To the Editor:

Last week the Princeton Coalition for Responsible Development (PCRD) launched a Princeton-wide survey about redevelopment “to understand views on not only the projects being proposed but also how decisions are being taken on behalf of Princeton.” The goal was to provide robust objective data where there is presently none and to help inform the debate around a number of the development projects in town.

It is part of our contribution to what should be collaborative development initiatives as mandated by Princeton Council including PCRD as part of the process and provides a quantitative comparison to the invitation-only anonymous focus groups currently being conducted by a developer’s PR company with respect to one Princeton property currently slated for development.

To our surprise and disappointment, the mere existence of the survey appeared to generate an unexpected negative reaction from certain members of the pro-developer Princeton community. 

This ranged from questioning the legitimacy of such a survey and specific questions to a coordinated attempt to distort the results of the survey. One specific action by an individual even went as far as  posting a link to the survey under his pseudonym on Twitter, together with samples of his response to certain questions, suggesting that his followers sign up and respond in the same way he had, in an attempt to skew the results. In the interests of getting responses from all sides, his submission will be included as part of the survey report. 

We don’t understand the motives behind these actions but feel that they are not in the spirit of unbiased input and open debate on these important topics.

We continue to believe that the results, when released, will add a much-needed healthy perspective on how Princeton residents would like to see redevelopment managed.

The results of the survey will be released and shared with the community the week commencing July 25.

Mike Head
Hibben Road