WPCNR MR. AND MRS. AND MS. WHITE PLAINS VOICE. January 14, 2004: A writer familiar with Planning Issues in the 70s offers this perspective saying "development must be manage."
John,
I would only wish to have my comments posted anonymously.
When I left town in the 1990s few, had ever heard of the Internet , and none
had heard of Al Quaida . If I may offer a couple of observations about the
Comprehensive Plan discussions on Thursday evening :
1) In the late 1980s, the historian Kenneth Jackson spoke at the White
Plains Public Library (Some readers have seen him speak in the Ken Burns New
York documentary series which aired on PBS). An older gentleman rose to
speak and essentially asked how one could halt development. Jackson was
genuinely shocked.
The die was caste under Mayor Hendey. One must manage
development .I think most people accept this, but there is still an element
that wishes for the White Plains Tracy and Hepburn spoke about in Desk Set,
or the town to which Fred MacMurray commuted home in The Apartment.
2) In the early 1990s, a prominent White Plains developer spoke from
the podium "off the record" following a planning board meeting in the
"sunset year" of the 1977 plan. He referred to the CBD (Central Business
District) as the "DMZ".
When I note the names dropped in your story and the (ir)
location, it appears that this is still true. Of the 150 residents in
attendance, how may live north of Maple Avenue ? How many live north of
Hamilton Avenue ? How may live north of Route 287 ?
