I’d like to know what wine or beer paired best with that “feathery pillow” of a hamburger [We Ate Here, May 27, 2008], or is it perhaps best downed with lots and lots of water? And velvety as well, was it? Personally, I like my hamburgers meaty. Gr-r-r-r.
Steve Murphy
Charlottesville
Bare essential
So Hope Community Center closed [“Homeless shelter closes—new hope on the way?” Government News, May 27, 2008]. I had hope for a while when I heard that it may remain open. It’s about time our “greatest place to live” started taking care of our own instead of letting “someone else” (whatever that means) do it for us. Like most people, for nearly my entire adult life, I live one paycheck away from homelessness. If I lose my job, I’ll be sharing some sidewalk with the rest of them after I sell my car. Or couch-surfing. Who knows where I’ll shower so I can stay presentable at work, so I can save enough to put a roof over my head? Eventually. Rent here is expensive enough… A mortgage? Not anytime soon. Not here. Oh yeah, side note: Homelessness does not always equal joblessness.
So a Good Samaritan (Pastor Josh Bare) stepped up and sought to solve this dilemma, giving those without a roof over their heads somewhere to sleep. It’s hard to live day to day with the stress of where to work, finding food, raising kids, when you don’t have a place to sleep. But the voices were raised: “Zoning ordinances!” “What about our property values?” You have got to be kidding me… People are more concerned about the value of their homes over where a person sleeps for a night. This makes Charlottesville a “desirable community”??? Stop the ride, I want to get off.
It’s always someone else’s job. And now it’s not even Josh’s place to help solve the problem. We can’t work with the zoning ordinance. We can’t see with new eyes the value in lives around us because they don’t live like us…even if we may end up like them one day. But that could never happen, right?
Sara E. Lian
Charlottesville
Good blood
Thank you for your article “JABA plays bigger part in housing game” [Development News] in the June 3 issue of C-VILLE Weekly. I would like to correct an inaccurate point made in the article when referring to the opposition of the Fry’s Spring Neighborhood Association to the development of the Hill & Center property. Our opposition had nothing to do with JABA’s involvement in the project (although the amount of their actual involvement was unclear) or “bad blood” with the project’s lead developer. In fact, our opposition was based on substantial points including traffic, parking and environmental issues related to developing on such a steep-slope. City planning staff also recognized this project’s flaws and recommended against its approval (their report is linked-to from the website edition of your story).
The demographics of the Fry’s Spring Neighborhood are such that we are very sympathetic to the admirable goals of JABA and we look forward to opportunities for working with them to help realize their mission to “preserve sustainable communities for healthy aging that benefit individuals and families of all ages”.
Peter Hedlund
President, Fry’s Spring Neighborhood
Association