This commentary is by Susan Robbins, a resident of Burlington.
Regarding Laura Waters’ commentary Aug. 2: Definitely a bold move to try to link a music concert venue opening in a commercial industrial park with global destruction and ecological collapse, from a recent opinion article about Higher Ground coming to the south end of Burlington. She neglected to mention the looming zombie apocalypse.
We in the south end of Burlington have been listening to a small group’s loud and increasingly hysterical complaining for quite some time. It’s mystifying that people choose to live near noisy three-shift factories with trains, semi-tractor trailers and buses rumbling by on a regular basis, along with hundreds of commuting employees, but rise up against music.
Whether it be a music venue or another factory operating through the night doesn’t seem like it should draw so much anger and controversy.
It wasn’t that long ago that a similarly aggrieved subset rose up, declaiming strongly against the terrible problems that a grocery store (!) would bring to our neighborhood. It boggles the mind that people would complain about traffic, noise, or other attendant issues when these strongly desirable businesses are so welcome by a majority of residents and add so much to our quality of life.
Increased traffic is a small price to pay for these amenities that others work so hard to attract to their communities. There are many of us who drive less because we can now walk or bike to so many desirable neighborhood attractions.
Burton is a beloved Vermont institution. As is Higher Ground. City Market is a longstanding asset to our community. We live by the lake and parks because we love playing or swimming or hiking, having fun amidst noise and music emanating from outdoor concerts, nearby breweries and the park.
Sure, it’s not all unicorns and roses. Fireworks can be upsetting and late-night summer revelers are sometimes loud, and it would be so nice if the factories would be replaced with yoga retreats and gardens. This is life on the lake alongside factories, tractor trailers, traffic and noisy businesses that were here before us. We don’t love their presence, but understood when choosing to move here we’d be living with these less desirable and sometimes annoying aspects of this extremely desirable community.