Regional
(2011-01-20)
Listen Now:
GREELEY, CO
(KUNC) -
null
The population in Weld and Larimer counties is expected to almost double over the next 30 years. Hard statistics like this are often used in the growth debate. But a relatively new nonprofit group is hoping to bring the discussion back to quality of life issues.
"What do we value and how do we want this to turn out?" asks John Daggett, executive director of Embrace Northern Colorado. "If we use our values as our guide as we move forward, we would want to find those values that we share."
Embrace Northern Colorado is hosting a series of meetings this afternoon and evening for business and government leaders as well as residents from Loveland, Greeley and Fort Collins to define those common values.
Getting the Biggest Bang for Your Buck
According to state demographer Elizabeth Garner, the population within Weld and Larimer counties will outpace state growth and jump from 560,000 residents today to 1.1 million by 2040. When it comes to managing population growth, Garner says everything is interconnected.
"It's all about relationships," she says. "Jobs require people. People require services including housing services and other community services."
So how will more than one million people change a landscape that's already besieged by growth? How much longer will commute times be? And what about the quality of life issues?
Embrace Northern Colorado's John Daggett wants community leaders--and not just those in elected office--to consider answers to these questions, and think beyond the confines of the region's three major cities Fort Collins, Loveland and Greeley.
"I don't propose that I know the answer," says Daggett. "I know that we could all get together and figure out what the answer is, and that really is the essence of what we're trying to accomplish."
Daggett's group, founded in 2008, is modeled after Envision Utah, which started its regional planning efforts 15 years ago. Back then the north central part of the state around Salt Lake City was undergoing a rapid population expansion, which was resulting in air quality, traffic and water issues.
"You're going to spend a certain amount of money on infrastructure," says Robert Grow, chairman emeritus of the group. "This visioning is about how to spend money in smartest way we can to get biggest bang for buck."
Grow says the approach Envision Utah took boiled down to three separate steps: bringing together stakeholders, deciding on common values, and then evaluating growth scenarios that weaken or strengthen those values. One of the things they found was that people want to spend more time with their families. That means spending less time in your car, which is already an issue in Northern Colorado.
What's at Stake?
The time it takes to get from city to city in Northern Colorado will change dramatically over the coming decades. By the year 2030, a trip from Fort Collins to Denver is estimated to change from 73 minutes to 119 minutes--a 63 percent increase.
Preparing for that means building more lanes and improving public transportation. While all agree on what's needed, there's been disagreement over the best way to do it. Most recently an effort to get Fort Collins, Greeley and Loveland to agree to a sales tax to fund a regional transit authority failed in 2007.
"You need a funding mechanism and all those sources are going down," says Cliff Davidson, executive director of the North Front Range Metropolitan Planning Organization, which worked on the 2007 effort.
NFRMPO receives a large part of its revenues from the state and federal gas taxes, which have decreased in recent years.
Transportation isn't the only challenge facing the region. The economy is expected to change over the next 30 years, adding on high end professional jobs and lower wage ones. But work typically associated with the middle class will shrink.
"That's I think the region's greatest challenge is creating opportunities for people without college degrees necessarily or without advanced degrees, how do we let them live and achieve that American dream?" says Martin Shields, economist at Colorado State University.
Planning for the Future
Answers to questions like these don't come over night, says Envison Utah's Robert Grow. But a dedicated mix of people can help you get there. Today Utah ranks No. 1 in the Forbes listing of best states for business and careers. And over the last 15 years the public perception of a regional light rail system has changed dramatically.
"Originally the effort to build light rail was viewed as communist conspiracy by some of our citizens," he says. "Now the cities compete to see how fast can get it to themselves."
For right now, John Daggett and the other members of Embrace Northern Colorado are very much at the beginning of this journey, looking for the right mix of people. Later this year, they'll begin holding a series of forums looking at and defining quality of life issues, future growth trends and discussing how best to collaborate.
"What we're after really is how do we work together for the benefit of all of us as opposed to how do we work together for our own individual benefit at the expense of other folks?" he says.
Daggett hopes this is one growth model that everyone can agree on.
Embrace Northern Colorado's "Discovering our Voice" event kicks off at 7 p.m. tonight at The Ranch in Loveland. The event will feature Envision Utah's Robert Grow and Elizabeth Thomas, president of the Center for Planning Excellence. Pre-registration is required at www.embracecolorado.com. © Copyright 2012, KUNC
