Development doesn’t help south Fayetteville

At first, I was on the bandwagon with the new development in south Fayetteville. I thought “OK, this is good. Property values will go up.”

Now? We’ve reached a tipping point. Too much of a good thing is leaving a bellyache. I’ve learned that “affordability” and “sustainability” are just catch words for profitability. They are words meant to imply philanthropy. I disagree. Affordability? South Fayetteville was affordable until very recently. Now housing costs have skyrocketed. Sustainability? What’s sustainable about cramming as much structure on a lot as possible? It only creates high-density infrastructure — taxing the resources of the land and stressing the breathing space of the people trying to “sustain” within. These are not so-called “tiny houses.”

If the current proposed developments continue, the demographics of south Fayetteville will change. Diversity? No. Again, the homes aren’t affordable and they are not built for people to age. No one wants to climb stairs to the 2nd or 3rd story when they are over 60, nearing 70. These houses are meant to cycle families through while keeping the kids on the couch with their iPads. Where are the yards? (None of this is about trees, per se, as it is about balance.)

This also kicks in the face those who have lived here a long time and worked hard to procure Neighborhood Conservation zoning (an effort to preserve the older homes that add to the charm or the very reason people want to move to South Fayetteville in the first place). Now the public notices for change to Downtown General are going up so swiftly and discreetly, no one has time to thoughtfully respond.

I am disheartened the train has left the station and is moving so fast the landscape can only be seen through blurred windows. I’m not on the train as I look from the outside in. I intend to be the last old lady on my street living in this centenarian one-story house with a yard big enough for my posse of chickens. DARLENE GRAF Fayetteville