To the Editor:
My family and I moved from Knoxville, Tennessee, to Princeton in 2017. Before we moved to Princeton, I had no conception of what a truly healthy community looked like; the walkable streets, tightly knit neighborhood groups, well-funded and relatively diverse public schools, and civically engaged community members all seemed to be business as usual for the erudite members of my new town.
Even as I marveled at the unbelievable wealth of programming at the public library, and ruminated that I could travel from one side of town to the other entirely on foot, I wondered why it was taking my family such a long time to move from our temporary housing into a permanent home. That tight real estate market my family encountered in 2017 is but a shadow of where we are as a town in 2026.
As a member of a highly educated and progressive town, I am embarrassed that we are consistently characterized by our extreme wealth, housing scarcity, and “not-in-my-backyard” mentality. Efforts aimed at diversifying and adding to the available housing stock are met with public outcries about property values, increased traffic, school overcrowding, environmental concerns, and more.
While there is no denying that many arguments against greater density warrant consideration, Princeton residents would do well to remember that no town is a museum to be preserved in some idealized past state. The current reality of limited stock and higher prices only serves to create a more economically (and therefore racially and culturally) segregated community. As an engaged conservationist, I take the environmental implications of housing development very seriously, but these must also be weighed against the human cost of excluding families from our wonderful community. In fact, more efficient building practices and greater housing density in appropriate areas can yield meaningful environmental benefits through efficient land use and reduced vehicle dependency.
I have noticed a trend in Princeton whereby residents, regardless of when they moved here, express a desire for the town to remain frozen in some idealized time; as an outsider who has called Princeton home for less than a decade, I clearly see what makes this community so vibrant, unique, and worth preserving. But it seems clear to me that making Princeton ever wealthier and more homogenous through striking down comprehensive, thoroughly reviewed mixed income housing proposals will only serve to hasten the destruction of the values and diversity that make Princeton such a compelling place to live.
Knee-jerk reactions to neighborhood changes are understandable, but my own awakening to the virtues of expanded housing opportunities gives me faith that we can all work together to advocate for housing that works for our town.
Ongoing discourse and frank interactions between neighbors and government remain absolutely vital ways to come to decisions that benefit Princeton’s residents, current and future. Everyone living in Princeton should share concern about the lack of affordable and diverse housing in town, and community resources like Princeton GROWS offer much in the way of educational resources and opportunities for involvement.