Why I’ll vote yes for more housing

To the editor:

When my elderly mother and sister and nine other families lost their homes in a fire in December, so many people came out of nowhere to help. Some dropped off dinners. Others donated furniture, clothes and pet carriers. As the building burned on a freezing Saturday night, one neighbor we’d never met gave his shoes so my mom wouldn’t slip on the icy sidewalk.

This is the Gloucester I know and love.

In April, the city will vote on whether to allow more housing in Gloucester for regular people like teachers and police officers and restaurant workers. Some people who don’t want it to pass say it’ll change Gloucester. But they’re wrong.

My wife and I live downtown and are raising three kids there because we love being part of a close-knit neighborhood. I love walking down to Main Street to buy a coffee or a pizza or a kid’s toy for a birthday party.

Allowing people who own houses in downtown Gloucester to add apartments to their buildings — that’ll be a good thing for businesses because it’ll mean more people living close by to shop there and support them. I want our businesses to survive and stay open. They’re more than just buildings that sell stuff. They’re places where we see neighbors and friends and strengthen our community.

I love the maple walnut monkey bread at Source Bakery, and I’m grateful for the friendly community that Julie and Ashley have created there. My kids love the cheesy bacon fries at Stone’s Pub, and we look forward to walking down to see Randi and Kayla for dinner on Saturday nights. My son and I loved playing pool at The Cut on Saturday afternoons (it’s not easy to get a teenager to hang out with his lame dad), and I’m sad it had to close for a few months.

What’s beautiful and awesome about Gloucester are the people who live here and how we care for each other. That won’t change when some people close to downtown are allowed to add apartments onto their houses if they choose.

Sometimes people move to Gloucester, live here for a while and then decide they want to freeze the city in time. That’s not right. They shouldn’t get to close the door on people who want to come to Gloucester just like they did or their parents or grandparents did. For a city to stay thriving and healthy, it needs to keep adapting and evolving.

That’s why I’ll vote “yes” on April 24 to allow more housing for regular people in Gloucester, to support our businesses and to strengthen our community. Like a stranger’s shoes after a fire on a freezing night, our city is about the people who live here looking out for each other. That’s what I love about Gloucester.

John McElhenny, Gloucester