To the Editor:
Not only can North Old Town now boast a new monstrosity — the Harris Teeter with its garish gigantic red neon illumination — but this new red light district is going 24/7. This in a neighborhood with quite a few individually owned restaurants, some of them cozy fixtures of decades, three blocks away from the waterfront. Already during a hearing at City Hall, another onslaught on local culture, food trucks, was opposed not only by restaurant owners but also by many of their patrons. I shudder to think what high density development the City Council may be planning for the lot right next to HT, to be vacated in the foreseeable future by our community-oriented small neighborhood Giant and the adjacent ABC store. Large corporations will not invest unless they expect — and are promised — major returns on their investment. Considering the size of this red light establishment, the City Council must have big plans. More luxury high-rise condos? More hotels? More of what exactly on our historic waterfront?
The recent “Small Business Day” as supported by the city was nothing but a farce. City planners are happily rushing towards a brave new world — one in which a diminished Old Town will not only lose even more of its unique and invaluable historic cachet but be increasingly dominated by faceless large corporations, developers out front. I just wish more of the solidly Democratic voters beyond the Old Town would understand where the Democratic City Council is taking them. The trend towards inequality continues — feed the 10 percent at a premium and they will come.
Ursula Weide
Alexandria