Local Environmental Issues in Albany, California

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The Meaning of Albany Hill

Why do we have 24-hour gas stations? We must support the purchase and protection of the last remaining natural habitat in Albany. To lose Albany Hill means that Albany becomes a dead city, one that people move away from to be closer to nature. My landlord lives in Orinda because there are more trees there and the population is less dense. The reason I moved from San Francisco 7 years ago was because it was too dense. Will I have to move from Albany someday because of this same reason?

Albany Hill provides the easiest getaway from the gridlock of our daily lives. It's a tremendous educational resource for our children, and what will they think if we let this beautiful area go to the development of more highrise apartments or condominiums? The hill is a perfect working test our ability to nuture our children and our community. If we fail, the repercussions will affect us for all future generations, in both obvious and subtle ways. When walking up there among the majestic trees, one senses the loss, as you can see the history of the development around the hill. The whole area is blanketed with a monotonous noisey carpet of suburban housing, commercial strips, and highways and industrial areas. Albany Hill is a jewel in the midst of this, and this addition to the diversity of our local landscape must be protected.

I live next to a 24-hour gas station. I live next to the undoubtedly busiest intersection in Albany at San Pablo and Marin, and commuters roaring to and from I-80 gridlock are only two houses away on Marin Avenue. Many of my neighbors use obnoxious machines to do yard work, and burn carcinogenic wood and barbeque fires. I feel the effects of dense population and long for more time to get away to Albany Hill, the best way to escape from the noisy profit-motivated world. Albany without Albany Hill would be like San Francisco without Golden Gate Park.

Happiness is getting rid of your money. No matter how much money you have, you don't benefit from it until you spend it on things that you need and want. The small amount of money each of us would spend on Albany Hill would be well worth the investment. Once it is developed into housing it will never return to it's natural state, and then we will be forced to drive farther and farther to enjoy the peace and wisdom of the trees. We must set a good example for our neighbors by protecting this beauty, this botanical resource, this spiritual resource.

Greg Jalbert
Albany, California
June 22, 1996

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The Meaning of Albany Hill