May 9, 2002

Dear Editor:

The Olympia City Council seems to be in a hurry to revise the city code and build tallbuildings along Heritage Park.

This is a mistake.

The majority of people who live near downtown and use the downtown area do not wanttall buildings.

Downtown Olympia is an historic place. Not only will excessively tall buildings change thearea forever, but it will be ugly.

Square block buildings on 75 percent to 100 percent of a parcel are ugly.

The buildings that replaced Yardbirds are unattractive and the rents are high.

The City Council needs more input from professionals that build living areas not just buildings.

The multiheight buildings in Portland on the Willamette River demonstrate that Olympiacan have new buildings, stores and housing constructed in a unique way for a uniqueenvironment.

Without criticizing builders who build in a cost-efficient frame of mind, cost efficiencyleaves out the importance of livability for Olympia residents.

We want thoughtful planning from the City Council with more local input for our city.

John Newman, Olympia