Thanks for all the comments regarding yesterday’s post about growth in Golden. I think City Council has a very difficult job, and they do it well. They are responsible for the City’s financial viability, and growth and tourism both help with that. Everybody wants something from them, ranging from maintaining property values to guarantees of affordable housing. Many want all currently-vacant land to remain vacant, yet few want to raise taxes to enable the city to buy all available vacant land. Some think all housing should be dense, to promote sustainable living, but few want their own house or their neighbor’s to be replaced with apartment buildings. Bicyclists want bike lanes and motorists want bicycles to stop violating traffic laws–or better yet, stay off the street. I’m grateful that anyone is willing to serve on City Council.
I do hope that Golden’s rampant growth is a topic of discussion in this fall’s City Council election. It’s not too late to run! You have until August 28th to turn in your nomination petition.
Tomorrow night’s Golden Beer Talk will feature Trevor Pellerite, the President of the Colorado Prairie Initiative, a Fort Collins-based nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring and conserving the prairie and grassland ecosystems of Colorado.
Golden Beer Talks are a local, TED Talk-like gathering held monthly at Windy Saddle Cafe in downtown Golden. We have guest speakers on a variety of topics, many of them science- or nature-oriented. Windy Saddle typically has two options available as entrees, and have two beers available from one of the Golden breweries. You don’t need to buy either food or beer, and there is no cover charge. These are organized by a group of volunteers, just as a fun and interesting community gathering. The talk starts at about 6:35, but people start gathering and claiming tables at about 6. We get a quick run-down on the beer being served, then the speaker talks for about 20 minutes. After that we have a quick break, followed by Q&A, and we typically end at 7:30.
You should come sometime–it’s fun!
