In response to Scott Herhold's column regarding NIMBY's, Mayor Lowenthal commented on the importance on creating affordable housing while creating jobs (Aug 23). I like to point out some weakness in Mr. Mayor's comments.

First of all, I don't think we can make direct correlation between jobs and residency. At this time of age, there is no more life-time employment, especially in the Valley. Not that people don't want/like life-long employment, it's just that time has changed and people tend to move more frequent professionally. Also, there is no way for Apple to hire more local residents just because they "live right across the street."

Another point Mayor Lowenthal mentioned was about "an adequate supply of housing also prevents homes from skyrocketing in price." This is under the assumption that there is only limited demand for housing in the region, thus more housing balances the pricing. However, when pricing was driven higher due to the reputation of schools and quality of life style, more housing is going to damage the quality of schools and community, which is the main reason for those so-called/so-labeled `NIMBYism` to voice concerns.

I respect Mercury's position on this matter, and hope you will publish my response to counter Mr. Mayor's comment.

Eric Yang
Cupertino
San Jose Mercury Online Letters
Thu, Aug. 24, 2006