To the Editor:

Elizabeth Floyd Mair’s article in the Jan. 3 issue of The Enterprise, “Apartments are what Guilderland is getting. Are they what it wants?” was an excellent description of the development choices that the town faces.

But that article also confirmed that the town is in a reactive mode rather than a proactive one to plan and shape its own future.

The need to act on short-term issues — decisions on this proposal for senior housing, that proposal for mixed-use apartments, this proposal for inter-generational units, that one for single-family homes, etc.  — gets in the way of the larger, more profound and long-term considerations: What do we want for the future of our town? Do we want the town to keep growing sporadically, one development after another? What should we insist on for community viability and quality of life?

Guilderland is a wonderful town. But it needs to pause and re-calibrate its future.

For instance:

* Comparing Guilderland to Bethlehem and Colonie as in the article provides helpful insights but is limited. It would be better to draw on, and benchmark against, model communities that have carefully planned their growth and at the same time preserved quality-of-life traits, built a strong sense of community, brought in well-paying jobs, limited traffic, and otherwise created vibrant places where people want to live. A few places to look might include:

— AARP, "Liveable Communities," Chapter 9 of AARP Policy Book, 2017-2018. https://policybook.aarp.org;

— American Planning Association, "\”Great Places in America.” 2018. https://www.planning.org/greatplaces;

— Chicago  Policy Research Team, Building Vibrant Communities. 2016. https://pbpl.uchicago.edu/sites/pbpl.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/CPRT/2016_CPRT_Building_Vibrant_Communities.pdf;

— Christopher Dierksen et al,The Citizen’s Guide to Planning. 2017;

— Kristen Fescoe,”50 Best Small Downtowns in America.” 2015. http://www.bestchoicereviews.org/50-best-small-town-downtowns-in-america;

— International City/County Management Association (ICMA), “Community Planning.” https://icma.org/topic-search/community-planning;

— Bill Kercher, Character Towns: Positioning Small Cities and Towns for the New Economy. 2017;

— National Association of Realtors, Smart Growth: A Toolkit for Realtors. 2006. https://www.scribd.com/document/95190635/Smart-Growth-Program-Toolkit#download&from_embed;

— Project for Public Spaces, What is Placemaking? https://www.pps.org/category/placemaking;

— Mark Roseland, Toward Sustainable Communities: Solutions for Citizens and Their Governments. 2012;

— Smart Growth Network, Smart Growth Principles. http://smartgrowth.org/smart-growth-principles; and

— Stephanie Weeks, The Past and Future City. 2016.

*Estimate, and let people know, whether land and school taxes are likely to go up or down if development proceeds as now projected;

*Enforce town rules on overcrowding in homes;

*Develop more restrictive criteria for using public development funds;

*Develop initiatives to bring well-paying jobs into the town; and

*Consider some entirely new approaches, for instance, developers provide some support for things to strengthen the community such as the Guilderland Public Library, development of a Guilderland Community Center, or establishment of a Guilderland Heritage Center.

Bruce W. Dearstyne

Westmere