The letter from John Hinsdale in the December 16 WW-P News sums up very well the reasons not to continue with the so-called Transit Village redevelopment project in Princeton Junction. He has covered most of the arguments against it, and I commend him for clear thinking and suggesting what, in the long run, will be best for the community. He is especially telling in his comment about “urbanization.” Good grief, who in his right mind would want to urbanize a community that is still partly rural and still clings to at least some semblance of semi-rural character? I grew up in Brooklyn, which is about as urban as you can get.
I moved to West Windsor many years ago to get away from it. The crowding, wall-to-wall traffic, noise, and pavement covering every flat surface should stay in the city. Don’t bring it to West Windsor, no matter what the excuse. The only one to profit from such nonsense would be the developer InterCap with its “creating a downtown” baloney. You can’t just create a downtown and set it down where you think it should be. It develops on its own over many years. Robbinsville proves that. Hardly ever have I seen even one person on the so-called “bustling” sidewalks of its downtown.
Several years ago when the mayor asked architect Bob Hillier for ideas about how to redevelop the station area and to accommodate more parking, the resulting ideas, although innovative, were so grandiose as to defy any hope of implementation in the foreseeable future. As a result a void was left into which stepped InterCap. At present, the so-called redevelopment area contains a number of well-spaced, perfectly serviceable office buildings along with a large area of open space. Let’s keep it that way! Don’t let what happened in Robbinsville happen here.
If commuters are having a hard time parking, that’s too bad. Maybe there will be a parking garage for them some day right next to the station (plus the new lot over the dump), but let’s not change the whole Princeton Junction area just for that.
Dick Snedeker
Grovers Mill
