On March 27, Melissa Severance of College Hill wrote a "Your voice" column headlined "Suburbs can drive us to an early grave," in which she bemoaned a suburban lifestyle that has become centered on driving instead of walking.

"The reality is that for many people, even the simplest ventures require getting behind the wheel of a car. I find it frustrating that in many areas of this city, particularly in the rabbit-like reproductive glands of suburbia, one must drive even if she feels like strolling. And it's beyond my dreamy vision of what "quaint" must have meant at one time. It's now just bloody dangerous."

Following are some of the responses we received to her column:

I must take exception to Melissa Severance's "Your voice" column. I have lived my entire life outside of a city's limits and have never been further than walking distance to the necessities of life. The simplest ventures do not require driving. Those people choose to drive and they would no matter where they lived. As an avid runner and cyclist I would, of course, appreciate less dangerous driving in my community. However, that extends to downtown as well as the rural areas far from it, not just the suburbs. The problem is not the area someone lives in, but how people in that area choose to behave. Parents need to watch their own actions so they know what habits they are passing along to their children.

As for her opinion that law enforcement does not curb dangerous driving: If police enforced the driving laws as they are and did not "knock down the speed to save you some points on your license" it would have a more pronounced effect. Putting points on an offender's license and instilling the fear of losing that license will have more of an effect in curbing poor driving habits, as well as evening the legal balance between those of the poor and those that can afford to blow a few hundred dollars on a ticket. Traffic tickets should work toward removing dangerous offenders from the road, not as a source of income to the local municipality.

Andrew Boehmer, Park Hills

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Melissa Severance is right in observing the glut of automobiles and the lack of services available that don't require driving in order to access.

Sadly, the last few generations have experienced less and less of the peace of mind that comes from not needing an automobile for every single task in life. The question that deserves asking is: Just how important to our quality of life is that peace of mind?

When families consisted of one member that worked outside the home and one working in the home, services all tended to be as near to the homes as possible.

The more we moved toward two members of the family working, the farther from the home businesses got. The businesses moved to where the traffic was, because that's where all the customers were.

Without arguing the cultural impact of two family members working, it is a fact that the stress levels of everyone have risen because of this type of economy.

If the stress reduction of businesses and services being closer to home is an important issue, then we all will need to admit whether we are willing to do what it would take for this to happen.

One of my favorite daydreams is being able to walk to the places I need to go, but the stress of actually doing it makes get in my car almost every time. At least in my car I have a fighting chance of getting there and back.

George Corneliussen, Montgomery

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Melissa Severance should visit suburbia for a dose of reality. While gardening one Saturday, I saw some strange happenings. People were walking (on sidewalks) for exercise, to be neighborly, etc. Surprisingly, they seemed to be walking at a leisurely pace with no particular destination. Imagine that, walking just for fun! There were children playing baseball and basketball, and riding bikes, skateboards and scooters (without motors).

When I wasn't a victim of the ills of suburbia, I was a four-year resident of College Hill. There wasn't a movie theater or ice cream store to walk to, and now there isn't a neighborhood grocery store (I wouldn't have walked there anyway). Cars and suburbia cannot be laid to blame for inactivity and obesity. The last I heard, most U.S. homes had televisions. People are in suburbia for two reasons: good schools and safe neighborhoods.

Jennifer Sens, Mason

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Mel Barbera of Liberty Township wrote a column calling for nationwide polling reforms to keep election results from being influenced by early exit-poll calls. In his "Your voice" column "Voters have right to feel their votes matter" (March 28), he wrote:

"The way to prevent this is 1) outlaw the "calling" of results using exit polling until the polls are closed, and 2) close all the polls nationwide simultaneously. I propose the polls be required to be open for a total of 24 hours of voting, allowing up to 9 hours off overnight at the discretion of the states, and closing simultaneously in all 50 states."

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One reader wrote in to elaborate:

A special thanks to Mel Barbera for his innovative suggestion as to how to synchronize our national elections. This has become a nagging problem that cries out for resolution.

Accomplishing this would effectively eliminate the news media circus we experience on Election Day and do much to quiet the anxiety of voters across our great country.

If the two-day voting cycle is unacceptable, the objective can be accomplished all on that special designated Tuesday in November. Nineteen hours of simultaneous voting could be established in each of the six time zones by staggering the poll opening schedule one hour in each time zone.

Thus in terms of the 24-hour clock, polls would open at zero hours (Monday midnight) at Pearl Harbor, 0100 at Juneau, Alaska, 0200 at Los Angeles, 0300 at Denver, 0400 at Chicago and 0500 in the Big Apple. Polls would of course close simultaneously, 19 hours later at 2400 hours, or midnight Tuesday in New York.

With full respect for Mr. Barbera , I believe the one-day, all-out immersion in the elective process might be somewhat a superior approach. It would be more burdensome, but it would add to the feeling of national unity, a feeling that we are all engaged in this great crusade of self-government at exactly the same moment in time.

Either approach would entail additional cost to local governments, due to the need for an enlarged polling staff. However, I for one and surely many others would gladly volunteer free service to accomplish such a worthy goal.

Joe M. Darby, West Union