Pueblo - General Info (Columbine, Lamar: lease, buying, costs)

[Josseppie]

I think its time for Pueblo to get a mayor. If we want to be a major city we need more focus then a city manager currently gives us. So I am behind this 100%!

"The mayor would prepare the city budget and appoint staff and department heads, city representatives on other boards, and perform other executive duties. It would be a full-time job paying $100,000 a year. The office would closely resemble Denver's mayoral office."



The link: http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2009/05/23/news/local/doc4a178ae38af91877030589.txt

[Josseppie]

Just to keep everyone informed on Pueblo's progress on our quest to buy more water here is the latest article from the Pueblo Chieftain. They want to sale the Columbine ditch so they will have money to buy water from the Bessemer ditch as it will give us more water. This should allow us to keep growing with out any water issues for a long time!




"The Bessemer Ditch rights would provide about 7,500 acre-feet per year, based on estimates of historic yield. The exact number would be determined in a water court change-of-use case which would be filed after the shares are purchased."

The link: http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2009/05/24/news/local/doc4a18d654b126f849698339.txt

[Josseppie]

Ok. I will be honest I was not going to post this article but then I decided that I need to be intellectually honest with you guys and since I always post the good articles about Pueblo and rag on Colorado Springs and the rest of the state I need to do the same when we do something stupid. At first I was going to spin it and say "yes I don't want to grow like the Springs either" but again I need to be intellectually honest and say this is one of the main reasons Pueblo has not maintained the status as the states second largest city. I already called city council and expressed my disappointment about it and I hope they did not ruin our chances of growth. I also, called the company in Denver working on Pueblo Springs to let them know we are not all this way. Maybe this is the year I need to actually get involved in politics here as this is a defining point in Pueblo's history. I will defiantly consider the idea now and this is why we need a mayor and now more then ever I am going to support that drive even if I don't run for office my self yet.



"A group of Pueblo's elected leaders traveled to Las Vegas last week to press the case that Pueblo's open to more retail, residential and industrial development."

"They wanted to know if we're a growth community or if we're against growth and, more than anything, they wanted to get to know us better," Ortegon said. Ortegon said she responded to the developer that "very much we are a growth community but it has to be controlled growth. We don't want anything to happen like in Pueblo West or Colorado Springs."


The link: http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2009/05/27/business/local/doc4a1cb841ed97b089028693.txt

[McGowdog]

Don't want to grow like P-dub or Colorado Springs? That's like comparing golf balls to ... wire hangers.

Colorado Springs is already pretty big and probably hasn't grown a bunch since this trying economy has clamped down on new construction and Pueblo West? Isn't that just an exodus of people from Pueblo proper?

Yeah Joss. You need to get in there and rattle things up. Go spy on them commissioners and keep them honest... if that's possible.http://www.thesobervillage.com/forums/images/smilies/laie_67.gif (broken link)

[jazzlover]

Yeah, ironic that they should go to Las Vegas, the American poster child for what stupid growth does to a community. Las Vegas is absolute best example in the United States of what population growth fueled only by speculation winds up doing to a place--especially when the bubble bursts. Any community in the US that wants to emulate that is populated and led by fools, idiots, and carpetbaggers.

Check out this thread: https://www.city-data.com/forum/busin...cumentary.html

And, once again, Josseppie crows about Pueblo getting more water. He NEVER mentions how much productive agricultural land will be dried up so people like him can water those worthless lawns. Maybe when he's out there trying to figure out how to eat that Kentucky Bluegrass, he'll recognize his error in logical thinking . . .

[Josseppie]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

Yeah, ironic that they should go to Las Vegas, the American poster child for what stupid growth does to a community. Las Vegas is absolute best example in the United States of what population growth fueled only by speculation winds up doing to a place--especially when the bubble bursts. Any community in the US that wants to emulate that is populated and led by fools, idiots, and carpetbaggers.

Check out this thread: https://www.city-data.com/forum/busin...cumentary.html

And, once again, Josseppie crows about Pueblo getting more water. He NEVER mentions how much productive agricultural land will be dried up so people like him can water those worthless lawns. Maybe when he's out there trying to figure out how to eat that Kentucky Bluegrass, he'll recognize his error in logical thinking . . .

Pueblo has no desire to copy what Las Vegas has done but that is where the devloper is located and that is where the re-tail convention is held so that is where the city has to go.

