Commuter railroad agency failing to be hip to a sustainable trend

Many progressive communities are implementing "smart growth" initiatives that use developed areas while discouraging wasteful urban sprawl. Given this American trend, I am appalled that the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District is receptive to destroying versus building upon the extensive and expensive infrastructure in urbanized downtown Gary and the city's Miller Beach area.

I am a Gary native living in Washington, D.C., where the building of mini-downtowns have made the city a magnet. NICTD must look at how smart planners used the Metro rail system to revitalize Columbia Heights, a very urbanized neighborhood that now features big-box stores configured for the city.

NICTD must look at suburban, working-class Hyattsville, Md., and suburban, ultrarich Tysons Corner, Va. In all three cases, planners were creative and built upon what is in place with mass transit as the focal point.

- Wayne A. Young, Washington, D.C.