Letters for June 25, 2015

Sacto as Hunger Games

Re “Sprawl on” by Cosmo Garvin (SN&R Bites, June 18):

Cosmo Garvin rants against Sacramento's urban sprawl while gushing over the draconian urban-growth boundaries that are imposed on the people of Portland, Ore. Has Garvin ever lived in Portland?

I used to live in that dreary shithole of a city known as Portland, that is full of radical leftists and environmental extremists who were always cramming their leftist agendas down everyone's throats.

Portland's urban-growth boundary and land-rationing policies have had a devastating impact on housing affordability while cramming more and more people into a limited area. Housing costs are extremely high and so are the rents.

Radical leftists and environmental extremists want everyone to live like in The Hunger Games, where the average citizens are made to live in stack-and-pack apartments that they do not own, while they reside inside one of the few mega-cities with extremely densely populated living conditions.

Anonymous

via email

Preach!

Re “Sprawl on” by Cosmo Garvin (SN&R Bites, June 18):

Thank you for the spot-on Bites column. Garvin accurately portrays the parade of clueless sycophants masquerading as public-policy visionaries while they serve the agenda of their billionaire masters and ignore public sentiment. His world-weary tone and the description of their shameless opportunism is both breathtaking and brief. As far as I’m concerned, you could republish this column every issue until the sleepwalkers electing the city and county governments wake up.

As one Australian planner described our local planning practices: “You Yanks don’t consult the wisdom of democracy; you enable mobs.”

Of course, we’re not alone. Describing New York, planning expert Jane Jacobs said, “The pseudoscience of planning seems almost neurotic in its determination to imitate empiric failure and ignore empiric success.”

Unfortunately, Sacramento’s local government never seems to miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

Name withheld

via email

Minimum wage costs more

Re “Tipping point” by Nick Miller (SN&R News, June 11):

It is easy for a non-business owner to say wage increases really don’t affect a business. They don’t see all of the costs for an employee, like workers-comp rates going up because premiums are based on wages paid. So not only does a business owner have a wage increase, but payroll taxes and workers-comp rates also increase. This is not to say that employees don’t deserve raises, or that it is incredibly hard to live on a small wage. But both sides of the coin have to be looked at.

Carole Israel Freeman

via email

Veganism a healthy answer

Re “Step up your meatless game” by Ann Martin Rolke (SN&R Dish, June 11):

I don’t see the problem with fake meat. It is often much better nutritionally than what it is replacing. Fake bacon is a good example: It is often fried tempeh, a veritable superfood that is fermented soybeans loaded with vitamins, protein and antioxidants, while bacon is loaded with saturated fat that the human body cannot use at all. I think that Garden To Grill and its predecessor, The Plum, has done a big favor for Midtown residents: They are the only vegan restaurants in the history of Midtown.

Don Knutson

Sacramento