Dear Editor:
After reading your March 13 story, Council Embraces Ideas for Revitalizing Ambleside, I was very excited to see progress in an area that really needs it.
However, my encouragement was somewhat diminished by offensive comments made by a Sophia Burke: "nothing in Ambleside that is any draw" and "right now it's a chore to go there." The worst one was: "There's horrible small little stores there that I don't even know how they exist."
I own a thriving business in Ambleside and buy fresh produce, fresh baked goods and support many other merchants in Ambleside who in turn support me. Yes, Ambleside needs a facelift, it needs rejuvenating, and it needs work - no one will disagree on that notion. But these comments make it sound like Ambleside is indeed the "Gaza Strip" instead of the thriving community that it is.
Many of my guests come from "exotic" locations such as Burnaby, Richmond and downtown Vancouver. I don't think they find it "a chore to go there."
Peter Oates, owner, Carmelo's Restaurant West Vancouver
