Condos can help us conserve
By LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published January 16, 2007
Recently there have been more than a few "condo bashing" letters printed from proud owners of single-family detached homes. "The greedy developers are ruining everything!"
Developers build places for people to live. If people didn't buy the homes that the developers build, then there would certainly be no "greedy developers" - including the developer who built the home these condo-haters live in.
The facts are that the population continues to grow and people have to have places to live. If you don't like that, then your issue isn't with developers - it's with parents.
Condominiums have a much lower environmental impact per capita than a detached home. Most studies show that a condo dweller uses about two-thirds as much water as a traditional home dweller - mostly due to the fact that the condo dweller has no lawn to water. The condo dwellers also use less electricity and generally drive many fewer miles.
So maybe these people who are worried about the per capita consumption of natural resources will show us their true level of dedication to the cause and move out of their water-, electricity- and gas-wasting homes and into one of those environmentally friendly condos.
Gary Grooms, St. Petersburg
Growth in homelessness comes as no surprise
5,000 sleep in streets Jan. 13, commentary by James Bennett
Thank you for St. Petersburg City Council member James Bennett's enlightening article on Saturday's Opinion page about the homeless people in Pinellas County. I was one of those sheltered citizens who erroneously thought that most homeless persons were alcoholics or drug addicts. I was alarmed to learn that many of the homeless consist of families, including infants and children, and that almost 40 percent of the homeless surveyed were homeless for the first time this year. I was also dismayed to learn that most of the homeless families were employed in the last month, but could not afford a place to live - dismayed, but not surprised.
Considering how much property taxes and property insurance have escalated in the last few years, which has resulted in higher rents and higher prices on food and other basic necessities, nobody should be surprised that many people are losing their homes and cannot afford a place to live.
No doubt the problem will get worse if the Florida Legislature does not reform our ridiculous property tax laws and find a solution to our current property insurance crisis. Taking too much money out of taxpayers' pockets can actually create additional financial problems for government, as evident by the rapidly growing group of homeless families.
Henry J. Weese, Palm Harbor
No sympathy
Let me see if I have this straight. If I park my car next to Williams Park in St. Petersburg longer than two hours, parking services will hassle me and give me a ticket. If I park my body in Williams Park for two weeks, not only is it okay, but someone may actually bring me food!
If the current plethora of homeless articles in the St. Petersburg Times was to elicit sympathy, they have missed the mark. I am dismayed at the incredibly poor choices and behaviors made by those whose plights were described in the articles. The tent city folks seem to think that handouts are some kind of right.
The people who have written to the paper supporting the homeless should feel free to take one of these unfortunates home and take care of them. Do not tend to them and feed them in my neighborhood. Do it in your own. It is obvious that the homeless need some kind of help, but not by breaking the law.
Kudos to St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker in dealing with this situation.
Barry Koestler, St. Petersburg
Pinellas can do more
The latest debacle concerning the tent city in St. Petersburg has brought again to the forefront a concern I noticed upon moving to Pinellas County in 2001. When I moved to Largo from a small Southern city, I expected at least the same level of community awareness and programming dealing with such issues as hunger, homelessness and health care for those in need. In my former home, a small city in North Carolina, there were numerous local programs and facilities for those in need.
Upon moving to Pinellas County, however, I noticed right away that there was not the same level of activity in those areas, especially homelessness. Pinellas County, where the average cost of a home ownership has increased drastically over the past 10 years, has fewer facilities for the homeless than a community where the average cost of a home is a stable $102,500? That does not make sense.
I do not see why, in this wealthy county, that to 200 churches, individuals and other organizations could not put together an average of $10,000 each to build a $2-million facility on the empty lot where the tent city was to provide temporary housing. I do not see why government grants and funds could not be tapped as well, and other money be allocated for the operation of such a facility. It would not solve the problems of homelessness in our county, but such a project could make a dent.
At least the tent city situation has shown us that homelessness is not "their" problem, it is our problem too.
The Rev. James Welch, Christ Presbyterian Church, Largo
Negative impacts
I live three blocks from the tent city site, and my neighbors and I are negatively affected by the city's homeless every day. Let me offer some words of advice to those self-righteous individuals who drive downtown to offer clothing and food to the homeless: You are just perpetuating the problem!
The city needs to group the homeless into four categories: the insane, the handicapped, the temporarily homeless and the lazy. Put the insane and handicapped in state-run medical facilities, provide temporary shelter to those genuinely trying to get back on their feet and buy bus tickets out of town for the lazy, drug-using, burglarizing bums.
The sad thing is, my neighbors and I know firsthand that the latter category describes the vast majority of St. Petersburg's homeless.
Scott Smith, St. Petersburg
Florida doesn't pay
I share the frustration of other letter writers about the pitiful wages in this state. I relocated here two years ago from the Northeast. I have over 30 years' experience in two different trades.
It seems the employers here do not want quality personnel. That would mean paying a decent wage. They want low-skilled employees who can do the job just well enough to get the product out the door, so to speak.
I am routinely offered starting wages equal to what I was making 25 years ago. As a result of this, plus the high cost of homeowners insurance and electricity, I will be moving back to the Northeast, where both the wages and the intelligence quotient of the employers are much higher.
Vincent Catalano, Spring Hill
Stupid subsidies
Federal insurance program under fire Dec. 30, story
Are we just stupid?
Why are we allowing the politicians to get away with this "extending the taxpayer-subsidized coverage (for hurricanes, flooding) for some of the riskiest ... properties in the country"? These include Jekyll Island, Ga., and a 10-lot subdivision in Grayton Beach in the Florida Panhandle.
According to the item, Congress passed two bills adding hundreds of high-risk properties and paved the way for new construction on vulnerable land. If people want to build there, then let them be self-insured. Why are we paying for it when we can hardly make our own individual insurance payments?
Is there no way to stop these power-hungry madmen? Why are they still in office?
Glennis Williams and John Edwards, St. Petersburg
A winning page
Sports overload Jan. 11, letter
For the state of Florida, winning a national championship in any sport is a great thing, and you have to admit, it surely beats the rotten news we have to endure day by day.
It's depressing to say the least, and it's about time the "Bad News" took the "Back Page." That was an excellent front page on Jan. 9, St. Petersburg Times. Keep up the great work.
Vern P. Morneau, Spring Hill