As far as me being upset I made some phone calls and asked around and am less up set after what I found. Here is what I found:

The developer paid his own way to go and the primary reason for the officials to go was to talk to the developers of Pueblo Springs. If Pueblo is going to get a major re-tail store it will not be at Pinon Ridge and if they are in final talks with another developer they won't tell him. I think that is ok as not every development in Pueblo will attract major stores. He even states that motels are interested in the area and I could see some kind of fast food establishment opening up there. That would make for a nice filler between Pueblo and Serento. As far as Pueblo Springs, I just hope their discussion was more broad then this article states as it was pointed out to me that we have approved the development plan we just need to finalize it. And it is true I don't want it to end up like Briergate or Bannen Lewis Ranch. So if the question is not "will we develop it" but "how can we best develop it" to make this a even better place to live then I support it.

As far as water, it will be 30 years before we even need it and at least its staying in the valley.

[Josseppie]

One of the criticisms of how Colorado Springs has grown, and one I happen to agree with, is they seem to grow at the expense of developed areas including but not limited to downtown and Academy Boulevard. That is something that I do not want Pueblo to do as we annex developments like Serento and Pueblo Springs. I have shown how we are doing that in downtown with the urban renewal area and on the south side with the Lake Ave project including a new use for Minnequa Lake. Today in the Pueblo Chieftain they do a good job of summarizing what Pueblo is doing on its north side including CSU - Pueblo to make sure it grows and keeps up with the rest of the city continuing to make it a important part of Pueblo. Here are the two articles:



"Construction heats up in area of CSU-Pueblo Projects include the private Wolf Village student apartments."

"For as far as the eye can see, construction activity is sprouting up in the University Park/Walking Stick area this summer."

The link: http://www.chieftain.com/articles/20...f525678867.txt

and

"A longtime Southeastern Colorado banking family continues to boost its investment in Pueblo"

The link: http://www.chieftain.com/articles/20...2074787446.txt

[Idunn]

Thank you for reference to the documentary concerning the Las Vegas economy.
Those not having seen it, this the same reference:



YouTube - Lost Vegas: Vanguard


I remember a Steven King movie that was apocalyptic, with survivors across America migrating. Simplistically divided between good and evil, they either moved to Las Vegas, NV, or Boulder, CO. Some with a less than loving impression of Boulder may choke on their breakfast on reading that, although probably even less impressed with Las Vegas. In some respects Boulder deserves such a distinction because while places such as Las Vegas went full steam ahead on growth and never questioned it, Boulder has sought with open space and other measures to control it to an extent. Even if it remains significantly too big as is.

One thing striking me most forcefully in this documentary the lamentable example of an immediate eviction. These being people leasing a house from a homeowner 9 months in arrears, but never knowing this until the sheriff deputies show up at their front door and tell them they have less than an hour, more like 10 to 15 minutes, to take what they can out of the house. There it is, all they can carry out onto the front lawn, just like that, with nowhere to go, and absolutely no warning of this. How is this in any way justified? Could not the court or others notify them, be required to, when knowing their landlord possibly with a problem? But apparently no one cares enough, and this symptomatic of so much evidenced in this documentary. Of wanton greed, stupidity, and just plain imbalance.

They say their budget for services in Clark County 8 billion dollars, but now with but 5.6 billion to fund same. Obviously something has to give. But there is not always wise reapportionment; with a 27% increase in demand for social services, the offices which deal with this have exactly the same number of staff as 2 years before. Just do the math on that. If painfully, it may in time balance out, as if thousands of new arrivals every week in the boom times, near that many now leaving. How does one budget and plan for anything rational in such circumstances?

There seems little recognition of the fundamental problem, even as the symptoms seen plainly enough. As said, "Our economy is geared for growth," and that, "The twin engines of the pro-growth economy were consumerism and asset inflation." They would like to return to it, only lamenting the flip side now which is proving so painful. But what basis for sustainability is consumerism and asset inflation? How long can that last when nothing of real value is created, and it all bought on debt?

Las Vegas might serve as a cautionary tale for those in Boulder or anywhere else in the US. At a certain level it might prosper and do quite well. As is, with that mindset, they had better get used to wild swings between prosperity and despair, with the distinct possibility of a crash they will not soon recover from.

Not to mention the level of water in nearby Lake Mead.

[Josseppie]

What did that have to do with Pueblo and southern Colorado?

[Mike from back east]

Need to stick close to the topic of Pueblo.

Comparisons to what happened in Las Vegas may be germane but let's not get too wrapped up in the excesses of Las Vegas, as there's no way that Pueblo will ever be another Las Vegas.