Steve Pomerance

The more detailed question is — should Boulder continue with its current policies that are mostly number driven, that have resulted in concentrating affordable housing in small areas of town, and that have effectively turned over major decisions to unelected people and entities whose interests are not necessarily aligned with the citizens at large? Both proponents and opponents of the proposed development at Lee Hill Drive to house homeless people have legitimate perspectives. The “housing first” concept has apparently worked well for Denver, and concentrating such services in one location improves administrative efficiency. But asking one part of town to absorb large numbers of affordable housing units, as North Boulder has, and now absorb yet another transient population, is both unfair and inappropriate given the city’s stated intent to spread affordable housing throughout the community. The reason this project is not subject to the more typical development review goes back de...

The news in the last few weeks makes me wonder if we are on the edge of some new paradigm, with appearances almost totally divorced from reality. Internationally, much has been made about the “successful” bailout for Greece and the “haircut” that bond-holders were taking. But on March 10, the New York Times analyzed the total debt owed by the Greek government. As it turns out, there was only a minimal reduction. Although privately held bonds lost nearly two thirds of their value, total Greek government debt was reduced by less than 25 percent. Success is apparently now measured by just having put off the inevitable. Nationally, the Federal Reserve has bought massive amounts of government debt and mortgage backed securities. This was allegedly to keep interest rates low so that businesses and consumers can borrow cheaply to kick-start the economy. Of course, it also forces ordinary citizens to accept very low returns on their savings. But according to a story in the Times on March...

On Tuesday evening at the City Council study session, the local organizing committee of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge presented their plans. On Aug. 25, Boulder will be part of the semi-final Stage 6. The stage course will pass through Boulder in the morning, and then loop through the mountains, and return via Lee Hill Road, through town, and finish at the Flagstaff amphitheater. It’s an event with great potential for excitement, but also with the opportunity for serious problems on Flagstaff because of extremely limited access and the potential for environmental damage. Various city, county and other agencies are apparently hard at work looking at all the issues, from traffic control to fire risks to emergency access. But the fundamental constraint here is that the Flagstaff Road area is a “zero failure area;” this is not an event where “we’ll do it better next time” is acceptable. If there is significant environmental damage, if there is a fire, if there is an emergency for which...