Who Can Save Ketchum?
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Vanessa Fry: Development Isn’t a Dirty Word
The balance between development that is economically viable and, at the same time, preserves our quality of life is now more important than ever.
Across the nation, cities and towns are working hard to recover from poor planning decisions. Strip malls and big box stores are closing and suburbia is being deserted Link by people who choose to live in more urban areas convenient to public transit and essential goods and services. Here in Blaine County, we’re also facing an exodus of people leaving our communities, and our weakening economy can be partially blamed on this community change. Link
So what is the cause of the decline? It is in part due to the lack of diversification in our economy. With real estate, construction and tourism making up the majority of our economy, it’s not surprising that we see a dip that mirrors that of the nation. We are now faced with making both short- and long-term plans to “fix” our economy. However, in the rush to cure ourselves, we cannot let poor planning and development decisions cause problems for our community in the future.
Historically, when the economy suffers, officials are pressured to ignore community values and bend planning rules in exchange for the fleeting financial gain development may bring. Since the biggest hit to our economy is in our largest economic sectors, some suggest we can build our way out of this mess.
This is far from the answer. Despite the fact that our community might reap the benefits of poorly planned growth in the short-term, sprawling development and other issues will only exacerbate the economic crisis in the future.
Development isn’t a dirty word. It’s poorly planned development that makes things messy. Instead of allowing poor development, which had a lot to do with our current financial mess, we must work together to find creative solutions that will put people back to work for the long-term and require sustainable development to ensure future economic prosperity.
All of our communities must create clear visions of how they want to grow, economically and physically, and sustainably. The path has begun to be paved by groups like Sustain Blaine who have created an outline for a sustainable economy. Now that group, along with the local jurisdictions, need the involvement from the people that live, work and play here. Whether it’s being part of Hailey’s current Comprehensive Plan revisions, speaking at a public meeting about the River Run Annexation in Ketchum, or helping implement the Sustain Blaine economic plan, people can help shape the future of their communities.
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