The Editor,
It would be impossible to fully express how sick and tired I am of the incessant construction that goes on in our residential neighbourhood.
On our particular street the sounds of hammers, nail guns, and tradespeople screaming at each other, the cutting down of trees and digging-up of streets, the endless stream of cement and lumber trucks, and the ubiquitous unmarked white vans zooming up and down our streets and blocking the roads and driveways have continued unabated for almost three years.
Every time one house gets near completion and you believe you might get a respite from the relent-less chaos and cacophony, another one or two houses get demolished and the cycle continues.
A new definition of hell would be having two such monsters being built on either side of you at the same time.
Quiet summers relaxing and/or sharing meals with your friends on your back deck have been relegated to distant memory, and last year on Christmas Eve I had to go to the house under construction next door to ask them to please halt all the hammering and yelling so that we could have a peaceful holiday evening. I was greeted by a shrug of indifference and some unsuppressed snickers from the work crew.
Of course, given that so many of these shoddily constructed pseudo-mansions remain unoccupied after completion might eventually lead to the creation of extremely quiet neighbourhoods, but that is true of any full or partial ghost town, isn't it? Welcome to the new Richmond ... and don't forget your ear plugs.
Ray Arnold, Richmond
