Threatened lifestyle

When I revisit history, I analyze patterns that humans have made in reference to the treatment of mankind. The biggest pattern that I perceive to be recurring is how living beings' true "quality of life" is threatened by pure greed.

My correlation to this pattern is my "small-town America" neighborhood, Ridgemont, facing extinction due to, in my opinion, "greed" of a Florida-based developer. Our quaint neighborhood was aesthically chiseled in the 1940s after World War II, creating single-family houses built on the dream that we are united as neighbors.

Now, our dream is facing a nightmare, our heritage will be encroached upon, like the experiences the Indians faced from our past. We will no longer be able to "claim" our land as our investment for our families' future if SouthStar developers are allowed to build seven-story high-rises, 418 units, in our small-town America neighborhood.

Many neighbors have voiced their concerns that this invasion will violate many city of Pittsburgh zoning codes under "901.03 Purpose and Intent." These zoning codes are designed to protect neighbors' "quality of life."

If this development is allowed to proceed, then I will internalize mankind's history, the despair the Indians went through when they were told they were taking a journey to a "new future." That trail misled the innocent to a "trail of tears" that ended with a false sense of kindness that was driven by pure greed.

 

BETH HANIS
Ridgemont