Neighborhood Myth and Noleta

Interesting opinion piece in The Independent this week by Mickey Flacks on neighborhood preservation and she makes a good point that the 2nd District race may be contextualized within the state-mandated affordable housing grab in the Noleta/Goleta Valley.

Her piece is probably best summed up by the following quote:

What is now being debated, however, is not any particular development, but the very concept of putting higher density, low- and moderate-income housing in any Noleta neighborhood. People in a neighborhood should be informed and consulted about changes that might take place in their neighborhood, but those residents owe to the larger Neighborhood an understanding of overall community needs. They should be judging those projected developments not only in terms of their neighborhood, but in recognition of the concerns of the South Coast Neighborhood — and the many other neighborhoods it contains. What is really at stake is not “neighborhood preservation,” but the diversity of the Neighborhood’s population and its quality of life.

Related to this opinion piece is Coalition for Sensible Planning President Gary Earle's quote in the News-Press that he's worried the "Visioning Committee" is working backwards while the committee's chair says that he's only doing his job if everyone's a little uncomfortable and you have the makings of a big fight that isn't getting much attention from Joe Public.

Noleta needs representation now.