Enough already! Even before there was a proposal for a 28-story high-rise on Lake Street the vast majority of Oak Parkers I’ve talked to were very unhappy with the glut of high-rise buildings in the last few years. This is a terrible idea, even if they are trying to get us to settle for something like 20 stories. Our village is being forever scarred by this rush to construction.
The other day, I was trying to arrange lunch with a friend and she would not go into Oak Park from Oak Park to Harlem because of the traffic. I know several people who will no longer drive on Lake Street. I’m already finding it difficult to get in and out of the library garage and as the downtown buildings become fully occupied, the traffic will be backed up even more.
The current high-rises going up are not yet completed and filled, so how can there be demand for more housing? What if this building is largely empty?
The great Unity Temple would be overwhelmed.
The claim that the high-rises would lower our taxes has not panned out at all.
We all chose to move to Oak Park, not Evanston. The Oak Park quality is being lost.
The “mayor” does not have a mandate. It’s true that we elected him because he is a business person, but that was to try to keep the small businesses that were moving to Forest Park. If he had run on the platform of building high-rises, I know I would never have voted for him.
Please keep the building to 5 stories or so. In the next election, I will be voting for the VOICE candidates, who believe in government listening to the people.
Joyce Porter
Oak Park
