[BoulderCouncilHotline] Articles on balancing development and livability

[Weaver, Sam]

Fellow Council Members and HOTLINE followers,

Now that the new Council is seated, and we are preparing for our retreat, I thought I would share a couple of articles about development and livability that I found more balanced than the stereo-typical NIMBY/YIMBY exchange.

This first link was sent by Jan Burton earlier this year, and I found it thoughtful enough about these complex issues that I called the author (Rick Jacobus).  We discussed multiple issues of land use, development, and affordable housing.  I don't wholly endorse some of his supply-side perspectives, but do endorse the balanced discussion.  As I read it through again I reflected on middle-income housing preservation. I hope you find it interesting, and I lead with a teaser quote that reminds me of Boulder:

"Voters in Jackson [Wyoming] have opposed growth for some of the same reasons as voters elsewhere but also in order to preserve their awe-inspiring natural environment. When they made the choice to preserve open space, they were essentially choosing to make housing in Jackson much more expensive. I suspect that most people didn't realize this implication, but I also doubt whether, fully conscious of the cost, they would make a different choice today."

https://shelterforce.org/2017/09/12/we-are-all-nimbys-sometimes/

The second article is by a dedicated urbanist who acknowledges that there is a lot of bad development, which can lead to well-justified neighbor resistance.  As I read this article, I think of both community benefit requirements (of which we have none in our review criteria) as well as building quality.  I also hope you find this one interesting, and I will lead with another teaser quote from deep in the article:

"It is somewhere between a disappointment and travesty that cities are creating massive amounts of value through municipal decisions around density without leveraging some of that value to pay for the things that cities are struggling to afford, the amenities that make density livable and lovable."

https://www.vox.com/2017/6/20/15815490/toderian-nimbys

All the best,

Sam Weaver
Member of Boulder City Council
weavers at bouldercolorado.gov<mailto:weavers at bouldercolorado.gov>
Phone: 303-416-6130

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