Submitted by Eileen A. Brodie
Colorado Springs' founder, General William Jackson Palmer, had a lot of big ideas, starting with bringing the railroad here and planning a well-designed city. His influence lives on in the many acres of parkland he created. His foresight for planting trees throughout the city made it easy for Colorado Springs to become a "Tree City USA."
Today, I appreciate the green lifestyle we can have here. When the weather is good, my car sits in the driveway for days. Bicycling in the flatter downtown is enjoyable as a way to commute. This year the city added 35 bike racks, and the downtown shuttle has carriers for bikes. Although overall bus funding has suffered in the current economy, and the frequency of buses isn't sufficient to attract enough drivers away from their cars, the Metro bus system carries bicycles, too.
By the end of October 2008, we'll have almost 18 new miles of painted bike lanes, for a total of just over 71 miles. This is in addition to some 118 miles of urban bike trails and 60 miles of mountain bike trails. With money raised by a four-dollar-per-bike excise tax, combined with the local Transportation Authority's one-cent sales tax, the number of bike lanes grew by more than 30 percent in 2008. Some 32,000 bicycles were sold in 2007, so it looks good for the future.
The trend of single-speed bikes has blossomed here. With Colorado College at the north end of our main street (Tejon Street), you'll see students pedaling their singles, or the more edgy 'fixies' (fixed gear bicycles) down the road. We've seen scooters come onto the urban scene, too.
One local businessman, John Crandall of Old Town Bike Shop, has long set an example of sustainable living, growing vegetables year round in his greenhouse and cycling to work nearly every day. He just completed a project to install solar energy panels over his shop.Visitors can peek at the monitor on his counter to see watts being generated.
Colorado's mountain lifestyle attracts a high number of large, four-wheel drive vehicles. But many have abandoned their cars and trucks for their commute to Denver (60 miles away), using the popular FREX (Front Range Express) buses, with free wi-fi and comfortable seating. FREX has had to add buses at a higher-than-expected rate.
With coal a mainstay in the Rocky Mountain West, you can stand downtown and watch lines of coal cars go south to the power plant in Pueblo, showcasing old technology. Under our current governer, Bill Ritter, Colorado is plunging into alternative energy programs. Denmark’s Vestas wind energy company has invested in plants to make wind machines in three cities in Colorado. By next year, some Colorado Springs residents will likely be taking jobs in nearby Pueblo to help build the tower sections. I can't wait to see the first trains go by stacked with these huge towers.
Those of us who yearn for even greener pastures know how far we still have to go. We've seen freeway-widening projects completed, only to see new lanes fill with traffic once again. The sprawling eastern suburbs rob the soul with their blanketed appearance, forcing homeowners to get in their cars just to get a gallon of milk. Still, the folks here in Colorado Springs seem poised to move closer to working out this notion of sustainability.
Photo Caption: Monument Creek Bike Path in Colorado Springs, CO. (Photo courtesy of Eileen A. Brodie)
