The editor’s explanation in response to my letter of May 24 concerning the Goldin redevelopment plan for the station area referred to the series of public presentations — or charettes — given by architect J. Robert Hillier in early 2007, over six years ago. These public presentations were well produced at the Hyatt. They were well attended, mainly out of curiosity, not because there was great public support or enthusiasm for what was to be presented.
Several vastly different concepts were described and illustrated with elaborate graphics, each of which was a novel approach to creating a “transit village” at the site of the Princeton Junction train station, including both sides of the tracks.
I attended these performances and was certainly impressed by the novelty of their ideas. But by no means did I see any workable, practical, or desirable “solution” to the supposed problem of redeveloping the supposedly “blighted” area. In fact, like many others, I came away convinced that the area was not blighted, did not need to be “redeveloped” after all, and that the “transit village” idea should remain a “concept.”
I think the fact that Mr. Goldin soon started to intrude and fill the void created by the lack of tangible support of the Hillier concepts speaks for itself. Good riddance “transit village,” Goldin-style or any other.
Dick Snedeker
