Readers: Improvements to Melrose Highlands Area Should Be City's Top Priority

After asking what should be the city of Melrose's top priority in 2013, our readers want to see improvements made to the Melrose Highlands area.

"The Melrose Highlands business district needs a complete facelift to bring it back on par with the rest of the city," said reader Patrick Hardy.

Reader KGV said, "Getting (the Melrose) Highlands area ready for Whole Foods. Need new traffic lights with turn signals at Franklin (Street), for instance.

"Also, draw new stores in that area to create it as a destination."

Readers also wanted to see more information from the city with regard to taxes and fees.

"Greater forthrightness about the scale of tax and fee increases over the past decade," wrote reader Percy. "...Our city officials need to be much more forthright in regularly (not just once a year in December) acknowledging - specifically, not in general blather - how city residents have experienced this dramatic increase in expenses and what it's doing to our city." Reader Kurt LaBeuter concurred with Percy's point about how the city needs to be more transparent with tax and fee information.

Meanwhile, reader cheryl harrison wanted to see the city "fill in all the potholes."