HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-23-2020 Public Comment - M. Coleman - Bridger View RedevelopmentFrom:Martin Coleman
To:Agenda
Cc:trodgers@bozeman.ney
Subject:Bridger View Redevelopment
Date:Thursday, April 23, 2020 9:20:39 PM
Members of the City Commission and Planning Board,
Thank you for your continued dedication on all our behalf during the CoVid pandemic.
I heard, with great interest, the development matter before you, Bridger View Redevelopment. I am in support ofthis proposal for several reasons.1-I am a recently retired financial advisor and enrolled full time in the graduate school at MSU. In one of myclasses, I was able to analyze HRDC in depth. They consistently exhibit all the qualities of a ‘best practice’ innonprofit management, transparency and accountability. It is fortunate and appropriate that they are a partner in thisendeavor.2-I volunteer on the Help Line and see first hand the fragility of our economy and it’s reliance on service/touristindustries. I listen to families who work two and three jobs to make ends meet in our fabulous city that are nowimpacted. Sadly, they are the invisible who we rarely ‘see’ in our busy lives. They really are the fabric of our townand deserve to have resources devoted to ensure they can thrive here. That includes affordable housing.3- Related to above but in some ways distinct is the disappearance of our traditional working class neighborhoods. Iraised my children in Manhattan MT on a farm; I moved to town in 2015 and reveled in the diversity of myneighbors on the Southside. As prices rose exponentially, I and many of my neighbors sold; the neighborhood is noteconomically diversified any more. I now live on the Northside and see the same demographic shift happening todayas cranes build new ‘luxury’ buildings.
Please stand in the breech to preserve all that is good in Bozeman and approve this project.
Thank you,
Martin Coleman414 N 4th AvenueBozeman, MT 59715
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