Area has always been draw for teens, and has served shoppers

RE "CITY'S retail vision requires changing a youth hangout": I believe your article was written from a negative viewpoint that is not shared by the majority. I sternly disagree with the notion that locals and tourists are afraid of Downtown Crossing. I don't believe 230,000 people would walk through the heart of Downtown Crossing on a daily basis if they were afraid.

As a pushcart vendor located there for the past 24 years, I can tell you that groups (not mobs) of teenagers have continually gathered in the area. This is to be expected with Downtown Crossing serving as the city's primary shopping district and one of the transit system's main interchanges.

Downtown Crossing enjoyed a renaissance with a tremendous burst of shopping activity during much of the 1980s and part of the '90s. And guess what: just as today, many teenagers congregated in the area.

Indeed, I cannot recall a single instance in which a shopper seemed to be on edge about his or her surroundings when browsing my T-shirts.

JAMES ADLER
Boston