The growth discussion needs to be real and creative

We as a community seem to be at one of those points for a necessary discussion about the general idea of growth in the valley. In every resort community the topic seems to come up on a regular basis due to some issue. In our past, it has been the idea of expanding and promoting the local festivals in the area. Other issues that triggered the discussion were things like putting in the North Face Lift, passing a tourism tax or expanding the ski area.
This particular moment in time seems to be focused on a number of things: the gut feeling of a turning economy, the rebound in some real estate prices, the debate about expanding parking near the Lower Loop, the numbers that continue to grow in the school and the town Parks and Recreation Department, the crowded buses between Gunnison and Mt. Crested Butte, the somewhat ominous feeling that this will be a verrrrry busy summer in the valley.
Our friend Bill Oliver is a consistent advocate for slowing all growth on the global, national and local levels. His letter this week on page 4 contains many good points, especially on the macro level. More and more people will certainly screw up the shifting world balance and impact our lives and the lives of our children and grandchildren in the world. And it doesn’t appear that it will be a positive impact. Population growth appears at a tipping point, along with economic disparity. Historians are now counseling that losing the balance with both of those elements can bring down a civilization.
But Bill’s letter and people I’ve heard from on the street who argue for shutting the door at our current community level don’t have a suggestion about how to reasonably curb the local growth. Reading and listening between the lines, I’m assuming they want the politicos to put up the metaphorical gate. That won’t and can’t happen. And if it did, talk about creating an enclave exclusively for the wealthy.
So I’ll harp on the idea that has been talked about in this valley for the decades I’ve been here. That is the idea of “smart growth.” Sitting at 9,000 feet in a beautiful mountain valley, I believe this spot will become more and more attractive to people as a changing climate changes the world.
As Bill and some people at last week’s town council meeting seem to feel, the best alternative is to oppose all new growth to preserve what we have. But that’s not an alternative. That’s a gate. And a gate, in our system of government and economics, rewards primarily the wealthy.
What are we to do under that alternative? Do we keep the school the same size even as more students enroll so that the facility deteriorates and becomes so overcrowded that it takes away from the quality of learning for the kids? Or do we curtail growth and turn it into a private school and limit the numbers to what they are today? Do we cap the recreation programs so some kids are left to fend for themselves? Do we not expand parking lots and hope the vehicles searching for the magic of a Lower Loop magically disappear? Do we keep leaving riders off the RTA buses so they run home and get in their cars and crowd the highway even more? None of that is real, creative or smart. Not providing parking, for instance, does nothing but make a bigger parking cluster. It doesn’t keep people from wanting to use the amenities. That “put up a gate and oppose future growth” template benefits those who can afford to pay the entrance fee for limited schooling, recreation programs and parking. Say goodbye to working families.
Look, while there are a lot of elements I liked about the place better when I first arrived in the 1980s than now, growth is not all bad. It has brought more good restaurants, more good coffee shops and more good entertainment options than were here back in the day. Heck there wasn’t a three-screen movie theater, grocery store, center for the arts, or middle school in town 20-some years ago. The pace was slower and the vacant lots more plentiful. The streets and backcountry were less crowded. But I’ve enjoyed a lot of the people who have come here since then and as I’ve stated before, this place is as much about the people as the scenery—which, if you haven’t noticed, is pretty darn good. Now, we actually might have to go an extra 300 feet in altitude to get away from more people, but it’s still pretty nice around here in a lot of ways.
As we once again have the “growth discussion” that every resort community must have on a regular basis, let’s try to be real and creative about it. Sticking our collective heads in the sand and hoping that ignoring parking will magically make wandering cars disappear is not smart growth. Telling politicians to just say no to any new development or idea is not smart growth. Managing the growth with an eye toward protecting our special attributes is.
The fact is, we’ve already taken some good steps to manage growth at this end of the valley. Affordable housing is a priority and has some significant land at the ready. Keeping working people and middle class families here retains part of our charm and keeps the community real. The open space initiatives have been more than successful and are obvious right out our front doors. The scale of the houses in the valley seems appropriate in the various locales. Continued support for the local students is evident in the CBCS accolades coming in from across the nation
So instead of tilting at windmills and trying to stop local growth that can actually benefit us all economically and in very real quality-of-life terms, let’s focus the discussion on more sincere and creative ways to manage the ramifications of growth. That doesn’t mean opening the floodgates, eliminating all regulation or selling the soul of the place for a few more bucks. But in the long run our kids, our community and we will benefit from an honest debate.