Letters to the Editor: Cities’ efforts to refuse help to the homeless is an appalling development

I’ve been following the plight of the homeless from the Santa Ana River, and the almost universal rejections by the local communities to provide emergency space for them to live is appalling.

We have rallies to protest building a wall, we complain about an administration rejecting those from abroad who need help and then immediately turn our back on local community members who simply need a place to lay their head at night.

Supporting a group with such specific needs and inherent difficulties is challenging, but their lives are challenging each and every minute. We only prolong their pain when we only consider our comfort.

Eric Kuyper

Costa Mesa

An alternative to proposed Koll project

The developers are planning to build 260 very large condominiums stacked inside three, 13-story towers on top of parking lots currently located within a large office complex. They are being marketed to people without children who are supposedly looking for a “luxury” residence and have over $2 million to spend for it. I’m not sure a condo in the middle of an office park is what they’re looking for, no matter how luxurious it might be.

But nearby housing in the area is what the folks who work inside those offices want and need. Right now they’re making up to two-hour commutes to work every day from what are currently the only affordable homes in the area. How about building some moderately priced town houses for them on this property?

Add a little nursery school, a playground in a park and a little market. In 10 minutes the residents can walk to work, and as they’re walking home, pick up their child from nursery school and buy a bottle of milk from the mini-mart. And they can do all of this without once getting into the car and adding to our miserable traffic congestion. Nice for them and nice for us.

Andrea Lingle

Newport Beach

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