'Green space ladies'
By Jack Lundy
Daily Press
January 2, 2007
Thanks to the untiring efforts of the "green space ladies," the developers, housing contractors and real estate agents have been held at bay - for the time being. Without these ladies we would already have seen the Buckroe green space turned into just another bunch of expensive, densely packed condos and voguish boutiques.
Hopefully, the ever-insatiable appetite for tax revenue of the Hampton city fathers will be assuaged in the belief that the area surrounding an urban park redevelopment will ultimately prosper, as it has elsewhere in the country, and provide abundant tax revenue.
The City Council of Hampton should look on this space as a reclamation project, a second opportunity to create a beautiful, larger, public park for generations to enjoy. Development should begin outside the existing green space, not destroy it.
Virtually everyone I have spoken to agrees with this solution, but most people do not get involved because they believe the City Council of Hampton made its decision long ago and these meetings are only a charade to give the appearance of being open-minded. Again, thanks to the "green space ladies" for fighting for all of us and generations to come.
Jack Lundy
Hampton
