To the editor:

In the Thanksgiving Day Your Turn about the former Sunrise Gardens site at 15th Street and Learnard Avenue, Riggs Skepnek has, in my opinion, captured the thoughts, feelings and wishes of the majority of people in Lawrence. We actually care about how our town evolves into “Unmistakably Lawrence!”

I could piggyback on the Your Turn, going on about how people from Kansas City and surrounding areas love to spend a day in Lawrence shopping, eating and sightseeing. I could go on about how Lawrence is slowly but surely turning into a mini-Overland Park. I could go on about how there are four to six large grocery stores within a five- to 10-minute drive of my house and nothing in East or North Lawrence.

I could go on about the incredibly large number of apartments in Lawrence, yet more continue to be built. At the same time, companies outbid home buyers only to turn smaller houses into rentals, ruining property values and pushing out home ownership for young families!

Not uncommon in public discourse these days, it raises the question: Is making money more important than community? Turning a piece of property with an established, meaningful history in Lawrence into an asphalt eyesore completely unrelated to the neighborhood or its history seems to be a slap in the face to citizens of Lawrence. Perhaps the now empty 23rd-Street Dillons site would be a more logical option as it’s more than half parking lot already!

Karen Anderson Troutman,

Lawrence