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You value safety above all else.
So we'll say it again: 300+ parking spaces have the potential to add 300+ cars every day of the work week; seven days a week if the development turns residential (and we all know this project can change at the whim of the developer).
Westwood, Westwood Hills and Mission Woods benefit from the protection of the Westwood Police Department.
Friends of Westwood Parkland is not only concerned that the proposed project will increase the danger to neighborhood children walking to Westwood View Elementary and St. Agnes Catholic School, but we're also concerned that extra traffic/development will divert the protection provided by our shared police department.
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You value safety above all else.
That’s not an assumption, it’s how you replied to the most recent Johnson County Community Survey Findings Report, in which ‘safety’ topped the list of issues important to residents’ quality of life.
Specifically in the Westwood survey, 95% of neighbors responded “excellent” or “good” to feeling safe. That speaks volumes about our Westwood Police Department.
But a top-notch police force isn’t the only factor important to keeping you and your family out of harm’s way.
A 2022 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports 244 children were killed by a vehicle while walking or riding their bicycles. 244. That doesn’t include the children left seriously injured. Take a guess when most of those deaths happened? Between 3:00p-4:00pm on a weekday, when children walk home from school.
The development that Westwood is proposing, with 76-foot-tall buildings and 305-spot parking lot/garage, is a stone’s throw from Westwood View Elementary School and about a half mile from St. Agnes Catholic School.
If you take a closer look at that Westwood survey, you’ll see that just 43% of neighbors strongly agreed to ‘feeling safe on city streets when not in a vehicle’. And that’s adults responding. Imagine how a kid feels (actually, kids may not worry nearly enough about it…which makes adding to our local traffic just that much more perilous).
Nationally the number of pedestrians killed by vehicles continues to climb. Sadly, it is a given we see distracted drivers looking down at their smart phones every day. So why then, if we say we prioritize safety, are we inviting hundreds of extra cars to cut across our neighborhood streets each day?
Besides the risk to our children, safety experts testify parking garages are a top spot for crime. Data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) shows parking garages rate in the top three locations for aggravated assaults, homicides and drug violations.
Know what you said was second to ‘feelings of safety’ in the Westwood Quality of Life survey? ‘Tree canopy.’ Us too. And, as you know, there is no guarantee that the big, beautiful trees developers didn’t cut down would survive the disruption to their roots caused by proposed construction.
We all want to continue to keep Westwood the safe, wonderful city it already is. One way is more lush, leafy trees…less concrete and cars. Let’s talk the talk and walk the walk. Vote NO.
Your Vote-by-Mail ballot will be mailed to you mid-March.
It must be RETURNED — not merely postmarked — by noon, April 1st, 2025.
