6/28/2012 - West Side Leader
     

To the editor:

When a family purchases a home, they put a lot of hopes and dreams into it. They take care of it, pay it off over many years and consider it an asset.

Owning a home and being part of a community was always considered a good thing. Who does not believe that owning a home is a good investment? A home is equity!

However, folks begin to age, and sometimes, hopes and dreams begin to evaporate over time — especially if a family faces a serious illness, or those whose pensions and Social Security checks do not put them into a higher income bracket — as today’s cost of living goes sky high.

The costs of maintenance and repairs are difficult enough. Yet, if a city decides on new conditions without concern for all citizens, the home becomes a complete liability.

City planners often have very worthy goals, but worthy goals are not free. Every avenue must be explored to find ways to reach them without exacting damage on residents. To see houses for sale at a loss is wrong. To cause seniors to be without funds at the ends of their lives seems very ill-advised and mean-spirited.

It seems insincere to listen to the problem, agree with elderly residents and still proceed with plans that have no alternatives.

Home equals asset. Home equals liability. Which is it?

Roger Wilkinson, Norton

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