Aspen housing opportunities right under our noses

“Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World” is an interesting book. Apparently, when complex problems need to be solved it is best to get a lot of different perspectives from the get-go because, “In a wicked world, relying upon experience from a single domain is not only limiting, it can be disastrous.”

So, here’s an idea for an in-town location for new employee housing, and I don’t care if it’s a crazy/good or a crazy/naïve idea; Aspen City Council can figure that out.

Both the Red Brick and the Yellow Brick buildings are perfect for a second- and third-story addition for housing. It’s the perfect spot. The city owns it, it’s in-town, and the Cross Town Shuttle runs right by both getting people out of their infernal combustion engine cars. Council could rezone those plots and then over-ride the objections from both the Historical Preservation Commission and all of the NIMBYs who would come out of the woodwork.

With our planetary climate emergency, the HPC needs to consider not only preserving historical buildings. They need to consider preserving our historical weather and snowfall amounts. Winter is getting shorter, droughts and floods are getting worse. There is no denying that unless you are a Republican. Like Greta Thunberg, Asperger’s is my super power.

Tom Mooney

Aspen