Letters to the Editor: La Cañada Flintridge is a NIMBY paradise? Not judging by our traffic

To the editor: The article, “Protests, lawsuits and a dead rat: A wealthy California city’s epic fight to block growth,” disparages La Cañada Flintridge without including some important information about the new multifamily housing development.

I believe the project, bounded on two sides by a church, is much too large for the parcel size.

The article describes the community as a “peaceful refuge from the bustle of Los Angeles, an affluent bastion.” In reality, we deal with traffic that is beyond our control.

Our “peaceful refuge” has been split down the middle by the 210 Freeway since the mid-1970s.

Furthermore, Angeles Crest Highway intersects Foothill Boulevard smack in the middle of town. In 2009, a big rig barreling down that road crashed through the intersection at Foothill, killing two people in a car. Angeles Crest has become a raceway for hot cars going up the hill, especially on the weekends.

Your article says the city’s battle over development dates to the 1980s. It predates that, to the mid-1970s, when residents realized that for us to have any control of our neighborhoods (say, the location of a freeway or traffic on Angeles Crest or Foothill), incorporating as a city was necessary.

Lela Lindsey, La Cañada Flintridge

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To the editor: I’m very familiar with the proposed location for the multi-unit housing project in La Cañada Flintridge. I live nearby and shop in the area frequently.

Not only is it across the street from a large Arco gas station and near a Ralphs supermarket parking lot, it is also close to a very unremarkable shopping center that is clearly not part of a “village” theme.

This is on Foothill Boulevard, for heaven’s sake, not some quiet residential street.

It’s time for La Cañada Flintridge to set an example not only for housing and the environment, but for the sake of creating sustainable bike-, pedestrian- and transit-friendly communities.

Carl K. Allender, Glendale