Sustainability
Sometimes Messy Is Clean
Yeah, it doesn't completely make sense. But here's the point. Louisville is a small town, and we can't solve any of our big problems alone. The climate crisis is here and now, as we've experienced all too clearly, and nothing Louisville does will change that single-handedly. But when we understand the roles we CAN play, and work for larger-scale changes in collaboration with our local, regional, state, national, and global partners, we can and will make progress.
The city's commitment to following through on its decarbonization plan is one clear way that we can put our money where our mouth is and set an example for other communities to follow. We also need to recognize that it's not enough to "keep Louisville green" and push unwanted land uses into neighboring communities. If we don't want more housing here, we're just pushing that burden onto our neighbors. If we force low income workers to live 30 minutes away, we're adding to the pollution of their commute. What would it look like for Louisville to take full accountability for our actions and build a healthier eco-system here? I'm not sure, but lots of smart people are thinking about these things, and we should be working with them to find answers.
Affordable housing will bring more people into our city- more people who create more traffic and use our shared resources. Cities may be more polluted than rural areas. But if you took every citizen in Denver and spread them out evenly across the state, Denver would be cleaner and the state would be ruined. We can't look at additional people in Louisville as a burden. They are people. We have a great city and we have room. As my mom says, if there's room in the heart, there's room in the house.
We have to make some sacrifices here in Louisville to save our planet, and infilling our community is better than sprawling all over the state. I promise to vote yes on ADUs, density increases, smaller lot sizes, and less parking for our new developments. I promise to vote yes on the policies that will help us lower the environmental impact of our current and future residents, including expanding green and active transportation options. I promise to work towards creative solutions to make us a more sustainable, vibrant, and inclusive community.