I realize one hotel has been planned for downtown Burien, but they need to attract four or five hotels, with the selling point that it is easier and faster for hotel vans to drive to Burien on SR 518 than to battle the traffic on Highway 99.

With the correct planning, the businessmen would enjoy an evening stroll more along tree-lined Southwest 152nd Street than along traffic-clogged smog-invested Highway 99. With these hotels, soon numerous restaurants, pubs, upscale shops and theaters would follow, with a better tax base than a 400-unit condominium complex.

If Burien continues down the path of building large housing complexes with their social problems and the idea to annex North Highline with their social problems, then let's just change the name from Burien to Federal Way North. Maybe 25 to 50 quality town homes, but not a massive 400-unit apartment complex.

I spend half my life on the road. I stay in these hotels with gardens, walkways, plazas with fountains spaced between the hotels. They are paid for by the hotel and maintained by the hotel. These small open public plazas and gardens create a space that even local resident enjoy spending time in after shopping or dinner, meeting people from across America and from around the world.

The city of Burien needs to hire a city planner who lives in Burien and realizes the difference in the city. The city of Burien just needs to hire citizens who live in the city, because they want to live here period.

James Durkin

Burien

Editor's note: Plans to build a hotel in downtown Burien have fallen through. At this time, no new plans for a hotel there have been announced.