Doing the same thing will get the same result
It is not time for business as usual nor for token actions. Our usual business has increased the world human population to an unsustainable level and is causing the extinction of other life forms at a record setting rate, our appetites to gluttony and blunted our compassion. Earth will not sustain us in this condition. We cannot solve world problems but we can address them in our own corner of the world. To do this we must change our habits and our expectations.
We presently miss-conflate capitalism with democracy. Our city functions as an arbiter for private interest not as a husband of it's citizens assets. The city largely behaves as a facilitator of private activity within it's purview. The Comprehensive Plan doesn't detail problems that should be solved nor propose solutions for them. It doesn't describe where infrastructure is missing or inadequate but rather is mostly a projection into the future of how the city may grow based on past occurrence and intuited trends. City planning is better described as city permitting. Growth occurs at the size and pace of private interest development with little restriction imposed other than on transportation requirements and water supply. As a result we have uneven distribution of services and infrastructure within the city boundaries.
The city uses two institutions to obtain housing for certain populations, those being: elderly low income and disabled, low income single parent, military veteran and low income family. Habitat for Humanity provides for this last demographic whileThe Loveland Housing Authority provides for the others. What's missing is housing for young adults, single or coupled and also housing for economically displaced with mental, emotional and/orsubstance abuse addictions. The first demographic typically will have education loans and little savings or family support. They will usually be lacking reliable and economical transportation. They would probably be satisfied – even happy – with an efficiency apartment or as little as 300 to 500 sq. ft. of living space. There is no way private industry will supply this type of housing because “profits?”. The latter demographic will not have housing because NIMBY, “if webuild it they will come” and “why don't they just get a grip and get a job”.
Growing out is easy, growing up is hard but running away from what happened in the past and building new infrastructure in new modes around it has not worked in the past and it's not working in Loveland. An apple with a worm in it's core doesn't make it to market. Neither will a city with neglected infrastructure at its center surrounded by mono-culture, segregated and poorly connected zones of activity be a healthy place to live. Just as private developers petition for permission to build per plans that they have drawn, the city should have an open and transparent process to plan redevelopment within the GMA. Private developers could participate in the redevelopment but would play a subservient role. Housing in this redevelopment would include types accessible or desirable to all demographics. Those that private developers would be unwilling to supply would be built by the city through agencies in existence or created for the purpose. As an example; the land between the Lincoln – Cleveland couplet could be redeveloped to contain MDU hi-rises containing property types from entry level, affordable through luxury. They would consist of owner-occupied as well as rental units. This type of housing in this concentration would be a fundamental base on which a safe and healthy citizenry would be a population willing and able to support diversified, private commercial interests, be easily served by co-located public functions and be minimally burdensome to the natural environment. Supporting public infrastructure would be more compact and economical to maintain. Goods and services are delivered to the citizens in this scenario rather that the citizens needing to go to get them.
The un-sheltered of our community is the fruit of our (lack of ) compassion. For whatever reason(s) these citizens have ended up living without shelter. Instead of caring for them we exercise our “freedom” and shun them. When they won't get out of our sight we chase them away. What would our community be like if instead we took them in and helped them work on their issues that are preventing them from being self-sufficient and productive citizens? The city should have plans and processes to help ease this situation. Due to their mobility we worry that if we do something then we would attract more citizens with problems. Cities in general are playing this game and it does nothing more that increase the magnitude of the problem. Again, we can't solve this problem but if we worked with the county and the cities and the townships within it, we could create a system in which this mobility would be damped by providing needed services at equal levels everywhere. The county would provide the services and the cities and towns would supply the facilities. As an example, Monroe Elementary School could be acquired or leased from TSD and re-purposed as dorm-style housing with on-sight offices for social workers and 24/7 support. Larimer County Workforce training programs could give them work to do to build their feeling of self worth. The pay could be lower than mandated minimum by considering some of the pay was compensation for provided housing.The city could provide these jobs through the various silos: cleaning streets and sidewalks which they are presently littering.