Dear Editor:
As 36-year owners of a three storey family home on Hunter Street, my husband and I found your June 9 story, Lower Lynn To Be Transformed, with its subhead, Development Plan for Dowdy Area, most informative.
We noted that Coun. Doug MacKay-Dunn has recently changed his descriptive metaphor for our area, no longer calling it the "Whalley" of North Vancouver; rather, we have become "the armpit of the North Shore" with "housing not even third world but fourth."
We found ourselves puzzled by this fresh metaphor, and wondered whether MacKay-Dunn, or for that matter the North Shore News, had ever driven down our one-block street. When we bought our home years ago, the area around Hunter was farm-like, a village full of diversity of income and age. We gradually added to our home as we had a family. Over the years, we raised our children through community preschool (Seymour Heights), a community school (Lynnmour) and a community college (Capilano), where I taught and our children began their university educations years ago.
Neighbourhood and community are keys to our personal values. As we contemplate the disintegration of our street and community along with the potential future sale of our home, we grieve its loss.
Perhaps the North Shore News, with the help of Coun. MacKay-Dunn, could help us out as we search for another North Vancouver neighbourhood. A map of the human body superimposed upon the North Shore would be immensely useful. As mentioned, the heart of a community matters to us, so we are looking for a place near the heart. We adamantly want to avoid those areas where scornful citizens congregate, particularly those odoriferous areas near the rear end.
Looking forward to your help.
Jean Clifford North Vancouver
