Santa Maria Sun / Letters to the Editor

Guadalupe's gentrification is at hand

Stephen Siemsen, Orcutt -

In response to: “After years of stalled growth, the city of Guadalupe is rapidly adding homes and inching toward future commercial development” (“Building up,” Dec. 5).

As a longtime Central Coast resident, I would suggest editing the title of this piece to read: After years of quiet preservation, the city of Guadalupe is rapidly adding homes and inching toward gentrification through commercial development.

Eight hundred and two houses?! Is this why my neighbors and I have been conserving our limited Central Coast water resources, so “developers” can swoop in to make huge profits by further stressing our resources by another 2,000-plus residents? “La Simpatia” restaurant has my sympathy; it will have to shutter its doors for good once the new residents arrive and patronize the newly constructed Starbucks and fast-food franchises that will follow in the wake of “commercial development.”

And, I don’t know about you, but I savor the open space between my home and the neighbors’, something these new houses don’t provide. No need to go next door to borrow a cup of sugar—with these tiny lots scaled to maximize profits, you can simply reach out your window, tap on the neighbor’s, and pass them the sugar bowl!

Drawn to Guadalupe by its history and charm? Experience it now, for it will soon be gone, like so many other fondly remembered aspects of life on the Central Coast that new arrivals will not experience, or could even begin to imagine.

Stephen Siemsen
Orcutt