Regarding your editorial on high rents: That's about the size of it, Jack. I fear that many of our friends and neighbors would rather there be no lower income people in Seattle, although they are probably reluctant to acknowledge that sentiment even to themselves.

After all, we scruffier sorts are prone to doing things that leave the city less "livable," such as leaving our '73 Camaros up on blocks in the driveway and wearing sleeveless undershirts out in public. And we smell bad, too.

If I hear one more upper-middle-class white person tell me how much he treasures the "diversity" of the city, I just may succumb to the urge to choke him. Sure, they just love diversity, so long as those diverse neighbors believe and behave just like they do.

Tony Brouner

Olympia