THE SILK PURSE OF SMART GROWTH.

• Author: RUNDLES, JEFF

I have heard about growth in Colorado since I was part of the problem and moved here in 1973. Way back then people talked about preserving the special nature of the state for future generations.

It was pretense then, and it is pretense now. Had we preserved the special nature of the state of Colorado in 1973, Colorado would be much more special today. The only preserving that has gone on in all these 27 years that I have seen here is that during the various state recessions we didn't do anything major to screw up the quality of life because we couldn't afford to. It was an accident.

Let's be honest. This latest round of feel-good, quality-of-life, "Smart Growth" proposals isn't about preserving anything, except the status quo. The governor can stand in a pretty place like Dinosaur Ridge and offer all the platitudes he wants about his vision of Colorado's future, but unless he is willing to stand up and put some teeth in his proposals, the future is going to look an awful lot like the present. More sprawl. More cars. More shopping malls.

And less quality of life every day.

Gov. Owens has been enjoying quite a good honeymoon with the citizenry of Colorado and with the legislature in his first year in office, and he probably has every right to think that rhetoric is better than reason. It is good politics but bad policy, and we all know what really counts.

Take for instance Owens' campaign promise to improve the state's highways, particularly I-25, which he successfully shepherded to victory this last November. A good majority bought the idea that more roads would lead to less congestion. But right after the victory a study was released that showed that the highway improvements and the addition of light rail to the I-25 corridor would save the average commuter a grand total of three minutes on a trip from downtown Denver to the Lincoln Avenue exit in the year 2015. And keep in mind that never in the history of Colorado has a highway...