Regarding "Long Islanders would trade houses for apartments" [Newsday.com, Jan. 23], pocketbook economics makes a great case for affordable apartments on Long Island - and so does global climate change.

Long Island's predominant housing stock could not exist without automobiles; virtually everyone drives to buy groceries, drop their kids off at school and get to the office. Not only is this economic model becoming prohibitively expensive as gas prices rise, it is also environmentally untenable to drive hundreds of miles a week to meet life's basic needs.

If Long Island is to prosper well into the 21st century, we must stop giving lip service to affordable housing. Apartment and condominium buildings - located near transit facilities, shops and entertainment - will help breathe new life into neglected downtowns and slow the flight of young people to lower-priced regions.

This type of "smart growth" will create interesting and vibrant communities right here on Long Island, without adding to the pollution that threatens to inundate our own coastline as the seas rise.

Marcia Bystryn
Editor's note: The writer is executive director of the New York League of Conservation Voters.
Manhattan