To the Editor:
My Opinion
When given the questionnaire by Station Break concerning housing for the elderly, I dismissed my input because I am a home owner and pay property taxes a couple years ahead of schedule. My concern about apartments "was" a moot point – although at 71 years of age, it is my belief Mount Vernon, Ohio should take care of its own elderly people. However, it was an apocalypse (which simply means an unveiling of truth) to further learn (in the Mount Vernon News on April 15) that "the fastest growing population in the city is those age 65 and older." Whose fault is that? Such a situation is called gentrification. Gentrification means the restoration of deteriorated urban property by the middle and upper classes, often resulting in the displacement of lower income people. Historically, a good example of gentrification occurred when the English tried to suppress the Irish in Northern Ireland. There has never been a good spin on the definition, it causes civil strife and unrest. And, by the way, the people who reside on North Norton Street, and the west end of Mount Vernon DO NOT live in the ghetto as some have said! If you want to see a ghetto, there are horrific ones in Europe or Mexico.
The problem of a lack of housing has been enabled by poor city planning. A few years ago, why didn't the city build housing for younger workers at Rolls-Royce who had kids to feed? When the factory had that strike a number of men told me there was a local housing problem. Who wants to commute from say Shelby or Granville to find employment, though Rolls-Royce folded here for other reasons as well? If you want to grow and maintain a town, time's arrow always bends toward the young. So, why are we still planning poorly?
In conclusion, Ohio is an industrial state. We achieve by our work. If we intend to grow, we should not become a carbon copy of retirement communities like Bradenton, Ruskin or Sebring, Florida. Mount Vernon's problems make it look and feel like Tombstone. God bless the elderly, I am a baby boomer. Those "legalized" workers at Rolls-Royce and Siemens could have been helping older folks, now, in grander fashion.
Gaylen A. Waddell
Mount Vernon
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