...an email to the City of Lakewood City Council

I live along the RTD south sound wall between Garrison and Independence and I believe that I have seen a greater sense of community in my neighborhood as a result of our collective agreement to choose the wall than I've ever felt during the entirety of my time spent here in Lakewood.

For the most part people live their lives separate from their neighbors. Sure we share an occasional glance and perhaps an occasional conversation but for the most part we remain isolated from our neighbors buried within the confines of our homes and our fences.

So when I hear people say that RTD is going to break up our community I have to chuckle a little because I don't see it. Several of my neighbors are like me, in that we don't necessarily feel compelled to come to our door simply because someone is knocking or ringing the bell. We feel that the privacy that our home offers us is of much greater value to us than any sense of connectivity that might be available due to the proximity of our surrounding neighbors. I personally think that many of us are in close proximity to others not out of a sense community, it's simply an economic reality.

In many respects RTD has brought a much greater sense of community to my neighborhood than our neighborhood association ever has. It's clear now that our neighborhood association has been lead by an individual who doesn't share a belief which is common to many of the landowners along the RTD Light Rail Right of Way. He has finally made a public statement at the Lakewood City Council Meeting on April 28, 2008 making clear his opposition to the sound wall and his opposition to increasing the height of sound wall near Gail Ryan's property. So it's clear to those of us that live directly adjacent to the Right of Way and in a sound mitigation zone established, not by RTD, but by Federal Regulation that Eiberhood has not been fairly representing our interests but instead has espoused the parochial views of its leadership. Views which, by the way, have lead to the granting of a special project to cause an expenditure of city resources on signs that reflect our speed along Garrison Street. I suggest that the speed along Garrison is going to be mitigated to a much greater extent by it's stop lights and Light Rail stations than by a couple of signs that tell drivers how fast they are going.

I went to the recent annual meeting of Eiberhood in order to hear Brenda Tierney regurgitate pretty much the same old story that she's always had. I mean telling a bunch of people who live next to the construction that the construction has started is not exactly shock and awe. And an even lengthier presentation by the Eiberhood President of the history of the Eiberhood neighborhood is as equally impressive. The Eiberhood organization seems out of touch with it's neighborhood. They think that cleaning up James Richey Park is a major accomplishment for them for the year.

In my opinion, the meeting started going down hill when Beth Wicht said that we were not going to address specific neighborhood issues. Heck, it's those issues that bring us together. Those are the very issues that we should be discussing. If it weren't our common foes, then we could spend the rest of our lives isolated in our own little worlds listening to music, playing computer games, watching tv and lounging around in our underwear.

If you want to create a sense of community in our neighborhood, I recommend that you start a rumor that the planning commission has just approved the rezoning for the new construction of a Chicken Farm on the lot across the street from Eiber Elementary School. Now there's the kind of foe that we can all stick our teeth into. I submit to you all that given no common enemies that we would be happy just to be left alone to enjoy our little pieces of property in a manner respectful but separate from our neighbors. If you doubt this notion then how do you explain the fact that out of 150,000 residences in the city of Lakewood you have trouble putting together less that 150 people to represent them.