plus ça change.... letter to the editor

Traffic. Oh what do we do about traffic?

A modest proposal:  shut down 82, McLain Flats and Independence to all traffic for 24 hours. Shut. It. Down. No deliveries. No down valley workforce. No tourists.  No warning- just put up the barricades. Let’s just take a look at who is “local”. Then we can ask each other if the few who remain can sustain for more than 24 hours without deliveries, out of town workers, tourists- without the $ all of these bring. Pay the wages of everyone who missed work that day out of the City Coffers. Track the sales tax on that one day and extrapolate revenues for a decade of lean living. Put Dr. Baxter’s toll booth up on the Castle Creek bridge the day after. No charge to enter you just have to pay to leave.

Think I’m joking? Did I forget to add my $500K consultancy fee?

Traffic is a symptom. It’s a symptom of economic success. It’s also an indicator of our lack of sustainability, inability to scale, and lack of foresight.

1. Complete all roadwork during off season and off peak traffic hours. The prettiest curbs in the world don’t make up for potholes to China. A 4 hour trip from Monarch and Main to the Airport was due to the roundabout shut down to 1 lane during the XGames.

2. Stage equipment as close to the point of need as possible (Parks and Recreation I’m looking right at you when I say that)

3. A public transport shuttle direct from baggage claim into Ruby Park in Aspen.  Don’t mewl about not having a grant to cover this… we have the buses we just need the will to use our available resources to address an obvious need.

4. Restrict delivery hours... 3 am to 7 am. We do it with grooming the mountain we can do it with supplying the town. Offer white noise headphones to all downtown penthouse owners.

5. For pities sake- expand the bus service to serve the down valley worker.  This means buses after 2 am so restaurant staff can get home without driving. Better yet make these “quiet buses” and kick off anyone who is drunk, obnoxious,  and making any noise other than snoring.

Zen and the art of the S curve

Aspen. We are victims of our own success. That leads me to believe that we need to redefine success.

We have some perpetual problems. When a problem lasts for decades then it's something which is symptomatic of something deep- a division at the root of our community. Traffic is one of those problems and the S curves rear up like a cobra's head bobbing back and forth while we look for a local mongoose or at very least someone with a bit of charm and a flute. County and City have just authorized another $500K study of the entrance to Aspen.

Popular wisdom points a finger at construction traffic.  The guests we can ferry in and out pretty well. We could make that more efficient with simple cost effective measures like a shuttle directly to arrivals and departures at the airport. That would be easy. We're allergic to easy, but that's another discussion.

Back to construction traffic. Will an army of brick laying drones save us?  Will modular mansions drop from helicopters giving us 3 day builds? Errrrr... probably not... Luddites you may rejoice.

Are there ways to slow the real estate/construction market? I mean other than whinging that we don't want more growth while we pocket all the cash growth brings?

You could reduce the second home owners claiming residency in their 2nd/3rd/4rth home by imposing a City/County income tax- targeting the $million income crowd and that would force a few out- but probably not before they tried to make a profit on a re-sale.
We could ignore our aging buildings and infrastructure and let it rot. Some of us remember Aspen when it was full of derelict houses - if you like that sort of thing move to Cisco Utah - or the top of Aspen street. Live with no indoor plumbing, running water or heat a couple of years and then decide if that’s quaint and cozy.

Construction could certainly be more efficient. Now we're so grateful to get a contractor who will deal with the draconian depths of the Aspen Planning department we’re willing to say yes to any timeline.

What about stopping new construction? Once those older edifices have rotted it’s certainly easier to build new.

Moratorium you say! Allow me to gently whisper “supply and demand” to remind everyone how we got our first real estate bubble in the 70’s. Limit the supply and the demand soars.

Kill the goose you say! Sabotage the lifts, bomb the Wheeler, nuke the mountains then people will leave us alone in the rubble. I mumble again “Jim  tried that…"

Destroy City Hall you say! It's all the government's fault. Well, if you really want anarchy default on a couple of City and County loans which might wreck the credit rating - that should bring the budget and the bureaucracy down.  Referendums are ham fisted inelegant blunt force weapons use the silent stiletto of finance. It worked with the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act and devaluation of silver in 1893.

Does this sound like "a modest proposal"? Well, it is. These solutions eat our own children, force doesn't work,  from the rubble new stakeholders will emerge all seeking the same comfort and power as the regime they helped destroy.

Maybe we want something other than Mad Max in the Rockies. Maybe we want a positive strategy which enhances the quality of life rather than smashing things in a hissy fit. Maybe quality of life is more than money. Maybe it's quality of life for every life.

What is the answer to that long snake of traffic which makes Aspen a miniature FDR drive or 405? There really is only one answer which I can think of. Reduce the number of commuters. House laborers and their equipment at the point of need. Support more telecommuting and remote offices.  Allow "pop up" mobile housing for the duration of the project.

Shigeru Ban's architecture- when it works

Encourage the nomadic workforce of the sharing economy (Oh, what one Basque sheepherder and his flock used to do grooming Aspen Mountain in a summer) .

Don't just target by age, income or time in the valley. Prioritize essential services. Work with what you have. Practice the art of the possible.  Water takes the easiest path and to quote Doctor Who, "Water always wins".  If none of that works for you - look around you and rejoice in what you have - practice acceptance.

We should update the Consultant Bingo Board.

Finally, don't do what we've done with every other traffic study we've ever paid for- don't pay for it and shove it in a drawer kicking the can down the S curves for another generation.