3/7/08
- I know, and you know, there is a contingent here in
Longmont
that wants to be
Boulder
Jr. Some of these seem to
feel Boulder
can do no wrong and that they walk on water. We also have a
councilmember who works for the
BoulderValleySchool District
who tells us we shouldn't speak ill ("smack?")
of our neighbor to the southwest. But if some of us are going to look
up to this city and their ways, we must also acknowledge their mistakes,
learn from them, and not repeat them.
Previously, I
mentioned the Twin Peaks Mall,
and the path that it is on, which is similar in some ways to what happened
in Boulder.
Are we going to follow that example and see a slow bleed, years of dormancy,
and a resurrection that was long overdue? Or are we going to learn
from Boulder's
mistakes and avoid losing years of sales tax revenue, along with an eyesore
in a high visibility area?
Another somewhat
similar scenario is developing on Longmont's
eastern boundary. The "no growth" or "slow growth" seems to be more of
a Castle Longmont mentality.
Instead of a moat of water and
alligators, or burning oil, this wished-for version is untouched,
undeveloped, open space.
Boulder County even tried to take land from
Weld County as open space (paid
with Boulder County taxpayer money, but not technically IN Boulder County)
to stop development and continue this hoped-for buffer.
This concept costs a
lot of money. This is prime real estate on a heavily traveled highway
between I-25 and Longmont.
It also takes a lot of influence on WeldCounty,
which Boulder
and Longmont
don't seem to have. Longmont turned away a large development (Lifebridge),
preceded by public trashing of the present and future Super Walmarts, and
the message was sent that Longmont is somewhat
closed for business and has gone
protectionist and
isolationist.
The message was
heard, and Firestone's (or
Mead's or anyone else in WeldCounty)
reaction is the consequence. "You
turn them away in a prime area? We'll be more than happy to fill the
void", was basically the response. A "void" is exactly what some
in Longmont
wanted, at the expense of landowners in WeldCounty
who sit on solid gold along Hwy 119.
Mission
accomplished,
Longmont
could easily now be cut-off and isolated, but probably not in the way some
had wished. How is this similar to Boulder?
Think Broomfield.
Think FlatIron Crossing.
There is much to like
about Boulder,
but it isn’t infallible in its decisions and policy making. Try as
some may to emulate Boulder,
there is a huge difference that shouldn't be overlooked: Longmontcan't afford to make the same
above mistakes
Boulder made;
we don't have the finances,
influence, or
political capital to blunder on
their level.
I'm hoping
that in 6-7 years we aren't looking at a boarded up, fenced-in mall, and
booming financial activity just
OUTSIDE our sales tax collecting grasp. All sectors of the city
will suffer from the choices that bring us to that. The time to
realize it and act is NOW. Those on council or committees (past and
present) may be term-limited out by then, but some of us will never let
people forget who brought us to that point.
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