing. Bold strategy, Cotton, we’ll see how it works out for ’em!