I attended the Truckee Economic public workshop on Nov. 12, as part of the Town Council meeting. I found the event to be a very positive one with a thorough presentation by staff and much input from members of the community.

It was rewarding to see such a large turnout from the community and verbal input by many of those in attendance.

There was some input regarding the West River Street blight; specifically the trailer park and the “industrial area.” It was presented as an eyesore that needed to be moved elsewhere so that visitors (and I suppose, residents) would not be affronted by the slummy-ness of this area, particularly as it is in the Truckee River corridor.

---

---

Over recent years there has been a lot of positive work done to address low income housing. There seems to have been little done to address small, low budget businesses such as are housed in the “West River Street industrial area.”

I worry that in our “sanitization of Truckee movement” we will continue to price ourselves out of the inclusion of a vital part of our community.

Pioneer industrial area was supposed to provide an alternative for these businesses, but unfortunately, is priced out of the reach of these low budget businesses.

---

---

Donner Creek Mobile Home Park has been a community for many years providing homes for families at the base of the income range. It is a “community.” It is one of the dwindling truly affordable housing areas.

Some of the old motels on Donner Lake also provide very low income housing. It is unclear to me that it is possible to raze these old and somewhat dilapidated areas, that fill a very important niche in our community, and provide comparable “affordable” business/housing space. I believe that there will always be a need for these sorts of “base” “start-up” spaces.

I worry that in our “sanitization of Truckee movement” we will continue to price ourselves out of the inclusion of a vital part of our community.

It has already happened and continues to happen with an increasing number of families commuting from Reno as they are priced out of Truckee. I also believe that these older areas — industrial and residential — add character to our community, to the Truckee of old.

Let us embrace this aspect of our community and look at how to maintain it as an asset in many ways rather than a blight to be sanitized.

Rolf Godon is a Truckee resident.