To the editor:

I was overjoyed to read the news of plans to add 300 new bedrooms to an empty lot right next to a bus stop and across the street from the KU West Campus. I turned to the popular social media app Nextdoor to express my delight that Lawrence would soon be home to 300 more people but was troubled by the tenor of the responses to my post.

I will not talk about how single-family detached housing is the least environmentally friendly form of living or how the current status quo of artificially constrained housing supply benefits current homeowners and landlords. I will not make claims that landowners should be able to do what they wish with their property if health and safety concerns are addressed. No, I would instead like to focus on a very human reason for supporting this new development: More neighbors are good — more people to borrow sugar from when you run out, more people to help shovel our elderly neighbors’ sidewalks, more people who can watch your kids if another needs to go to the emergency room. More neighbors means more neighborliness. And I cannot think of a better reason for supporting these new homes than that.

Conrad Griebel,

Lawrence