Dear SCVTalk Readers:
I must admit, I was a bit surprised at all the blowback I received for my piece about the Placerita Canyon Property Owners Association last week.
At first I thought maybe I was a little hard on those poor, put-upon P-canyon people, because, believe it or not, I respect your opinion and I constantly challenge my own.
But then the comments kept pouring in. By the dozens, you supported the Association’s fight against the new railroad crossing at Lyons. You even doubted how terrible the existing 13th Street Railroad crossing is. And you invoked the unholy specter of high density housing in the heart of Newhall to convince me I was wrong, or perhaps, recruit me as an ally to fight that threat.
Here’s the thing many of you apparently don’t understand: high density doesn’t scare me. It’s not something I say with fear and dread in my voice; in fact, it doesn’t even give me night terrors.
Actually, truth be told, I rather like it.
I know you don’t like it. Or let’s be more accurate. You’re probably okay with two or even three story buildings (after all, that’s how tall your houses are); what you really don’t like is the extra people who would populate said buildings. In other words, you don’t like people like me.
Yes. People like me. Here’s another shocker: I’m not just an advocate of high density living, I’m also a member. I currently live in a condo assocation with about 50 units, on probably just 7 acres of land. Guess why I live here? Because it’s affordable, and I enjoy living within walking distance of many shops, restaurants and amenities. Yes, I share a wall with my neighbors. They happen to be a lot like me: nice, pleasant, working folks. We watch out for each other, keep our common areas clean, and we know each other’s names. I even have a little park-like open area outside my balcony, right here in the heart of Newhall, and yes, I share it with others.
I guess you could call it a commune. It’s wonderful!
Are there scummy renting tenants? Sure. But life isn’t always clean and antiseptic. I take the good with the bad and I keep the security company phone number on my speed dial. And it’s not like low-density single family home neighborhoods in the rest of Santa Clarita are crime free (Lookout for that crazy Stevenson Ranch shooter guy! Or the professional hits on various people in Valencia and Westridge).
I look at it this way. If Santa Clarita has to grow (and anyone who says they can stop people from moving here is lying to you), then better it grow inside our City borders where we can manage it effectively than outside our borders. In other words, I’ll take a high density “infill” condominium/town home project housing 500 families over 500 single family homes on a torn up hillside in Newhall Ranch any day of the week.
Especially if it has shops, restaurants and places of employment built right in.
And you know what else? I, and a lot of other people, might like some of these innovative “valley of villages” style housing projects. Some of us hate driving just as much as you hate high density living . Imagine that! We might actually think it’s beneficial and positive to live near a rail station, a bus depot, and within walking distance of a redeveloped Old Town Newhall.
Now that I’ve outed myself, I just want to say that I think there’s room enough for both our lifestyles in Santa Clarita. I hope you’ll keep reading my blog even if my lifestyle offends you. I promise to maintain an open mind, I hope you do the same.
Sincerely,
High Density & Proud and Not Shutting Up and Representing all my neighbors in my affordable condo association
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