Let me preface this by saying that I am a San Benito transplant.
I moved here in 1999 because I thought this would be a better place
to raise my children, and because someone could still afford a home
without working three jobs to pay the mortgage. I’m an avid reader
of the local news (even the free one) and have tried to follow the
local issues as best as can be expected of a transplant.
Editor,
Let me preface this by saying that I am a San Benito transplant. I moved here in 1999 because I thought this would be a better place to raise my children, and because someone could still afford a home without working three jobs to pay the mortgage. I’m an avid reader of the local news (even the free one) and have tried to follow the local issues as best as can be expected of a transplant.
This issue with the Gavilan campus location is a prime example of what’s wrong in this town and county. The city has been trying for several decades to engineer and build a bypass so that traffic flow through town might be reduced. They are on the verge of seeing this project come into being, but some are complaining that the Gav campus should be located downtown.
Has anyone thought about how much traffic even a small campus like the one Gav is proposing will bring to town? The proponents say that it will be within walking distance of the downtown area homes, which will encourage the public to get out and walk to school. When was the last time you saw a teenager with a driver’s license walk farther than a few blocks? If they live at Ridgemark, Valley View or even La Baig Estates, do you think they would walk to a campus on Park Hill? Yes, they could, but they won’t.
I don’t think it’s a wise investment to build a bypass for millions of dollars, and then redirect a large number of motorist back in to town to attend school. The town and county seem to shoot themselves in the foot because no one can agree upon anything. The Gav campus may be better suited somewhere other than it’s proposed location, but stop whining about it not being in town. I, for one, am glad to see it on the outskirts of town where it belongs.
Thomas Clark, Hollister
