The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Letters

August 19, 2008

LETTERS: Welcome Wagon seems to have left Hermitage

Kathy McPherson

Hermitage



I’d like to apologize to Mary Ann Paul for those who were so cold and unwelcoming at the Hermitage commissioners’ meeting last Wednesday night. Many of us aren’t like that.

We grew up in Hermitage, formerly Hickory Township, in friendly neighborhoods with modest homes. I don’t know what’s happening lately but it seems like the Welcome Wagon has packed up and gone out of business in some neighborhoods in my city lately.

I do understand residents’ concerns with new development. I live along the noisy five lanes of Hermitage Road.

Our zoning ordinances are a true worry to many of us. Property values have often been negatively affected, but not for the reasons stated by the quoted residents at the meeting.

Truth is, drugs are a problem in Hermitage, like any other community. No one group of people or neighborhood can be blamed — as is confirmed by the local police reports.

Rental homes with $600-$700 monthly rent are far from low-income housing. Many struggling families in Hermitage wish they could live in housing that nice too.

New development often brings traffic problems. The intersection of Valley View, Lamor and Hermitage roads is one of the worst for most of each day.

Traffic studies often seem to gloss over these problems which just get worse. Can that intersection handle any more?

Then too, will the developer maintain those properties for 15 years? Folks worry whether they will remain an asset or become a blemish in neighborhoods where homeowners work hard in caring for their homes.

Hermitage has sure come a long way since the Hickory Township days and the results are mixed. Change comes with difficulty for many of us in our fast-growing community. But one thing I can say is that if the trend continues for the few who bristle and grumble about diversity to push for gated and unwelcoming neighborhoods, then I, for one, will no longer wish to reside in a community in which I have been a proud, lifelong resident.

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