Imagine my surprise when I read Steve Brown’s letter to the editor of both local newspapers last week. I feared that I was the only other person with questions/concerns regarding the proposed “Master Plan” for Fayetteville.
It seems that this plan is fixated on millennials. By definition, we are talking about anyone between the ages of 15 to 35. From age 15 to about 22, I hope that their major concern will be education and the development of appropriate social skills. After that if any choose to reside here, we need to prepare appropriately and do some serious recruitment of creative, profit-driven businesses. That means those who are willing to pay more than minimum wage.
The Master Plan and those dreamed-of condos and apartments will not come cheap unless we are considering subsidized housing.
A one-bedroom condo or apartment would call for approximately 800 square feet of space. The average rent in the metro Atlanta area is $1.50 per square foot or $1,200 per month. Add utilities, food, clothing, transportation, and of course, service for necessary digital devices. Most of our current employers do not pay that kind of money.
I have friends who are parents of millennials, and I even have a grandson who qualifies. Those I have spoken with say they might want to live here when they are older but do not feel they could even live here then without good employment opportunities, an automobile for transportation and pleasure, and a home that they could afford.
There is no proof that they do not want a home, a car, or even a lawn to mow. They just see the future as immediately unobtainable.
There seems to be an all too intense emphasis on the riches that Pinewood Studios will bring to the area. It is a fact that the movie industry is fickle at best. Fayetteville and Georgia today, somewhere else tomorrow. What will Governor Deal do today with regard to the Religious Liberty Bill?
Any Master Plan should be focused on employment opportunities, educational opportunities (especially technical in nature) and not become a rush to judgment with regard to the future.
The future is that thing that always surprises us.
One last comment: On a daily basis, the roughly two miles of Ga. Highway 85 that constitute downtown Fayetteville is already so congested that I cannot fathom why we would want to add to this traffic dilemma.
As a property owner in the city and a resident of the county I am greatly concerned with this plan.
Sandra Milavec
Fayetteville, Ga.
