To the Editor:
I would like to give a full-throated Amen to Bruce Dearstyne’s thoughtful letter laying out the need for a vision of what we want Guilderland to be [“Town board needs to articulate its vision for Guilderland’s future,” The Altamont Enterprise, Dec. 15, 2022]. It was a revelation to see such an excellent analysis of the issues we confront.

I, too, am a 40-year resident of the town. I love this place for the reasons so many of my neighbors do. Its quality of life; green spaces; good schools and library; and lack of a crowded, stressful environment. Many people want to live here because it’s a little bit country, but very easy to get to your job or other attractions in surrounding cities, especially Albany.

Ironically, as with so many other places, these qualities attract developers who want to monetize them. This has happened from San Francisco to Saratoga Springs. Sadly, this development often goes too far and changes the nature of the place, destroying the very attributes that made the area desirable.

When I read about the volume of development being proposed in Guilderland, I feel like we are sleep walking right into this situation. Isn’t anyone adding up the numbers? Isn’t anyone giving any consideration to how this will affect the lives, not to mention the property values, of the residents who live here?

What will this massive development do to our town’s environment? What kind of hellscape will hundreds or thousands of new cars create in the Route 20 corridor? I look at places like Route 146 in Clifton Park, which is a perpetual traffic jam, and think, “Is this how we want to live?”

Mr. Dearstyne is absolutely correct in saying that a vision, looking at the big picture, and planning are needed to avoid this fate. In my opinion, perhaps even a rethinking of the scale of these changes.

The potential mess being created is completely preventable if quality of life is added to the equation, which currently only seems to include financial concerns. 

John F. Hughes

Altamont