As we are deep into the election primary season, the next set of posts are going to focus more on Colorado issues that I will be looking for candidates to address, to earn my vote. Today we’ll start with growth.
When I was a little boy growing up in Boulder we had one area code for the entire state: 303. We had 7-digit dialing. In our rural communities (some only minutes from where I lived) they still had party lines. Now the local incumbent provider, CenturyLink/Lumen, is notifying us of the addition of our fifth area code. And here’s the really fun part: Three of our five area codes are all serving ONLY the Denver metroplex. Now, keep in mind that each area code brings with it somewhere near 8 million additional possible phone numbers.
Yes, since 1972 (50 years) the Denver metro area has almost tripled in population.
People love coming here, but the reasons appear to be shifting. Let’s do some research there: In 2019 Texas, California, and Florida (in that order) represent the most immigrants coming to our state. California and Texas were extremely close in that race, incidentally, but in the last two years California appears to be poised to blow that number away and take the lead (according to yet-unofficial data). Further research is showing that most of the people moving here from California, New York, and Illinois (all in the top 6 states contributing immigrants) are moving for better living conditions, of which lower taxes and cheaper real estate top the list. Florida, Texas, and Arizona are moving here for good economic opportunities, similar values, and good climate.
The growth problem isn’t new. In 1976 Paul Danish, a Boulder Councilmen, passed a slow-growth ordinance that was in place for five years, then a few successive ordinances followed it that also limited growth. But the writing was on the wall: People were flocking to Colorado.
Now we have our Colorado Mountain attractions needing reservations for us (you know, the actual residents) to go visit them. These are hiking trails; scenic mountain drives, and other outdoor places. I-70 out of Denver is a parking lot, literally, heading into the mountains on any Friday or Saturday, year-round. Stop-and-go traffic is now the norm on what used to be open interstate into the high country.
We are now packed with people. And more are coming. But the real rub is this: Where do we put them and how do we magically create resources to support them?
Traffic throughout Denver rivals LA and Atlanta these days. Every single highway expansion we’ve completed in the last 30 years has opened at-capacity on day one. Every single one. We’ve added variable toll lanes all over the city. No help. We’ve added rail lines in a mostly hub-and-spoke (useless) configuration, taking decades to complete, and it’s been only marginally useful.
Water is by far the biggest issue, however. We don’t have enough, and we’re depleting our sources faster than they can regenerate. In Douglas County (south Denver Metro) we are watching our water tables drop faster than we can replenish, and we are still building at a feverish pace, adding up to 25 people per day to the county. Couple that issue with a prolonged “mega-drought” across Colorado all the way to California for most of the last decade, and the problem only compounds.
What needs to happen? I always joked about us trying to stop the California rush at Fruita (near the Utah border), but they kept sneaking through … but maybe we need to revisit when and why we allow growth into the state? I will be looking for candidates that want to provide reasonable plans to curb our growth, and with an eye toward not making real estate soar as a result (as happened in Boulder). I will be looking for thoughtful ideas using the tools they have available, to limit the building permits being issued and new developments being approved, while also placing more restrictions on water-intensive landscaping for new housing. I’ll be looking for more solutions to address long term transportation ideas that think ahead and more aggressively toward mass transit options.
And I’ll be looking for growth ideas that further the cause of preserving the industries that made Colorado what it is today: Agriculture, Energy, Technology, and Tourism. Our government today has waged war on at least 3 of these. I’ll leave that to all of you to decide which ones…
