LETTER: I feel that there are two Redmonds. There is the downtown Redmond with lots of new apartments, stores and transportation options that the city is showering with funds and amenities. And then there is the up-the-hill-neighborhood Redmond where the rest of us live. Up here, our infrastructure has been in place for years. And yet we're supposed to help pay for all the new parks and street development downtown. I doubt that I will use the "new" downtown very much so I really don't want to pay for it. With all the new apartment and commercial buildings downtown, the city will collect a lot more in property tax revenue each year. Let that new tax money pay for the improvements downtown. They shouldn't be taxing all of us to pay for the downtown Disneyland that they're building.
By Sue
Education Hill
Letter in response to "Mayor John Marchione presents his 2013-1014 Budget to Council"
By Sue
Education Hill
Letter in response to "Mayor John Marchione presents his 2013-1014 Budget to Council"
If downtown and up-hill are two Redmonds, then they are a married couple, madly in love, and sharing finances. They were childhood sweethearts, still do date nights, get doe-eyed when talking about their children, worry about Mom and Dad, and look forward to growing old together.
ReplyDeleteIf you're a resident of up-hill Redmond, you most likely will shop in downtown. Your children, or grandchildren, will get their first job downtown. You'll take advantage of entertainment venues in downtown. Your local school, fire station, police service, and home value will all improve with the proximity and shared tax base of downtown. If you're an employer, you'll be able to attract better talent to the local area, at least in part because of a vibrant downtown.
No one can live in up-hill Redmond, and not benefit from an improved downtown Redmond. Likewise, downtown would suffer if schools, parks, roads, utilities, and other infrastructure located in up-hill Redmond was below par. Very few places in the world can an individual survive for long with no outside influence, yet communities can prosper almost everywhere. Even in our high tech, rapid travel, always connected world, we prosper when together, and wither when apart.
Douglas Burchard
Rose Hill
Uphill and downtown Redmond are more like estranged family members who are stuck with each other at family gatherings. They have little in common and have very different priorities.
ReplyDeleteI do shop downtown - at any business that has a parking space for my car - so I will probably never eat a TopPot donut or a slice of Zekes pizza. I won’t visit the Central Park or the Redmond Connector. My family’s warm, fuzzy memories of Redmond occurred at Farrel-McWhirter or Hartman Park. We shop at the Target/FM/Home Depot stores, Safeway shopping center and Town Center Mall and will continue to do so. The kids’ first jobs were in Bellevue – there is no meaningful work in downtown Redmond. They have no plans to move to downtown Redmond since they have low-cost bedrooms and kitchen privileges up here on the hill – and parking is free and plentiful.
I don’t want downtown Redmond to turn into a vertical, unusable place like downtown Kirkland. Years ago we used to go to the Kirkland waterfront for dinner and to walk, but parking became a nuisance and we stopped going. I don’t like the hyper-development that is occurring in downtown Redmond and I don’t think it will be good for me or for longtime residents.
And I certainly don't think there should be a tax increase to pay for the new development in the downtown! Aren't there supposed to be impact fees or whatever?