SMALL INDIVIDUAL ACTS
Democracy and civilization are preserved through small, individual acts. This is mine.
I live in Soquel (technically Santa Cruz), and have been raising funds to support Ukraine’s struggle for independence and freedom. I’ll be traveling to Lviv next week at my own expense to do my part, and thought this might make for an interesting story. I’d love the increased visibility to help with fundraising (we’ve already collected ~$10K in only a month).
More details on my Substack here: https://tallmartin.substack.com/p/im-going-to-ukraine
Martin Buhr
HOUSING PROBLEMS
Putting high density housing along transport corridors or in commercial centers has been promoted as a way to counter sprawl and protect regional farmland for decades now. However the high rise at the former Taco Bell (RIP) is pretty outrageous. It will only result in neighboring property owners selling up to the next big city developer with deep pockets.
Roseanne Hernandez Cattani
MORE HOUSING TROUBLES
My husband and I are both teachers and we are planning to leave. It doesn’t make sense to live in a place where everyone wants to live in the 1950s like the population hasn’t grown! For all you locals who don’t want transplants coming into your precious retro-enclave, I leave you with this thought: Are you willing to fill the empty positions that will be left when those of us who can’t own homes leave? If you want a vibrant city full of skilled workers, we need affordable places to live, otherwise, you’ll be left with a quaint town full of aging homeowners reminiscing about the good old days, and not much else.
O’Brien Celina
HOSPITAL SHORTAGE
Why not report on the fact that there is NO TRAUMA center for those already here, and each trauma has to be airlifted out at a cost of about $45,000 with no way to get home? How about how all of us here right now would burn alive sitting on our ONLY artery out of here, Hwy 1? Or, how are we to evacuate in a tsunami? Who is selling us all out to our possible deaths? Now there’s a storyline. Also, it has taken 45 minutes to an hour to get a flight, this is stuff people should know before their loved one needs immediate trauma care.
Chrissy Brown
Ms. Cattani does not explain why housing at lower Front and Pacific is not a good idea. She seems to like the idea of housing along transportation corridors though. Well, the bus station is just a block away. If more people live downtown, more people will shop downtown. So much in the area she’s talking about was underutilized with Taco Bell, etc. Now more people will have a place to live. There’s a fear about builders that I don’t understand. Some seem to fear builders will make money. Well, get over it. This is a capitalist country and the only way to get more housing is if builders make a profit. The decision to build is not made by the builder; the builder is hired. There is a demand for housing; it’s being built; and people in this community do not have the right to stop construction; laws have changed. We live in the state of California. Santa Cruz is not a city state. Supply and demand rule.