‘Love to Live’

Editor:

Regarding the Gateway Project, I would love to live in one of the proposed buildings, and the higher up, the better for amazing views (Mailbox, Feb. 10). Remember, a multi-story building needs only one foundation and one roof, so that should help to keep the per-unit cost down. The plan is to have restaurants and businesses on the first floor and residences above. Very convenient and no need to drive as much. Anyone above the first residential floor will benefit from the rising heat of the apartment below, lowering heating costs. Anyone living above the first floor is very unlikely to have their place broken into by someone coming in through a window — more secure. 

Arcata has had a chronic housing shortage for the whole 25 years that I’ve lived in the area. We desperately need more housing. 

We must prepare to be inundated with thousands more college students and climate refugees. If we don’t provide housing for everyone, then we are, in effect, creating more homelessness by design. That makes no sense. To build out and sprawl uses precious ag land or requires that we cut deeper into the forests. I’m not for either of those ideas. 

Arcata is blessed with educated, smart, caring and savvy staff. They work very hard to make these projects come to fruition, usually the product of years of work. The public always has many opportunities to make their feelings and ideas known about these projects. To push aside all of this work and time because a project isn’t utopian enough or because we’re feeling a bit NIMBY today makes no sense. No project will please everyone. I give huge credit to Arcata’s staff and elected officials for moving forward with setting the guidelines for builders in the Gateway area.

Fhyre Phoenix, McKinleyville

This article appears in The Cannabis Issue, 2022.