Don’t ya just get a little weary with the nattering nabobs of negativism? By this I’m referring to the discussion around the Brown Ranch project and particularly the recent focus on “soils”.

Unaffordable housing is a giant foot on the neck of our beloved Steamboat Springs. It takes $250,000 per year in earnings to afford a house in Steamboat when the median income is $83,000 per year (and as much as 20% of our Routt neighbors are likely earning under $40,000 per year).

This adversely impacts workforce stability (from teachers and doctors all the way to Lifties and Baristas), allocated education dollars, traffic congestion and safety (read that traffic deaths), job training costs and spending (that no longer stays in the local economy).

Based on an estimate made on the back of a Freshie’s napkin, the development cost of a staged Brown Ranch housing project (with infrastructure costs) may, in total, approach $1,000,000,000 (a staggering number).

But the 20-year net cost after offsetting grants, rental income and taxes, and property resale could be $0. Then, if you look at the economic benefit of reversing the adverse factors listed above, the return on investment has been estimated to be as much 5 to 1 for the community – we are talking Hundreds of Millions of Dollars helping keep a healthy community alive in Steamboat.

In this context, 3% for soils mitigation is literally down in the weeds. (By-the-way, expansive soils are business-as-usual for much of Colorado, particularly in the valleys where we’ve built our mountain towns.)