In our last issue, we reported on the drastic changes under way on Grand Avenue and surrounding blocks.

Large, beautiful homes, some with wraparound porches, are being bulldozed for ugly, cookie-cutter, multi-family dwellings that scar our neighborhoods. You know the ones – the uniform, non-brick structures, with Fedders air conditioners, all concrete-and-driveway front yards, and no room for grass or trees.

Maybe it’s too late to protect the historic homes, and maybe extremely spacious one-family homes are just not suitable for most families who want to live here.

But we can down-zone the neighborhood so that the replacements for the large houses can only be smaller one- or two-family detached homes rather than the attached and character-less multi-family buildings spreading over the area like kudzu.

Another issue, of course, other than the aesthetics, is that our local schools are already bursting at the seams. And, despite the area’s increasing population, the Department of Education says it sees no need to build any schools at the nearby Kingsbridge Armory.

Luckily, Community Board 7’s Land Use Committee is planning to discuss the possibility of down-zoning at its Oct. 23 meeting at 6 p.m. at the Board office – 229A E. 204th Street (between Valentine Avenue and the Grand Concourse).

If you care about the rapidly changing nature of our streets and blocks, you might think about coming and sharing your thoughts with the Board and the Department of City Planning representatives who will be in attendance.