Commercial district doesn't need expansion

I am a lifelong resident of Sandpoint; my husband has lived here since 1962. We see no need to expand the commercial area into the current residential areas as proposed by the city's new comprehensive plan. We have many beautiful old buildings downtown; we need more retail shops there, instead of real estate offices. People might shop downtown and not go out north to the big box stores.

The proposed plan hasn't taken into consideration the existing neighborhoods. Our neighborhoods add much to Sandpoint's charm. Our homes are our history. We've lived in ours for over 31 years and we don't want to see our neighborhood or those nearby used as an experiment where commercial and residential are mixed. This isn't Seattle, Portland, Denver or even Spokane. In Sandpoint, every time commercial has moved into a residential neighborhood here, that neighborhood has died a needless death.

Let's remember the Sandpoint of old. Let's return to a city with a thriving downtown, surrounded by neighborhoods future generations can call home, raise families, as we've raised ours. Let's continue to preserve neighborhoods for families. Dorothy was right: "There's no place like home."

NED and LUCILLE DAVIS

Sandpoint