HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-1318 (2)
CityClerk
From:Evelyn Rios Stafford <evelynalexisrios@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, December 5, 2023 2:06 PM
To:CityClerk
Subject:In Support of 71B Corridor Plan
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Dear Fayetteville City Council Members,
I'm writing to support the 71B Corridor plan, an excellent vision for the future of our city's backbone, put together by the
Mayor's staff.
Rather than repeat what many others have said, I will highlight a social media post made today by Keaton Smith, that
paints a vision of a possible future enabled by this plan:
"Picture this: it’s December 2050 and you’re an empty-nester living in Fayetteville. You wake up in your two bedroom
condo at the corner of Maple and college on a Tuesday morning and you walk downstairs to the coffee shop on the
bottom floor of your building to order your favorite coffee.
The barista knows your name, and you also run into two friends. One of the friends, you just met a month earlier
walking on the sidewalk outside of your building. The other friend you met almost 50 years earlier as a college student in
Fayetteville.
After grabbing your coffee, you walk outside and immediately see that the street car trolley line is about to make a stop
in front of your building. You hop on the trolley and ride a short distance north on college up to Cafe Rue Orleans.
Because there’s so much more housing and retail along College Ave., Café Rue Orleans is now open for brunch seven
days a week. You pause and realize how grateful you are to be able to order eggs ponchartrain on a Tuesday.
After brunch, you hop back on the trolley and continue to head north on College Ave. You visit a variety of retail stores,
and knock out most of your Christmas shopping at locally-owned retailers. Your oldest child meets you and joins for part
of the shopping fun and when you’re finished, you drop off your bags and wrapped gifts at their home located near one
of several new town Squares located throughout the City. This one is known as Fiesta Square.
You reflect on how grateful you are that your child has the opportunity to own a home right in the middle of
Fayetteville. While housing costs remain a challenge, the community has been able to accommodate its growth by
redeveloping the College Avenue corridor with a mix of uses, including several thousand new residential units. All this
new housing supply has helped keep housing more affordable, while also making public transit viable, which has further
reduced the cost of living and improved public health, social cohesion, and quality of life.
After dropping off all of your gifts, you and your oldest child hop in her car to head to your other child’s house. Your son
and his family have chosen a pastoral lifestyle in between Goshen and Kingston. They live on 10 acres, raising chickens
and small livestock with a thriving 2 acre garden. You and your family enjoy a dinner of local food prepared by your
children.
You’re still in the Thanksgiving mood, so after dinner you continue to share gratitude. You mention that you are so glad
that the community collaborated to redevelop College Ave and other in-town transit corridors over the past 30 years. By
concentrating development along these corridors, the community was able to preserve farmland and ease of access to
the Buffalo River instead of continuing the pattern of suburban sprawl. Since your son is a teacher and your daughter is a
fire fighter, you are particularly grateful that the land + infrastructure-efficient development pattern allowed the city
and school district to increase salaries for first responders and teachers, respectively. And since public transit has
accommodated much of the new transportation demand, traffic seems easier to navigate today than it was 30 years
ago.
Does this possible future appeal to you? Why or why not?"
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Thanks,
Evelyn Rios Stafford
527 S. Sherman Ave.
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