College and Its Eviction of Tenants

On one hand, Claremont has evolved into the quintessential college town--one of the few genuine places in Southern California. But places are made real by people, their culture and history. The seeming willingness of Claremont’s City Council to disregard an entire neighborhood, in favor of a single landholder, smacks of an especially blatant callousness.

The Arbol Verde neighborhood’s destabilization by Claremont McKenna College’s new rental policy--which evicts longtime residents in favor of a transient replacement contingent--is disturbing enough, but the fact that the City Council (to the dismay of the Planning Commission) has furthered this tendency by rezoning a large part of the neighborhood to allow for demolition of existing homes for college expansion, is simply outrageous.

STEVE McLANE

Upland