I’ve lived in Fairbanks 10 years and am in what may be a long process sorting out moving to Haines. I have subscribed to CVN since last August. I saw that Steve Vick was going to trade life in Haines for a job in Fairbanks, and kind of cringed. Two issues later I saw that he’s staying and felt relieved. Haines is unique. I don’t know Fairbanks from the 40-year perspective of most people my age, yet even I’ve seen lots of development. Fairbanks can only get bigger and more populated. Looking at April 29 CVN, imagine all those Haines Real Estate properties being sold and built upon, imagine 95-acre Santa Claus Mountain subdivision developed into how many homes – really, what do you want? Gandhi said, “Reduce your wants and meet your needs.” Here’s an example of that from my first visit to Haines. I value natural, organic food a lot, so your Mountain Market felt just right. And I need a standard grocery store too. You have IGA. Is it odd to fall in love with Haines via IGA? What a nice, reasonably sized store! Giant grocery stores aren’t for me. I want to be like Steve Vick who chose community over job, to be like Heather Lende who knows everyone’s name. Definitely there are good things about life in Fairbanks, while I know virtually nothing about life in Haines, but my point is that amounts matter. Please keep amounts of human endeavor in Haines livable.
Evelyna Vignola, Fairbanks, AK