In a message dated 2/20/2008 10:50:13 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
All I said is that it bothers me that there is a significant population of individuals who aren’t very invested in this community because they don’t expect to be here long, yet due to sheer numbers can have a significant impact on how neighborhood public opinion on any given matter is perceived, then walk away and not have to live with the result of whatever decision is made. I tend to think of this differently. Consider this: Many -- although certainly not all -- renters are here for a short term and therefore have not invested their lives in the community to any meaningful degree. However, we have what can be considered a stably transient population. The people -- students, young working people, and others -- who are here for a year or two will be succeeded by others having similar characteristics in terms of wants, needs, preferences, etc. So the priorities and opinions of those who are here now will tend to reflect, at least to a degree that should be considered, the priorities and opinions of those who will be here two, five, maybe 10 years down the road. If parking is a problem for renters now, it will probably be a problem for renters later. If preference for apartments in older buildings carved from early 20th Century homes with diversity among neighbors, over new high-rises at the edge of campus exclusively populated by students and other University affiliates is desirable for some renters now, it will be desirable for some renters later. On this basis, I think their having a voice in these matters is appropriate. A caveat is that student days tends to being forth a few activists and a lot of people who are so wrapped up in their education and research that they're impervious to what's happening around them. So we have to be careful in evaluating the opinions of those who do come forth. Of course, the same could be said for the folks we consider "owner occupants." Often, we hear from people like me and others I won't name but everybody can figure out -- on one or another side of an issue -- and what we say may or may not reflect the thoughts of the people we implicitly or explicitly represent ourselves as representing. Interestingly, at the meeting last Wednesday, most of the 30 or so people who got up and spoke were not from the activist sector. We heard vox populi, which I remind you vox Dei est. Remember, you read it first here on the popu-list. Al Krigman **************Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on AOL Living. (http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-campos-duffy/ 2050827?NCID=aolcmp00300000002598)
