Time is now for real Westside solutions

Enough already. Robert Graham’s transparent argument for a bridge

at 19th Street as opposed to through his neighborhood at Gisler

Avenue has gone far enough. He has now stooped to personal attacks on

the residents of the Westside (“Bridge decision fails Westside,” Jan.

12).

As amazing as it may seem, many of us living on the Westside are

not just a winning lottery ticket away from moving to a more

“desirable” neighborhood. In fact, many of us are very happy living

here, even though we could afford to re-establish ourselves in any

number of neighborhoods in coastal Orange County.

The Westside does indeed have a plethora of problems. Facilitating

a high-speed flow of a greater volume of traffic down 19th Street and

over to Huntington Beach is not going to solve any of them. The No. 1

thing that can be done is to enforce the existing codes and laws with

sustained vigor. The next is to implement the recent considerations

of the Community Redevelopment Action Committee. Continue the

undergrounding of utilities. Continue the installation of sidewalks.

Make the Westside a pleasant place to live, work, walk and shop -- a

nice place to be, not a place to drive through.

By improving the environment of the area, the residents will feel

an increased sense of pride in their neighborhood. This increased

sense of pride becomes peer pressure, and all but the most stubborn

of our neighbors will respond. I know this works, as I have seen it

happen here in the Canyon Park neighborhood where we live. It does

not happen overnight, but it does happen. This is common sense and

good value method for neighborhood improvement.

Enough with the 19th Street bridge gang. Let’s move on to real

workable solutions.

JEFF AND DEBBIE WILLIAMS

Costa Mesa