Mailbag: Museum House would make it possible to walk to work, shopping

As the former CEO of Lee & Associates, a current resident of a luxury condominium tower in Irvine, and a soon-to-be resident of Big Canyon, I would like to respond to a falsehood that I have heard thrown around in the debate over Museum House.

Opponents have claimed, specifically in a recent op-ed (“Commentary: Museum House is out of character with Newport Beach,” Dec. 3) published by the Daily Pilot that no one will walk to work or to shop. This is patently false. My fellow residents and I in the Marquee project in Irvine routinely walk to Mother’s Market and the restaurants at and near Park Place. Several of my neighbors walk to work. We consider this a luxury.

Just like that project, the restaurants, retail and even Whole Foods at Fashion Island are just a short walk away from the proposed Museum House. Many people will take advantage of this mixed-use living to increase the quality of their life while also increasing the quality of life of the entire city by taking cars off the roads and reducing greenhouse gases.

The single best thing we can do to improve traffic in Newport Beach is to make sure that there is high-quality housing near the job centers in order to cut down on the long distance commute to work. Museum House is a perfect example of the smart growth that leading planners advocate to fix the problems with our cities and roads today.

Ed Indvik

Irvine

Thank you for honoring Carl Morgan

Thank you for recently featuring on the front page of the Daily Pilot the generous efforts of the Orange Coast College’s Food Riders Club (“OCC bike riders roll out food to help Costa Mesa’s needy,” Nov. 24)

Yes, Carl Morgan, director of the library, has for years encouraged students to donate back to their community by cycling together to local homeless shelters the excess food from campus activities and from the campus cafeteria. Students learn about the less fortunate, about saving the environment through recycling, group collaboration and more, enriching future communities after they graduate and move on.

Morgan is too modest to toot his own horn. But I’m proud to have known him during my almost 30 years as a colleague, working with him off and on committees. His calming and uniting spirit enriched collaborative efforts among all who worked with him. His quiet actions modeled what continues to be a natural devotion to our “finer angels.”

It was a pleasure to read that Morgan is still carrying the torch, especially for future generations.

Sheila Koff

Emeritus professor, English Department, OCC

Costa Mesa