Daily Camera, Boulder, CO
POSTED:   02/22/2015 07:32:01 PM MST

It used to be that the majority of City Council heeded public sentiment, which supported growth control and protection of natural resources. Those protections are what allowed Boulder to be a mecca for recreation, science, new businesses, all of which make Boulder what it is. Boulderites, as well as folks in surrounding areas, have benefited from this with an offering of high-quality jobs, access to trails, great restaurants, etc. It appears that era has disappeared with all the “green, new urbanism, sustainable” development, which to my eyes actually looks like unbridled development with little consideration of human scale, aesthetics or practical realities. Boulder will never be able to house everyone who wants to live here, and more and more, the opportunities for families who would like a single-family home are out of reach. Putting up more apartment buildings (rentals) and more office space does not address this problem, but only makes it more acute. Issues of increased traffic and gridlock are not being honestly discussed, affecting all those who live and work here. The concept that a much larger percentage of workers will willingly commute by bike/bus/walk is not supportable, nor is the idea that soon everyone will have self-driving cars which drop you off at work as suggested at a developer’s event a few months back.

Those of us who work and have families have scant time/energy to go to Council/Planning meetings, write letters or make phone calls to voice our concerns. The folks who are working full time to develop their mega-projects have all the time in world, and frankly a high financial incentive to get their projects built. Redevelopment, aesthetic design, green spaces, sensible expansion of housing/business are all desirable. Let’s do it right; the wrong decisions will haunt us for many years.

Jenny Devaud, Boulder