Support Valley's Edge — don't `Boulderize' Chico

I'm a native Chicoan. In the 1980s I moved to Boulder, Colorado for 10 years. Like Chico, it's a charming college town, population 105,000. Like Chico, the city established a “no-build greenbelt” bordering the west side of town.

Unlike Chico, Boulder also established a “greenbelt” bordering the east side of town. The City Plan was “infill” development to enhance a more centralized community, promoting less traffic, more walking, biking, and clean public transit.

The result: Unaffordable housing! As infill development consumes available/buildable land, the axiom of supply and demand ensues. The median cost of a home in Boulder today is $877,000. A one-bed apartment costs $2,300 per month and the base livable wage is $122,000.

46,000 vehicles drive into Boulder every day from surrounding communities because commuters can't afford Boulder. The average commute is 23 minutes. This is Chico's fate if SOME outward growth is not planned and developed.

The lesson learned from Boulder is simple. Infill development myopically becomes a dead-end street. When available land is depleted and demand continues, as it will in Chico, home prices escalate.

The reality is … if Chico relies on infill development, those quaint little homes in the Avenues will be purchased, razed, and replaced with McMansions or doubled in size with additions.

Valley's Edge is the relief valve to avoid this scenario. Perhaps not a perfect plan, but needed if we are to preserve Chico's lovely core. Recognize the difference between utopian fantasy and economic reality. Want affordable housing? Support Valley's Edge.

Don't Boulderize Chico!

— Glenn Dilley, Chico