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The State of the Valley News is a periodic newsletter from
Healthy Mountain Communities and the
Watershed Collaborative.
Valley News contains information on initiatives, trends, ideas, and
events impacting the Roaring Fork and Colorado River Valleys.
3rd Annual State of the Valley Symposium - May 6th |
Please join us on Friday, May 6th at the Hotel Colorado
in Glenwood Springs, for HMC's 3rd annual State of the Valley
Symposium.
This annual forum includes nationally known presenters and
explores the trends, policies, and issues affecting of the Roaring
Fork and Colorado River Valleys.
This year's event includes a focus on regional economics,
planning for prosperity, and the cost and access challenges of
healthcare and health insurance.
Speakers and topics include:
REGIONAL ECONOMIES: UNDERSTANDING & SHAPING OUR ECONOMIC
FUTURE
Larry Swanson
Associate Director of the Center for the Rocky Mountain West and
head of its Regional Economy program.
PLANNING FOR PROSPERITY
Harrison Rue
Executive Director of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District
Commission and the Charlottesville-Albemarle MPO. Founder of the
Citizen Planner Institute.
FORCASTING FUTURE GROWTH
Jim Westkott
State Demographer, Department of Local Affairs
COMMUNITY HEALTH ACCESS
Marc Riddick, Neil-Garing Insurance & HMC Board
Brad O'Neill, Roaring Fork Community Health Plan
Lynn Dierker, Colorado Health Institute
Karen Spink, Health District of Northern Larimer County
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Local & Regional Travel Pattern Study available on-line |
The 2004 Local and Regional Travel Patterns Study is available
on-line at www.hmccolorado.org.
Garfield County, the City of Rifle, Pitkin County, Snowmass
Village and the City of Aspen joined forces to update the Local
and Regional Travel Patterns Study completed in 1998.
The purpose of the study is to give local officials in the
Roaring Fork and Colorado River Valleys a more detail on the how,
why, and when residents and tourists are moving within the region,
gauge progress toward local and regional transportation goals, and
inform future investments in transportation infrastructure.
The study was conducted by RRC Associates, Charlier Associates
and Healthy Mountain Communities.
Some findings include:
- Only 41 percent of residents of the Roaring Fork Valley's
cities, towns and Census-designated "places" worked in their
hometown in 2000, down from 48 percent in 1990. Over the next 20
years, this trend will continue.
- The workforce bears a significant cost of commuting, an
estimated $6,700 annually in vehicle-related expenses for a
typical household, but the cost of housing in the region makes
living in the communities with the most jobs prohibitive.
- Forty-four percent of workers surveyed in the Roaring Fork
Valley would move closer to work if they could afford to, while
11 percent say they are looking for work closer to home.
- A relatively high share of Roaring Fork workers commute by
bus (7 percent, per 2000 Census), significantly higher than in
many urban areas such as Portland (6 percent) and Denver (5
percent).
- An even higher percentage of Roaring Fork workers carpool or
vanpool to work (20 percent). Only 64 percent drive alone, a
lower share than in many metro areas (Denver - 79 percent,
Portland - 77 percent) and mountain communities (Summit County -
70 percent, Routt County - 73 percent).
- Population, job and traffic projections for the future
create significant challenges including:
- Almost of doubling of the regional population and
subsequent growth in traffic (Increases in daily traffic over
the next twenty years will range from 50% in the upper Roaring
Fork Valley to over 80% in parts of the I-70 corridor - and
likely higher, based on the job and population projections
used in this report).
- Job growth continuing to outrun population growth and
housing development in Pitkin County, which will increase
commuting upvalley; and
- Expansion of local area commuting in the mid valley
(Basalt, El Jebel, Carbondale) and Garfield County in general
(which will also see the most increase in population in the
Roaring Fork valley).
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Roaring Fork Community Housing Fund gets to work |
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Affordable housing for people with low and moderate incomes will
now get some financial backing thanks to a new housing entity.
The Roaring Fork Community Housing Fund is a partnership of the
communities of Basalt, Carbondale and Glenwood Springs, as well as
Garfield County.
The local governments signed an agreement in March that
provides for initial cost-sharing that amounts to $111,000.
Glenwood Springs contributed the highest amount, $48,000.
Carbondale has pledged $23,000; Garfield County, $27,000; and
Basalt, $13,000.
The money will go toward leveraging state and federal funds for
local affordable housing projects and securing long-term
financing.
The fund was established through the efforts of Healthy
Mountain Communities, whose director, Colin Laird, approached the
governments in 2004 to form a trust fund to finance affordable
housing.
New Commuinty Housing Fund Director, Bill Tuite said the fund
is modeled on the Mile High Trust Fund, which formed in the early
1990s to finance affordable housing in the city and county of
Denver.
Part of Tuite's mission will be to raise money for the fund
over and above what the municipalities and county contribute.
He'll go to nonprofits for grants and local banks for support.
The fund will also be able to "land bank" property - that is,
purchase land and hold it for future affordable housing
development.
Tuite comes to the job with a broad background as a business
owner, restauranteur and government official. He served on Aspen
City Council and as a Pitkin County commissioner. He also worked
for Aspen's housing authority.
Adapted from article by Donna Gray, Glenwood Post
Independent, 4.18.2005
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