Parking minimums aren’t the only thing destroying cities like Charlotte

Less parking

Thank you for the March 15 editorial calling for less parking in cities like Charlotte. Parking minimums are both unnecessary and tend to destroy communities.

The nonprofit Strong Towns has been calling for the abolition of parking minimums for years and even has an annual event designed to call attention to the damage done by parking minimums.

The only thing worse than mandatory parking minimums is government infrastructure spending on rapid transit, which has a terrible return on investment in all but a few American cities.

Making places like uptown, South End, NoDa, and other communities pedestrian friendly can be done incrementally and without massive government infrastructure spending. The right answer is to remove government mandates, such as mandatory parking minimums, but also to eliminate government subsidies to developers.

Truly smart growth is “pay as you go,” not massive infrastructure spending and then “pray that it grows.”

Warren Smith, Charlotte

Ardrey Kell traffic

Ardrey Kell High School is located on the very busy and congested two-lane Ardrey Kell Road. The school’s 3,500 students and their parents cause massive congestion twice each day on that road.

Last month, in its infinite wisdom Charlotte City Council approved rezoning petition for an elementary school and a massive apartment project across the street from Ardrey Kell. Council didn’t spend one minute addressing how they will mitigate this congestion they have created.

Unbelievable wisdom.

Jim Van Meerten, Charlotte

Ghost kitchens

Regarding “Where do orders from Charlotte ghost kitchens come from?” (March 14):

As an owner of a Charlotte restaurant for over 40 years (Phil’s Deli), I find it to be out of bounds that a restaurant can sell food under a different name from a place of business that might have a B, or worse, sanitation rating.

It seems to me that if I am ordering a delivery food order, their sanitation grade should be posted on their website. The public deserves to know this.

After all, isn’t that why all of us in the food service industry have our grade posted up front for all to see?

Phil Levine, Charlotte

Russian sanctions

On March 17, the U.S. House passed a bill to suspend normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus. The vote came after Ukraine’s President Zelensky addressed a special session of Congress, asking the U.S. for more help to stop Russia’s destruction of his country and the killing of women, children, babies and dreams.

The bill would raise the price of imported products from Russia, effectively denying them the American market, similar to actions already taken by countries in Europe. It strengthens the package of financial sanctions already imposed on Russia

The bill passed overwhelmingly by a bipartisan vote of 424 to 8. Who, you might ask, would vote against it?

Dan Bishop of North Carolina.

Bob Kline, Waxhaw

The Fed

The Federal Reserve finally raised the interest rate a quarter point. Inflation isn’t just a short-time bubble, as so many Washington politicians predicted.

Look no further than gas prices, food and monthly bills. Middle-class folks are getting killed by all these price hikes.

Today’s Fed prefers economists who think like James Tobin instead of conservatives like Milton Friedman.

Now, the Fed must find a way to bring inflation down and not destroy our economy. So far this crowd at the Fed has been ”all hat and no ranch.”

Jim Cherry, Charlotte

Biden, Ukraine

Last week, Congressman Eric Swalwell asserted that it is time to give Ukraine the jets President Zelensky says he needs.

He’s right for several reasons: Putin is a serial war criminal. Putin has affirmatively said our actions already taken are acts of war. And, if Putin can effectively scare the U.S. from doing all we can, absent personnel engagements, he’ll continue to intimidate us later as he seeks to “rebuild the USSR.”

The free world seeks our true world leadership — and we’re giving something less.

I applaud Biden’s efforts so far, but the millions of bullets he’s sending won’t enable Ukrainian men to stop witnessing the slaughter of their wives and children.

Geoffrey A. Planer, Gastonia

COVID surges

Good health decisions often require actions based on the experience of others. A look overseas shows that countries that have lifted restrictions are seeing COVID surges once again.

Most of the restrictions in the U.S. are being lifted. So get ready for another U.S. surge soon and more battles when restrictions are called for again and more squabbling about who’s to blame, another round of pandemic funding. All this, despite some experts warning against moving too quickly to drop restrictions.

In addition, Republicans in Congress are blocking the Biden administration’s request for additional funding for COVID testing, treatment, etc. Let’s hope we get lucky and do not have another lockdown.

Kent Rhodes, Charlotte