To The Reader’s Forum:

I would like to commend The Post-Journal for their recent editorial, “City Zoning Code Update Coming at a Good Time” that ran in last week’s weekend edition.

I live and work out-of-town now, but I always make a point to buy a copy of the PJ when I am home to stay informed of what is happening in and around Jamestown. The piece gets in depth with real substance about land use, zoning laws, vacant lot development, and neighborhood revitalization. While not the most exciting topics, those are the kind of complex issues that have profound implications for a city’s prosperity that demand coverage.

As local news struggles to stay relevant (and afloat) across America, providing this level of substantive analysis that matters to readers is our only hope. I buy local papers whenever I travel and the P-J continues to stand out among even much bigger communities’ papers. Though I admit my bias. And the Sunday op-ed page always contains interesting points of view from real people with a stake in Jamestown and the greater Chautauqua region that I sincerely appreciate.

Thank you to the readers and writers.

Derek Smith is a Frewsburg native