Letters to the Editor: Magnolia Park isn’t only area affected by rent increases

To follow up on Jamie O’Brien Moore’s letter in the Mailbag (“Rent increases threaten shops,” April 21), Magnolia Park isn’t the only Burbank area where exorbitant rents are driving out businesses; downtown Burbank is experiencing the same problem.

There once was a newspaper and magazine shop in Burbank Village on San Fernando Boulevard in the block that houses Starbucks and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. No matter which coffee house a person preferred, it was always convenient to stop and buy the paper before going for coffee. And the shop’s proprietor was a friendly man who would gladly engage in conversation about the news of the day. No more — the shop owner could not afford the huge rent increase the building owner levied, so he called it quits.

And it’s not just commercial rentals that have seen huge increases. Residential rentals in Burbank have also risen excessively, contributing to the burgeoning homeless population. Low-wage earners and the elderly living on fixed incomes can no longer afford to stay in their living quarters due to the greed that has consumed not only Burbank but most of California.

Molly Shore

Burbank

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Our family wishes to thank the Burbank Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center for its staff’s kindness and support. We are humbled by the care and compassion they showed to our mother. We thank them for their excellent professional healthcare service and for showing our family great kindness, hope and comfort.

Our family is grateful.

The Rizzotti Family

Burbank