Opposing Viewpoints II

Letters
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/news/editorial/16595826.htm

Downtown revival is an exciting possibility
I am not a baseball fan, but I will be in line for tickets when the downtown stadium is built. The reason is that Harrison Square is the coolest idea that has come out of the mayor’s office in some time.

I love downtown. I am going to do everything I can to see that developers and potential homeowners get the idea that downtown is the place to be.

America’s downtowns didn’t die. They were killed. Ford Motor Co. bought up the downtown trolley lines. Businesses moved out of town where land and wages were cheap. The interstate system and artificially low gas prices gave rise to suburbs.

These artificial forces killed downtown, so it is prudent and worthwhile for local government to enact policies and plans that counteract these artificial forces: cheap liquor licenses for new downtown restaurants, new parks, wider sidewalks, a new library, Grand Wayne Center, more and cheaper parking and Fort Wayne’s latest pièce de résistance, Harrison Square.

If you believe what marketers have promoted over the years, every American wants to live 60 miles from work in a 5,000-square-foot cookie-cutter McMansion and drive a 9-miles-per-gallon tank. Some people want this lifestyle, but many might say they don’t have any options and are coerced to take what is available.

So I say, “Play Ball!”, and for now and after Harrison Square is here, I will continue to make sure to drop a large percentage of my entertainment (and mortgage) dollars downtown, because I want to see it come back from its untimely demise for my family, neighborhood and city.

I encourage you to call radio stations, write newspapers and talk to co-workers, but most importantly, spend your money in a way that tells potential developers that downtown Fort Wayne is a jewel waiting to be discovered.

PAUL D. McCOMAS
Fort Wayne

Planners have driven people out of downtown
I am not surprised by The Journal Gazette’s story that 71 percent of people surveyed were not in favor of a new downtown stadium. It would be a waste of money to build a new stadium when the one we have is sufficient for Allen County’s needs. The current location offers ample parking, ease of access, close proximity to shopping, restaurants and lodging for the hundreds of people that venture to Fort Wayne to attend the baseball games during the season. What more do we need?

I am surprised by the number of people who feel we need to do something to revitalize downtown. Why should we? For decades, the planning commission and county commissioners have done everything in their power to move commerce away from downtown. It started when approvals were given for Southgate and Northcrest shopping centers, and it continues today every time a developer has a request for another strip mall or shopping center. Officials can’t approve these requests fast enough. Never mind that sometimes about 50 percent of these shopping outlets are empty.

Downtown Fort Wayne has progressed into a place where business is conducted between the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. I don’t have a problem with leaving it that way.

D.J. SMITH
Roanoke