To the Editor:

I applaud the sentiment expressed by Stewart and Mary Ann Solomon in their July 22 letter to the editor [“Do Tear-Downs Mean That Only the Rich Will Be Able to Live Here and Pay the Taxes?”]. Apparently, Princeton is well on its way to becoming Short Hills. Diversity will totally disappear as the town becomes populated by cookie-cutter McMansions that have as their only prominent features their size and cost (and thus the property taxes that both generate).

The Solomons referenced the quote in the July 15 issue by Kevin Wilkes of Princeton Design Guild in which he disparages as “cramped” and “little boxes” the many small homes that used to dot Princeton and which are now becoming relics of a past age. Wilkes said: “Families today want an open first floor plan ….” Really? More like, HGTV insists that families want an open floor plan. Or builders insist that families want an open floor plan because builders buy the same house plan and build it over and over again, so it’s all there is to buy unless you go custom.

News flash: Some of us don’t want to live in a noisy, open barn. Some of us don’t want to live in a huge monstrosity on a lot so small that we could probably reach out a second floor window to shake hands with our neighbor. Some of us don’t want to live in or look at yet another huge but undistinguished McMansion.

Small homes still serve a purpose: They can be charming, which these huge monstrosities cannot. They can be starter homes for young families. They can be homes for seniors to downsize to … or age in. They can house people whose choice of profession does not lend itself to six-figure salaries but which nonetheless makes them valuable contributing members of the community. If Princeton managers weren’t so greedy, they would limit the number of these McMansions in order to try to preserve the diverse character of the town.

Paula Berg

Overbrook Drive