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To the Editor: 

It accomplishes little for opponents and supporters of the height initiative to point at each others’ houses or living arrangements and call it intelligent debate. I live on a “transit corridor” where there is no efficient transit and gridlock is a fact of life. The planning department seems oblivious to overcrowding’s effect on parks, parking, pedestrian and bike safety, and general livability. I despair imagining my neighborhood's future with or without the height initiative, which I believe doesn't go far enough. 

I hope the voters of Berkeley will pass the height initiative to send a message to the bureaucrats who are poised to exacerbate an already unlivable situation. Affordable housing? The working poor can’t afford these chicken coop units in the first place. Maybe someday we’ll get some honest solutions to our urban difficulties, but don't kid the voters that the current situation is other than a developers’ feast. 

Carol Denney  

Berkeley