Dear Guy,
I’m late and thanking you for your February article on education. Fabulous article thank you so much, and thank you for all that you do for the community.
Rebeccah Bayshore
Mr. Stites,
Investing $4.5 million for new housing near the Arvada Ridge G line rail station is an admirable use for these funds. Another use for this windfall is investing in transit near housing in Wheat Ridge proper. As heartfelt and warm as the thought of affordable housing is transit certainly is something all Wheat Ridge residents could make use of. Why does RTD have a monopoly on the transit system? It should be called the Denver Transportation District. Transit runs east/west to and from Denver with little or no transit going north/south once you reach the suburbs. There is always talk of making a “city” more user friendly with pedestrian this and that. If you are always in you car going to these pedestrian friendly locations what is the point. Does the 800# gorilla that is RTD have a strangle hold on the surrounding cities doing something about transit. Steamboat springs has its own city bus line. Breckenridge has its own city bus line. Why do the cities of metro Denver sit on their hands and do nothing about this problem. Tens of millions of dollars were spent “improving” and “expanding” Wadsworth for more traffic and none of the money was used to lessen the need for cars locally. Housing needs a resolution but can, or should, government try to solve it. Transportation is something the public, all of us, could use and sooner rather than later.
Dean Clinard
Brown is Beautiful
Not to sound alarming, but we are in the midst of a crisis. A crisis of not just water, but a crisis of culture. In fact, this crisis of culture is what has driven us head first at break neck speed into this environmental crisis. The greed of a select few combined with American desire to individualize have led us to this point and without a drastic mindset shift we will not avoid further environmental destruction.
As Wheat Ridge residents we have been told that we are on new water restrictions. The mandate has been to only water your yard twice each week. A perfectly reasonable ask considering our water reserves are at record lows. However, as I drive and walk our lovely streets I still see people either breaking these rules or watering their yards right after we got a nice rain. Each time I pass I can’t help but feel defeated. It hurts to know that some people value their own interests to have a green front yard over the good of the collective.
It is that self-interest and idea that my desires trump all others’ is what got us here in the first place. Fir decades the oil and gas/coal industry has used their money to fight against the advancement of green energy. The greed of a few has directly taken away from the prosperity and longevity of us all. This greedy, individualistic mindset is pervasive seed in our society that is now, so furiously coming to harvest. We are in the midst of reaping what we’ve sewn as a country, but I do believe there is a glimmer of hope.
At times in our past, Americans have demonstrated the ability to come together and do things for the greater good and we’ve put aside our short term wants for the long-term good. While having strong leadership to encourage us to do this is helpful, I don’t see it happening with the current administration. Instead, it is us, the everyday people living here that need to step up and be leaders in this cultural shift. Being a leader doesn’t mean speaking at the capital (but it can), and it doesn’t mean running for president. Being a leader means doing what is right because it’s right. And I think that today, that means going brown.
Yes, going brown. It’s time to let go of the 1950s idea of a big green lawn in our front yard. You know the picture I’m talking about. The one where the water from the sprinkler glistens so beautifully in the warm summer sun. It seems perfect and because we’re Americans I think we believe that we “deserve” that. Unfortunately that’s not the case right now. I think we need to lean into having a more brown-ish yard this year, or maybe xeriscape, or maybe collect rain water and use that to water our yards? I am asking that we all become leaders by example. That we embrace the brown, showing our neighbors that I’m willing to sacrifice so that we can all succeed. I urge you all to do your part, to carry your weight, because if we want to continue having a beautiful state and country it is going to take sacrifice for the greater good. To borrow the words of JFK, “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” It might just start as watering less, but a small mindset shift can lead to much greater change. Be well, y’all.
Reed
