A Modest Proposal

From the Pioneer Press, Lincolnshire, Illinois:

Carol Johnson doesn't like the idea of the government taking people's property and then turning it over to a private developer for just another retail center. Johnson is one of many Lake Zurich residents who has protested recent efforts by her village to condemn five properties in the downtown to pave the way for a new retail and condominium development.

While her property is not directly affected, she worries that her home, which is located only a couple blocks from the proposed development, could be targeted for condemnation in the future.

And this week from neighboring Highland Park, "Council OKs Two Housing Projects:

Both projects are to be built in a transition zoning district created by the city between single family neighborhoods and the central business district.

Wilmette just approved a 5 story building (up from the 2-story norm) along its two-lane stretch of Green Bay Rd., setting that suburb up for congestion and overdevelopment----

All chasing those sales tax dollars!

I would like to make the modest proposal that our bedroom communities be valued for what they are--let's shrink our village retail centers and build more homes! Why compete with the nearby malls where we and our mobile teens shop? Let our property values fund the village services we need, and nothing more. We can start by dropping business development administrators from the payrolls.