To the Editor,

Tonight was the last straw. I can no longer be silent about this nominally beautiful and cultured town. My husband and I moved to Princeton in 1980 and we were enchanted, but things have changed, and not for the better. A year or so ago a woman wrote a letter expressing her dismay about the dirt and garbage on Nassau Street. She was contradicted in the next issue by a person who thought Princeton was just fine thank you, clean and beautiful. I stayed quiet at that time, but the first lady was so right! Why can’t the merchants in our famed business district pick up a broom and sweep away the butts and debris as would any self-respecting store keeper in Europe. Let’s learn from our clean and beautiful sister cities Colmar and Pettoranello.

But back to Saturday evening, July 7. When the storm let up my husband and I went to look at two huge branches from a neighbor’s maple tree that had fallen across and blocked the whole street (Valley Road). As we stood there pondering the mess, we were amazed by the sight of a driver taking a detour across the sidewalk and over another neighbor’s lawn! That was shocking, but then several more people on their busy missions decided that must be OK, and followed. But it is not OK. Rather, such behavior is unconscionable and I should think illegal. It hardly speaks for Princeton’s supposedly high IQ. On the positive side, most drivers sensibly pulled into various driveways and turned around to find alternative routes to their destinations.

Princeton has much to offer but also much to be desired. An increase in civil behavior would be good. And clean downtown streets would be great, so I don’t have to be embarrassed to show my international friends around.

Reinhilde Nelson

Valley Road