The BG Independent’s coverage of City Council’s latest meeting features a false dividing line. We’re told that “older residents” dig in their heels, while “new younger…professionals” keep an open mind. But can problems aggravated by Commercial-Residential zoning — noise pollution, litter, traffic congestion, and slum conditions, to name a few — really be dismissed as a generation gap?
Farther down the column, greater truth emerges. A neighborhood advocate says, “city officials…could…require landlords to maintain their rentals.” Yes! And wouldn’t that be more helpful to the young man complaining of ratty apartments, than permitting a carryout to open on every residential block from Poe to Napoleon, Eberly to Manville/Thurston?
“Another young resident” is quoted bemoaning the lack of starter homes in Bowling Green. I can also attest to this fact, having spent most of 2022 searching for one. So wouldn’t it make sense to point out that the new zoning proposals do nothing to address the lack of homes for would-be owner-occupants? The commenter is portrayed as if she supports Commercial-Residential zoning, but her actual point is that homes get snapped up by investors and — Poof! — converted to rentals.
This trend is likely to accelerate under the new proposals. Why? Because maintaining older homes requires ongoing investment, something us “older residents” have been doing for decades. But our houses could quickly be turned to profit if you lower your standards, slap up some drywall, and divide that aging edifice into a duplex, triplex, or apartment building.
The muttering is audible all across town: “Just move if you don’t like a beerhall in your backyard, or a dumpster emptied off your alley at 4am!” Sure, when us oldsters abandon our near-downtown neighborhoods and shuffle off to the nursing home, I guess young entrepreneurs of BG can have their way with the city.
And yet, while I was petitioning this week to keep R-2 zoning, quite a few townies in their twenties were eager to sign. “I love the old houses…We always trick-or-treated there…It’s part of our history and ought to keep going…” These were some of the comments I heard.
Don’t fall for the claim that zoning is an Age vs. Youth conflict, any more than it boils down to the false narrative of owner vs. renter. Everyone who loves Bowling Green has a stake in maintaining its appeal to residents and visitors alike, along with the integrity of our oldest residential neighborhoods.
Anesa Miller
Bowling Green
