After reading “Community Shocked by Village Plan” in the Feb. 13 issue, I couldn’t help but think about how overcrowding and insufficient infrastructure are perennial problems in many American communities. Poor or nonexistent prior planning has been part of—and continues—exacerbating these problems. Most people believe throwing money at the problems will solve them. But, typically, incompetence and corruption contribute significantly to the perpetuation of the problems and the failure to address them.
To begin in the present case, I would wonder who selected the Great Neck planning group, why and how much were they paid. I’d bet a whole lot that incompetence and corruption both played a role. Then, I would suggest that capping resident populations in the villages, developing a local mass-transit plan and incentivizing landlords to subsidize rents for small business owners would be good ways to start improving the quality of life in town.
—Richard Gerber
