Ugly begets ugly
To the Editor
Do you know what ugly graffiti looks like? It looks like 75-foot-high power transmission lines running through our city. Ugly begets ugly. If we ever expect to attract quality, commercial development to take some of the tax burden off the backs of homeowners, we must attract that development by providing quality infrastructure. This would include underground utilities, street lights, sidewalks, bike paths, as well as high standards for architectural and landscaping design.
You cannot unring a bell. Once those power lines are installed, we will probably be stuck with them forever. I am a professional real estate broker. I have already received an e-mail from a client who planned to buy a $500,000 to $600,000 home here within the next couple of weeks. He said he follows Cape Coral news online and that he used to think Cape Coral was a progressive, quality city. He has now changed his mind and will look in a different city.
Drive through other cities (including Fort Myers). You will not see the concentration of ugly poles that we already have, especially running down Santa Barbara Boulevard. Honestly – this is blight, and we’re allowing more!
The decision to allow those monstrous overhead lines is one of the worst decisions ever made in this city. It degrades our city forever and will have repercussions we can perhaps not even imagine right now. Remember, a city, like a person, has only one chance to make a good first impression, and I believe we really blew it. I plead with our council, the CRA and private industry to reconsider this and do everything their power to find a better solution.
Chris Porter
Broker, Cape Realty