To the editor:

As a Lawrence resident I am frustrated to see this great community hijacked by developers and a City Commission (minus Boog) who seems to not care for our neighborhoods. I moved to Lawrence because of its uniqueness and am sad to see the city growing in what I think is the wrong direction. I hear people saying that growth is inevitable, but I believe that to be wrong. We can say no to businesses that will hurt our community and instead court businesses who will pay our residents enough to pay the bills.

Not everyone in West Lawrence voted for the commissioners who OK’d the chance for Wal-Mart to now dominate the traffic and business in that area. Many of them have spent hours upon hours trying to keep their neighborhoods safe from the future influx of traffic.

No matter how you feel about that side of town, there are still children who will now be faced with an immense amount of traffic as they make their way to and from school, and don’t forget the public pool by Free State High School.

I can’t imagine what the traffic will be like for our new drivers getting in and out from Free State. I teach at Lawrence High, and I know what the traffic is like there; I can’t imagine having Wal-Mart next door. Ridiculous. It’s a shame that the commission didn’t make Wal-Mart pay up to fix our streets BEFORE the box is built.

Heidi Adams,

Lawrence