My Vision for America's Adventure Place
Today the air is clean, the vistas are vast, and the Truckee Meadows is a place where people want to live. Reno/Sparks is still a place where one can be in unspoiled desert or mountains quickly.
Unfortunately, our elected officials have an astonishing concern for people who don't live here yet! Their plans to double the size of Reno threaten the very qualities that attract people here. My name is on the ballot because I think the people who already live here aren't being listened to.
While our population density is only three persons per acre, which is barely 1/3 of the population density of Los Angeles (hardly the poster child for smart growth), our city planners advocate a need for more acreage in which to expand. Indeed, one of the first places targeted is the Winnemucca Ranch, 30 miles away from the Spaghetti Bowl and completely disconnected from our urban core! Then, they would like to auction off much of the public land between there and here to developers, possibly doubling the size of Reno!
Despite rapid growth, with houses popping up like cheatgrass, our union brothers and sisters struggle for a piece of the action. The Carpenter's Union only holds about 15 percent of the residential market!
Today our water is running low. As I write, officials are planning water importation scheme to fuel more subdivisions. The estimated cost is a billion dollars! I think we need to be cautious with water and stay well within known parameters for the future of all of us who live here.
There is an alternative to a future of developer driven sprawl built by non-union labor. The first thing we must do is allow the public back into the process. And the public gets to say no sometimes. Our current mayor says it's the same 200 people who are causing all the fuss. In fact, concern about growth is pervasive and deep. As I walk door to door through Reno's neighborhoods, I have been told by the owner of a construction company that his workers can't afford the houses they build. I have been told by a concrete pourer that he is pouring too much concrete over Nevada's beauty. I encourage the current mayor to do some walking too, and I'll even buy the walking shoes for him.
If the process was truly community driven and not driven by developers, we could identify some close in public lands and do high density and affordable development served by rapid transit in those areas. This could create affordable housing for our children (every development should have 25 percent affordable housing, AND we should push for union hire on more construction projects)
We are right across a mountain from a huge population that hankers for open space. They will come over the hill to experience our clean air, unspoiled vistas, and herds of antelope and deer. These folks will gamble in our casinos, eat in our restaurants, and stay in our hotels. And some will even move here but we should insist that occur without destroying the region we love.
Nevada has a history of standing out. We have survived by having something that other states don't. Early on it was silver. Then it was easy divorce. Then it was gambling. Increasingly, it will be open space and clean starry skies and wildlife if we don't muck it up first. Will you join with me to ensure a vibrant future for our region?
Erik Holland
Unfortunately, our elected officials have an astonishing concern for people who don't live here yet! Their plans to double the size of Reno threaten the very qualities that attract people here. My name is on the ballot because I think the people who already live here aren't being listened to.
While our population density is only three persons per acre, which is barely 1/3 of the population density of Los Angeles (hardly the poster child for smart growth), our city planners advocate a need for more acreage in which to expand. Indeed, one of the first places targeted is the Winnemucca Ranch, 30 miles away from the Spaghetti Bowl and completely disconnected from our urban core! Then, they would like to auction off much of the public land between there and here to developers, possibly doubling the size of Reno!
Despite rapid growth, with houses popping up like cheatgrass, our union brothers and sisters struggle for a piece of the action. The Carpenter's Union only holds about 15 percent of the residential market!
Today our water is running low. As I write, officials are planning water importation scheme to fuel more subdivisions. The estimated cost is a billion dollars! I think we need to be cautious with water and stay well within known parameters for the future of all of us who live here.
There is an alternative to a future of developer driven sprawl built by non-union labor. The first thing we must do is allow the public back into the process. And the public gets to say no sometimes. Our current mayor says it's the same 200 people who are causing all the fuss. In fact, concern about growth is pervasive and deep. As I walk door to door through Reno's neighborhoods, I have been told by the owner of a construction company that his workers can't afford the houses they build. I have been told by a concrete pourer that he is pouring too much concrete over Nevada's beauty. I encourage the current mayor to do some walking too, and I'll even buy the walking shoes for him.
If the process was truly community driven and not driven by developers, we could identify some close in public lands and do high density and affordable development served by rapid transit in those areas. This could create affordable housing for our children (every development should have 25 percent affordable housing, AND we should push for union hire on more construction projects)
We are right across a mountain from a huge population that hankers for open space. They will come over the hill to experience our clean air, unspoiled vistas, and herds of antelope and deer. These folks will gamble in our casinos, eat in our restaurants, and stay in our hotels. And some will even move here but we should insist that occur without destroying the region we love.
Nevada has a history of standing out. We have survived by having something that other states don't. Early on it was silver. Then it was easy divorce. Then it was gambling. Increasingly, it will be open space and clean starry skies and wildlife if we don't muck it up first. Will you join with me to ensure a vibrant future for our region?
Erik Holland
posted by Erik Holland at
11:21 AM
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