I've been following with interest debates over proposals for Home Depot in Westlake Village and Costco in Newbury Park.

It seems from the letters to the editor, we're either on the "Save the stars and build nothing" side or the "Go big box" side.

But what about something else?

There are many brilliant minds who have been studying the rights and wrongs of suburbia and have written moving and astute books and studies trying to get the message out that we must change to make suburbia more livable and civil.

Books such as "Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream" call for taking places such as the old Kmart lot and turning them into a pedestrianfriendly, mixeduse space that looks and functions more like traditional Main Street than a big box store with a sealike parking lot.

If Conejo Valley wants to be a progressive place, we must look into what the best and brightest minds are saying about this issue. Why aren't our council members and leaders doing this?

Why are we being given alternatives that lack creativity and don't consider how humans live, work and build community? Victoria Clayton-Alexander Westlake Village