A recent letter to the editor described the black olive trees along Las Olas Boulevard as creating a beautiful canopy with their shiny dark leaves.<\/p>\n
And they do. But they belong in a park, not in the median of a major east-west thoroughfare.<\/p>\n
The city needs to remove those trees and build a ramp garage to eliminate the on-street parking to ease some of the downtown gridlock created by increasing density. This will also allow businesses along Las Olas to flourish.<\/p>\n
Janet Jones, Fort Lauderdale<\/p>\n
Focus on good design<\/p>\n
Fort Lauderdale\u2019s Riverwalk Center Garage<\/a>, built with purpose, is perhaps the most aesthetically pleasing parking garage anywhere.<\/p>\n The city has a tradition of wrapping structured parking in habitable spaces where they face streets, which are public spaces. Where that\u2019s not possible, garages may be camouflaged in exceptionally creative screening.<\/p>\n Architects, playing off each others\u2019 designs, have developed a form of architectural ornamentation, or art form, unique to downtown Fort Lauderdale. With the bar set that high, I refuse to believe that these designs have been deemed suitable for the city\u2019s most heavily used park \u2014 and parks, like streets, are public spaces.<\/p>\n What happened to the the city\u2019s own high standards for private development?<\/p>\n Good design does not require more money; it requires more talent.<\/p>\n Randall Robinson, Fort Lauderdale<\/p>\n A pleasant surprise<\/p>\n In the first month of Ron DeSantis\u2019 first term as governor, even though I did not vote for him in 2018, I applauded his commitment to protect Florida\u2019s environment.<\/p>\n My hope that he was a moderately conservative and caring politician was dashed early on when he rejected federal funds for 800,000 Floridians<\/a> who needed Medicaid coverage.<\/p>\n Hope does not always spring eternal. In the seven succeeding years, he has disappointed at every level of his stewardship of this state. The list is far too long to enumerate the failures and frequent examples of retribution, bias, bigotry, bullying and illegal methods.<\/p>\n Yet, in a recent Sun Sentinel story, I found a reason to commend our most unlikable governor. It was his pronouncement<\/a> that he wants regulation of artificial intelligence by the Legislature and state administrative boards, a proposal that I fully support.<\/p>\n Maybe it\u2019s the realization that Donald Trump has no interest in any regulation that burdens his big donors\u2019 business models, be it cryptocurrency or AI.<\/p>\n Maybe DeSantis recognizes that a majority of Americans are fearful, or at least wary, of AI\u2019s potential for harm, and he sees an opportunity to build his future political platform on it.<\/p>\n DeSantis has 12 months and one final regular legislative session to prove he can walk the walk.<\/p>\n David Kahn, Boca Raton<\/p>\n Bluestein and Bluestein<\/p>\n The paper recently posted two letters to the editor from men named Bluestein.<\/p>\n While I wholeheartedly agree with Lou Bluestein\u2019s point<\/a> (on the Heritage Foundation) and I rarely agree with Neal Bluestein, I must admit, the body of Neal\u2019s letter<\/a> met with my agreement, your \u201ceditor\u2019s note\u201d notwithstanding.<\/p>\n That is, until he strayed off topic and characterized the boat the U.S. double tapped as smuggling drugs.<\/p>\n The boat was in international waters off the Venezuelan coast and not headed to the U.S. It was far too small to carry both its load of passengers and a significant amount of drugs as well.<\/p>\n Why, I wonder, is the right wing of our country so bloodthirsty?<\/p>\n Bob Chaban, Boynton Beach<\/p>\n