Letters to the Editor: Don’t pave over the majestic Eastern Sierra for housing. Do this instead

To the editor: I appreciate the praise that your article on the scarcity of housing in the sparsely populated Eastern Sierra gives to this amazing, pristine part of California. But I am bewildered by the fact that it appears to miss the irony: If the space weren’t so open (one person said the Owens Valley city of Bishop could “be like Santa Monica” if allowed to grow), it wouldn’t be amazing and pristine anymore.
For the love of God, please let’s not develop more of the land in the Eastern Sierra. Were the van-dwellers to get their way and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to sell off large parcels for suburban sprawl, all we’d read about is how much the locals miss the Bishop of today.
Building density in the areas that humans have already developed, and leaving open space open, should be our only way forward.
Jennifer Enani, Los Angeles
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To the editor: I couldn’t help but feel that your article on the very real housing shortage in the Eastern Sierra was missing a few key points.
First and foremost, this is not a space issue. Many of these towns have restrictive zoning that makes it very difficult to build multifamily housing.
Instead of paving over the beautiful wilderness that makes the Eastern Sierra what it is, we need to be building two- to three-story multifamily housing instead of giant ski cabins only used by rich city-dwellers a few weekends per year.
Nathaniel Wooding, Redondo Beach
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To the editor: The Eastern Sierra is home to so many interesting, helpful, friendly, responsible, pragmatic Republicans. As my neighbors, government workers, business owners, and yes, DWP employees, they have made a liberal like me feel welcome for 40 years.
It’s a shame that for the purposes of your article on the “purpling” of Inyo County, Republicans are represented by three shrill, paranoid dinosaurs living in an echo chamber. I will assume you just caught them on a bad day.
Jeff Putman, Lone Pine, Calif.