Response for Martin (see preceding page, too)

In the Times-Call on 25th June, Ms. Martin says that the City is limited in growth but needs a bit more to accommodate certain items. I like much of her thinking, but she nevertheless sounds a bit too "growthy".  She wishes to have in-town affordable housing, so that grown children will be able to stay in their hometown.  That is an explicit recipe for exponential growth, not limited growth -- and especially not zero growth.  If the kids can't stay, Martin claims, the older population will become unbalanced.  (She's right; I already know some unbalanced elderly folks.)  Fine, I say, let the old folks die off, and in the long run their houses become available again.  She says that preventing homelessness in Longmont is a matter of social justice, though she does not explain how to do that or how that demands growth.  (I note that she is limited to 700 words in her Opinion piece, and that's also why I have opened this web site.)  She faults old City code that demands too much asphalt in areas that are being built up; fine, I say, if you are not growing houses on crop land, you don't need that asphalt!  She asks for "faith in our bold urban plan", that is aspirational toward, among other things, providing balanced housing inventory for low-income and essential workforce. She would also adjust the economy to bring in money to raise wages and City revenue; that sounds like increased population to me!  Elsewhere on this website some of the costs of growth are enumerated, so I won't go further here.

I will say in Martin's favor that she refers to Council's planning vision toward a sustainable city, and that a good deal of work went into it.  She is running for re-election this Fall, and I see a significant sentiment that Longmont is large enough as it is. I would like to see all Council candidates address that sentiment. I am more likely to vote for a candidate who embraces the no-growth intent and will intelligently elaborate any departure from that goal.  Martin is a smart cookie and might be able to pull that off, if she is not overly entangled with the bold plan.