Thursday, January 18, 2007

Letter to the editor

Once again the RGJ pisses me off. I'm writing an article next month on alternative commuting, so I gess that's what they call "put-up or shut-up" (piss of get off the pot?).

I guess I'll post the letter I wrote. You should also note how one of the proposed routes looks like it goes right through Hidden Valley park!!

-M

NOTE: I just got an email saying that I can't submit more than one letter every two months. So one of you needs to get something in too! Maybe we can meet at the GB on tuesday and scratch something out.

Dear RGJ,

Once again the you fail to dig deep enough to see the real story behind your story. Your cover article today on the North/South connector claims that more roads (automobile-centric commuter routes) are needed to avoid “southern California style gridlock.”

Metropolitan Southern California is gridlocked because of sprawling low-density development and a lack of effective public transportation or commuting alternatives to the automobile, i.e. bicycles or trains. That means that people live a long way from work and have to drive to get there. If we want to avoid the same fate here more roads and the influx of automobiles are not the answer.

Driving is a choice. Our freedom to choose alternatives to cars is being curtailed by our own inability to plan beyond our current tank of gas.

-M

No comments: