Regarding Dan Lauber’s opinion piece [River Forest misses golden opportunity, Viewpoints, July 22], I could not agree more. A luxury apartment complex does not provide much that is valuable to the community. More kids in overcrowded schools, more traffic, more congestion in the parks. It is hard to see how such a small retail project will help stabilize the tax base. When the TIF District is factored in, it will be many years for the village to see any real benefit.
When we moved here 26 years ago, our taxes were $11,000. Proposed taxes this year are $36,000. I hate to move from the community where we have lived so long, raised children and grandchildren, have deep, meaningful friendships. Yet that is looking more and more like the reasonable choice.
In my view, the village has not successfully made the case for this development. I do wonder who is benefitting from it financially. As always, I think the answer is to follow the money.
Jane Moore
River Forest