The more things change...
Published in the Boulder Daily Camera, July 2015
A few weeks in France are good for the soul, if not the waistline. I just got back from seeking lavender in Provence, which was found in great abundance. But you can't spend time in a country known for history's great philosophers without tripping over a few nuggets of wisdom, and when you hear them in French, they sound even smarter.
This trip, I bumped into "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose," which, for those of us who never got past the Disney French lessons offered in Beauty and the Beast, translates to "The more things change, the more they stay the same." Maybe it was the French or maybe just the perspective that distance sometimes brings, but this saying seemed awfully relevant to the philosophical debate about Boulder's future that we are now having.
Change. Barack Obama got elected on his promises for Hope and Change. Change is something that progressives should embrace. After all, without change, how can there be progress?
Nonetheless, Boulder is in the middle of what feels like an existential crisis over how to slow down or stop change. It seems that many of us have come to the conclusion that Boulder is perfect and we want it to forever stay the same. So let's not change a thing.
The problem is that this line of thinking misses a key point of this French wisdom. As any long-time Boulderite can attest, constant change and evolution in Boulder's culture, government, and neighborhoods have made Boulder the town it is today. Shelving the dynamism that comes with our willingness to change will only ensure that Boulder will never be same.
What evidence is there that we're in a rush to put the brakes on change? The obvious and most amusing examples are the recent "historic landmark" battles, like over the historic coal shed that had to be rebuilt and that nondescript bungalow on University Hill that must be left pretty much as is. Good heavens. "Preservation" has become the wall behind which any significant change in existing housing will be stopped cold.
But it's not just city government fighting change. Citizen initiatives on the ballot in November will elevate Boulder's resistance to change to new levels. Consider the proposed "Neighborhoods Right to Vote" charter amendment. This stop-change-dead-in-its-tracks plan will allow a few activists in any Boulder neighborhood to kill land use policy changes that have already run the gauntlet of a change-averse Boulder city government. Collectively, these new laws will ensure that the only change we ever see in Boulder housing is what we can apply with a paint brush.
How about the fuss over new jobs in Boulder like the one last year when Google proposed significantly increasing its footprint in town? Google – the most dynamic company in America that has given the world a clear window into the wealth of information on the internet and that, in its spare time, is designing driverless cars. And, by all accounts, Google is a great company to work for. But, many amongst us worked hard to chase Google away because they didn't want all those jobs that would require all that housing and all those cars that came along with them. We're busy enough, thank you.
Finally, consider Boulder's response over the past few weeks to "right-sizing" a few roads to see if that gets more of us on bicycles. Maybe it's a good idea and maybe it's not, but what struck me was how outraged we were over some small and – if they don't work and the city keeps its promises – temporary changes to our streets.
It's a law of nature that ecosystems must change and adapt and stay vibrant. I've lived in a Boulder mountain community for 34 years and been fascinated by the constant changes in who lives there, and I don't mean the people. A neighborhood once inhabited by a few birds, deer, and snakes has seen foxes, squirrels, rabbits, bears, bobcats, and mountain lions move in. They come and they go as they and the world around them changes. Nature adapts and the ecosystem thrives, and if we want Boulder to continue to thrive, so must we.
Sure, we have the power to stop Boulder from changing. We can scare away new businesses, make Boulder less inviting for those who don't already live here, and stop all land use changes.
Yep, we can fix things so Boulder never changes but, if we do, Boulder will never be the same.
A few weeks in France are good for the soul, if not the waistline. I just got back from seeking lavender in Provence, which was found in great abundance. But you can't spend time in a country known for history's great philosophers without tripping over a few nuggets of wisdom, and when you hear them in French, they sound even smarter.
This trip, I bumped into "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose," which, for those of us who never got past the Disney French lessons offered in Beauty and the Beast, translates to "The more things change, the more they stay the same." Maybe it was the French or maybe just the perspective that distance sometimes brings, but this saying seemed awfully relevant to the philosophical debate about Boulder's future that we are now having.
Change. Barack Obama got elected on his promises for Hope and Change. Change is something that progressives should embrace. After all, without change, how can there be progress?
Nonetheless, Boulder is in the middle of what feels like an existential crisis over how to slow down or stop change. It seems that many of us have come to the conclusion that Boulder is perfect and we want it to forever stay the same. So let's not change a thing.
The problem is that this line of thinking misses a key point of this French wisdom. As any long-time Boulderite can attest, constant change and evolution in Boulder's culture, government, and neighborhoods have made Boulder the town it is today. Shelving the dynamism that comes with our willingness to change will only ensure that Boulder will never be same.
What evidence is there that we're in a rush to put the brakes on change? The obvious and most amusing examples are the recent "historic landmark" battles, like over the historic coal shed that had to be rebuilt and that nondescript bungalow on University Hill that must be left pretty much as is. Good heavens. "Preservation" has become the wall behind which any significant change in existing housing will be stopped cold.
But it's not just city government fighting change. Citizen initiatives on the ballot in November will elevate Boulder's resistance to change to new levels. Consider the proposed "Neighborhoods Right to Vote" charter amendment. This stop-change-dead-in-its-tracks plan will allow a few activists in any Boulder neighborhood to kill land use policy changes that have already run the gauntlet of a change-averse Boulder city government. Collectively, these new laws will ensure that the only change we ever see in Boulder housing is what we can apply with a paint brush.
How about the fuss over new jobs in Boulder like the one last year when Google proposed significantly increasing its footprint in town? Google – the most dynamic company in America that has given the world a clear window into the wealth of information on the internet and that, in its spare time, is designing driverless cars. And, by all accounts, Google is a great company to work for. But, many amongst us worked hard to chase Google away because they didn't want all those jobs that would require all that housing and all those cars that came along with them. We're busy enough, thank you.
Finally, consider Boulder's response over the past few weeks to "right-sizing" a few roads to see if that gets more of us on bicycles. Maybe it's a good idea and maybe it's not, but what struck me was how outraged we were over some small and – if they don't work and the city keeps its promises – temporary changes to our streets.
It's a law of nature that ecosystems must change and adapt and stay vibrant. I've lived in a Boulder mountain community for 34 years and been fascinated by the constant changes in who lives there, and I don't mean the people. A neighborhood once inhabited by a few birds, deer, and snakes has seen foxes, squirrels, rabbits, bears, bobcats, and mountain lions move in. They come and they go as they and the world around them changes. Nature adapts and the ecosystem thrives, and if we want Boulder to continue to thrive, so must we.
Sure, we have the power to stop Boulder from changing. We can scare away new businesses, make Boulder less inviting for those who don't already live here, and stop all land use changes.
Yep, we can fix things so Boulder never changes but, if we do, Boulder will never be the same.
