It's not fair to call retirement center opponents NIMBYs

To the Editor:

I'm really tired of proponents for the potential NCR retirement facility attacking their opponents as short-sighted NIMBYs. I think a retirement facility is a great idea for Athens, but I think the space chosen for it was wrong. People of all ages and backgrounds love that green space! It is a rare, extremely inclement day indeed when that field is empty; it seems there is always at least one person playing fetch with his or her dog or flying model airplanes, if there isn't a game on or a flock of kites. Not everybody is as lucky as my family, with open spaces of our own, so I understand why that Stimson Avenue field is so important, with convenient parking and few power lines overhead.

I don't live in the city. I'm not writing for or against any council candidates. To me this is not about campaign issues. I just wish we could get past the idea of pinning the failure of the NCR project on Ms Fahl and friends. (Though I'd be flattered, if I were her, that so many people thought me so powerful and influential!) There were plenty of reasons it didn't work out, and plenty of reasons to keep trying for something else somewhere else. What about those huge swaths of open space on Columbus Road, such as at the base of the hill, behind those office buildings?

Or are we seriously to believe that the Stimson Avenue location was so ideal because its elderly residents could WALK uptown or to the shopping and dining opportunities on East State? I remember the state of health and mobility my grandparents were in when they had to move to assisted living, and I don't buy that argument.

It'd be fantastic if we could work together to get this whole retirement center thing figured out before I need to retire. I'm 27. Anything I can do to help?

Marley Soluna
Willow Creek Road
Athens