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Support housing, not the lanes

Dear Editor:I do not live in the City of Aspen although my address claims I do. Since I do not live in Aspen, I cannot vote on the issues that directly involve me. How stupid is that! The reason I cannot vote is because I cannot afford to live in Aspen. I used to be able to afford to live there. Remember the Roaring Fork Apartments? They have been replaced with high-end condos. How many other places have been “flipped” in this town? Even in the Cemetery Lane area, homes that were once considered “middle-class” homes are now remodeled or torn down and sold as high-end homes to owners who spend only half their busy lives in Aspen.I adamantly believe that adding a bus lane between Buttermilk and the roundabout is not the answer. The congestion on Highway 82 is not just from cars of people going to work/school. The highway is choked with dump trucks and construction traffic that is in Aspen building everything but employee housing. The pro-bus lane ads boast saving commuters 15 minutes of travel time … BFD! The ad also boasts saving $500,000 in construction costs if lanes are put in later. In Aspen, $500,000 is a mere bag of shells. You can’t find housing for $500,000. The City of Aspen probably spent more than that to fix the problems at our still new ARC.I ask those of you who can vote May 8 to say NO to Question 1 and vote for candidates who realize that Aspen will not thrive without more affordable housing.Kim VieiraAspen