We agree wholeheartedly with the recent Viewpoint “Housing For the Rich” by Paul Conte in the Weekly. He clearly and succinctly lays out the arguments against the city’s zoning change  proposals. As residents of the Jefferson Westside neighborhood, we have already experienced the negative aspects of density building next door to us.

A closer examination of the impacts on noise, costs of rentals and congestion must take place prior to any decisions on this proposed zoning change. On a personal note, try having a two-story fourplex constructed 10 feet from your house, where once a single family home existed; we did, and the benefit we receive from this is having the excessive heat of the new Eugene summer climate bouncing down on our home and garden.

Uncomfortable? To say the least. These multi-unit constructions in established single family neighborhoods benefit someone, but not us. Cramming more humans on top of each other is a fool’s errand, paid for by forces that have little or no connection to those neighborhoods other than financial profit. Time to raise the minimum wage and make single family dwellings affordable for all, everywhere.

Roger Evers and Marie Nemir

Eugene