(4th in a series of posts about Lehigh University)
Gadfly, thank you for this, and for your energy and advocacy. If I might just add: there is one piece missing, and it is of great concern to the neighborhood folk near [Lehigh’s] campus, and that is our expectation that Lehigh will begin knocking down homes to create more parking on the fringes of campus, but in our neighborhoods. It’s not an unconfirmed rumor, but it’s a long-term plan; just not sure how long-term that may be. Note how many homes Lehigh has bought up in the area near Alumni Hall, for example . . . . This is a HUGE concern of some of us, who see the Lehigh sprawl threatening usable family homes that are definitely in demand on the Southside (if they are not taken over by the big companies who only rent to students, whether that’s legal or not!). Will you bring this up in your next flight to council? This is a concern that neighbors are expressing; and some are beginning to say maybe it’s time to just move. Could we all work together to STABILIZE neighborhoods, assure affordable housing for many, and be good neighbors to one another?
Gadfly will not normally publish anonymous comments, but the writer here is known to him and the wish for anonymity is understandable and valid.