City Should Be Developed as Such

Re “Pricing Ourselves Out of the Housing Market,” letter, Dec. 31: Gregg Daniels should view an aerial photograph of Southern California to see what 50 years of unrestrained development have done to the area. The reason activists are fighting over every major development (more like 2,500 homes rather than the 100 homes he cites) is that so little is left. Contrary to his view of development constrained by NIMBYs, the precious remaining open space is being developed at an alarming pace.

Just drive through northern San Diego County, the San Joaquin Hills, etc., and see the vast swaths of development -- with no significant provisions for transportation or mitigation of urban runoff. And are these homes “reasonably” priced? No. They are in the range of $500,000 to $1 million.

This is a city and should be developed as such. The only relief to the affordable-housing crisis will come from dense, urban development with access to mass transit. How many hours do you have to spend in gridlocked traffic before understanding that the system is not working?

Mark Sherwin

Del Mar