[Vision2020] Let's Save Downtown Moscow

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (December 15, 2005) Moscow-Pullman Daily News with a special
thanks to Clifton Anderson.

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Let's save downtown Moscow

Determined to stop the University of Idaho from taking over the central
business district, the Moscow City Council barred educational institutions
from locating downtown. The ban is still in effect - and it continues to be
needed. 

Parking spaces downtown are there for the convenience of shoppers. Schools
should be in outlying locations where plenty of parking places are
available. 

Schools pay no taxes, while businesses provide the community's economic
lifeblood. We cannot have a thriving community if schools are permitted to
locate downtown and crowd out local businesses. 

Steve McClure's editorial (Opinion, Dec. 3 & 4) is way off base. He insists
politics and anti-religion bias are motivating people to oppose New Saint
Andrew College's illegal presence in downtown Moscow. 

Joann Muneta (Opinion, Dec. 8) sets McClure straight. In her reasonable,
non-vituperative letter, she shows why barring schools from downtown Moscow
is sound community policy. 

Is downtown Moscow worth saving? Residents who say "yes" have a worthy
spokesperson in Muneta. Her ideas should be given a respectful hearing - in
City Council and in our community newspaper. 

Clifton Anderson, Moscow

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It is, again (for the umpteenth time), very very simple.

Tax-exempt, non-retail entities have no business (pun intended) locating
themselves in the middle of the Central Business District.

Take care, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

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Work like you don't need the money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like nobody's watching.

- Author Unknown
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