Letters: Solve the problem | Richmond Parking

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Learn more Letters to the editor.

Housing, not a bridge,
is the real problem

Concerning: “Richmond-San Rafael Bridge managers re-examine westbound lane options» (February 3).

The main topic missing from the article about the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Bike Path is housing. Why do so many people have to cross this bridge every day? That’s because the Bay Area in general, and Marin County in particular, has been too slow to act to reverse the housing crisis. This means commuters have to live far from their jobs, which ends up costing them, and all of us, money and headaches through increased emissions and worse traffic.

We need to reduce the number of vehicles we drive. Allowing people to live close to where they work and shop is one of the best solutions.

Cities play a huge role in determining where and how much housing will be built through local land use controls. Cities must do their part by relaxing outdated requirements for minimum lot sizes, parking and building heights that stifle new construction.

Maxwell Davis
Oakland

“Daylight” will ruin
Richmond Parking

Concerning: “New security law: “daylight”» (Page A1, February 7).

I live in Richmond and parking is a daily struggle. I have barely five feet of parking in front of my house thanks to a wide crosswalk created by the city last year. For me, it will be impossible to follow the law, and if I park anywhere else, I will have my windshield broken or a flat tire.

Come walk the streets and ask residents what the impact of this law will be. All cities need to solve the parking problem before implementing this daylighting law.

Juan Lores
Richmond

Advantages of the landline
are many

Concerning: “AT&T seeks to pull the plug» (Page A1, February 8).

Maintaining landline telephone service is important for a number of reasons: sound quality is better, calls are not interrupted, and landline telephone service is more efficient in ensuring emergency dispatch where needed.

But in Northern California, where PG&E’s callous and greedy disregard for customer safety and service is causing increasingly frequent power outages, my landline is the only thing that works when the power goes out.

Beth Weinberger
Oakland

Amendment language
nullifies states’ rights

Concerning: “Supreme Court ruling tramples states’ rights» (Page A6, February 6).

Frank Murray argues that states, not Congress, should decide the meaning of the 14th Amendment.

But the 14th Amendment itself says: “Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.” » The 10th Amendment therefore does not apply.

Randall Spangler
San Jose