If we don't take risks... if ambition deflates like a balloon popping off the helium tank and giving a loud flatulent bloop as it falls to your feet ... where does that lead? We are trapped between the virtues of low cost subsidized housing and the unintended consequences of Corporate Welfare.

 Replying to Roger Marolt's derailing of Aspen with opinions on the third rail of Aspen politics which is APCHA, the government subsidized housing where the majority of registered Aspen voters live.

There is no question that housing in Aspen is not affordable. There is no question high priced housing flows stronger than the Roaring Fork in thaw under Slaughter House Bridge all the way down to Glenwood.

One particularly thorny question is how much has affordable housing contributed to the housing/wealth divide?

The cost to maintain a free market rental is 3 to 5 times as much as APCHA charges for rent.

What is the personal price of APCHA price fixing?

If you live in APCHA housing how does that change you?  Would you pursue a pay raise if it meant exceeding APCHA income caps and losing your home? Could you pay fair wages to a plumber, electrician, or painter to maintain your home under APCHA income caps? Would you invest in capital improvements if your kids couldn't inherit? Would that deed-restricted sale cover the cost of assisted living?

If you live in APCHA housing do you feel secure? What happens if the RETT dips and those APCHA rentals start to approach the actual price of maintaining a property? Close the airport for a year, watch as we play Jenga with the bond market,  defund CDOT, defund RAFTA, defund firefighters, the list of economic threats is legion.

Don't believe APCHA will ever be defunded? Take a close look at the 2021 vote on the Wheeler WRETT.

The cold hard truth is that APCHA is not sustainable. Something has to give.

Tesla Hate?

Response to Lo-Fidelity in the Aspen Times:

https://www.aspentimes.com/opinion/lo-fidelity-teslas-in-aspen-shame-pride-or-ambivalence/

 Lo, Tesla hate? Sorry- nothing new.  It's almost as if I were driving with ZG plates through Summit County in the 1970's.

Having been a Tesla driver since 2015 I've gotten my share of single finger salutes and coal rolls.

There's only one problem.

These are great cars. I mean off the chart eyes roll to the back of your head bluebird 36" champagne first tracks doing bumps with teenage knees good.

Mom owned an Oldsmobile Tornado when we moved here and then she got a little used Porsche 912. If those two cars had a love child it would drive like a Tesla. Big American muscle car on the highway with an adrenaline junkie Bavarian corner hugger heart going up Indy Pass.

There isn't a safer car anywhere. The HEPA filter was good enough to keep out all the Lake Christine smoke. If you saw what was left of the Tesla from the Maroon Creek crash you wouldn't believe anyone could have survived. I've had a car spin out in front of me in the rain in Glenwood Canyon- anti collision stopped the car so smoothly the passenger in the back seat didn't wake up.

I love these cars. I love that I still laugh whenever I drive past a gas station. I love that I've saved over $60K in expenses in the last 10 years. It makes me giggle. I don't giggle often.

If you want some inside dope on Elon Walter Isaacson's biography is a must read. I'd add Asimov's Foundation Trilogy and the NYT April 4 opinion piece by Jill Lepore to that list. Executive summary: It's all about technocracy. The problem is "test till failure" does not work well with human beings.

If you want to protest Elon- buy low pick up some Tesla stock and lead the charge to ditch him as CEO. A 71% drop in profits isn't a great look on any company. Don't forget the Apple Board fired Steve Jobs.

Fear not Lo two old Aspen kids can find a way to skitch behind anything.

JMO

Aspen Ideas 2023

 That's a wrap.

The leaf sculptures are back in their crates.

https://www.aspenideas.org/pages/recommend-a-speaker-for-aspen-ideas

Walkability : Letter to the editor

 Do you want a main street strip mall or do you want a walkable city?

Lining Main Street with commercial buildings will not reduce traffic on Main.

Lining Main Street with commercial buildings will not reduce traffic on side streets.

Lining Main Street with commercial buildings will not increase walkability.

Want a walkable city? Each zone district has a restaurant, a grocery, and an ER within walking distance of where you sleep. 

If a city of 36 million can make that happen a city of 7000 should be able to make that happen. https://youtu.be/zysL_lkdtys

Vacancy Tax: letter to the editor

The vacancy tax plus the 1% increase in property tax are like trying to untie the Gordian Knot. You'll only get rope burn.

Don't untie a Gordian Knot. Use a big fat machete.

When I moved back to Aspen in 1991 from NYC my income dropped by 1/3+ but my net remained the same. Why? NYC has an income tax. Make an income tax for anyone claiming Aspen as a primary residence with a yearly income one thousand times+ the Colorado minimum wage. No Trumpian taxobatics allowed- tax the gross.  That should cool some real estate and renovation jets for a bit. Then do your Robin Hood $55 food tax rebate thing and redistribute on a larger scale - to the residents who don't make $3mill a year.