This morning I noticed several new homes for sale in Mandarin — and I couldn’t help but notice a common theme: nearly all of them highlight the 🌳 stunning canopy of trees along Mandarin Road in Old Mandarin. Words like picturesque, charming, and one-of-a-kind are being used to describe what makes these homes special.

💬 So here’s my question to the real estate community:

Where are you in this conversation about preserving Mandarin Road?

You know better than anyone that the 🛤️ historic, tree-lined beauty of Mandarin Road is a major selling point. People don’t come here for sidewalks. They come for peace, shade, character, and nature. If we allow this road to be butchered for an unnecessary sidewalk project, what happens to the very appeal you’re using to market these homes?

⚠️ And while you’re praising the canopy — do you tell prospective buyers that a sidewalk project is being planned that will cut down dozens of those very trees? Are they aware the road may soon lose much of what makes it so desirable?

🔍 Also worth noting — I’ve looked at listings across the bridge in St. Johns. I don’t see agents there raving about the “beauty of Racetrack Road.” Why? Because it’s just another wide, flat, developed road. There’s nothing special about it.

But Mandarin Road is special — and if this project goes through, it’ll end up just like Racetrack: hot, exposed, and ordinary.

🗣️ So I ask again: Why don’t you assist in rising up against Councilmember Boylan and JTA, who are pushing this project through despite overwhelming community concern? You know how much value Mandarin Road’s natural beauty adds — and how much will be lost if this plan moves forward.

🌿 Please speak up. Stand with us. This isn’t about being against progress — it’s about protecting our identity.

🚫 Let’s not market the beauty of Mandarin Road in one breath while silently watching it be destroyed in the next