In a nutshell, in a mixed capitalist/socialist economic environment such as ours the free enterprise sector frequently works hand in glove with socialistic government entities.

That's because capitalism runs on the profit motive and that usually overrides ideological concerns or even long range societal consequences. There are also plenty of socialists (think George Soros, Boulder City Government, etc.) who finance their "progressive" anti-capitalist quests with money extracted from the free market system.

The intersection of socialism and capitalism here is not a matter of black and white absolutes as you view it.

It's a symbiotic dance full of paradox and irony which hopefully you are now better able to grasp.

P.S. While Boulder has always been a desirable place to live, there is not now nor has there even been a "soaring free market demand" for ultra "high density residential districts" (to use the socialist Will Toors terminology) as you mistakenly assert. Ultra high density city planning and zoning is a tenet of socialist ideology and was only recently and disastrously introduced here by the socialist Boulder city government because of the tax revenue maximization it provides vs. low and medium density development, just as I explained in my previous post above.

So, bottom line: in Boulder, as happens everywhere that socialist governments fester, they will eventually kill the goose that laid the golden egg.

Thank you Ruth for your very well-presented and effective take-down of the fanatical dark and dishonest cabals out to finish off their DESTRUCTION OF BOULDER'S LONG CHERISHED LOW/MEDIUM DENSITY CLASSIC AMERICAN SINGLE FAMILY HOME LIFESTYLE(!) VIA THE UNWANTED MANIACAL NEIGHBORHOOD-KILLING IMPOSITION OF INHUMAN ENVIRONMENTALLY AND SPIRITUALLY TOXIC HIGH DENSITY BUILDING DEVELOPMENT AND MOBILITY KILLING TRAFFIC GRIDLOCK ATROCITIES.

Whether it's Schultheiss and his OBLITERATE BOULDER crazies, Toor and his BATTER BOULDER robots, Tayer's BOULDER CHAMBER OF HORRORS, or their CITY TROUNCIL puppets and fellow travelers, the goal is to wipe the human scale soul-satisfying room-to-live-and-breathe Boulder high quality of life lifestyle we have known and loved off the map and replace it with the socialist wet-dream of an ugly over-urbanized overcrowded dystopian soul-killing sardine can urban hell hole.

KNOW THIS: There is one and only one motivation behind the Schultheiss/Toor/Tayer/City Trouncil high density holocaust being wrought on OUR city: HIGH DENSITY OVER-URBANIIZATION YIELDS MAXIMUM TAX RECEIPTS PER UNIT OF PROPERTY AREA TO FEED, ENRICH, AND AGGRANDIZE THE OUT-OF-CONTROL ALL CONTROLLING SOCIALIST BOULDER CITY GOVERNMENT. This is the "sine qua non" (look it up) of anti-social socialists everywhere and at all times.

And of course, this is also the SINGLE motivation and holy grail of Boulder's socialists and the Boulder socialist government's Hugo Chavez inspired attempted, but pray-to-God failed, hostile seizure of that evil capitalist private Xcel corporation' s local assets, customer base, and REVENUE STREAM. Muni, schmuni; it's another socialist heist of private property.

None of this is a secret. HONEST local SOCIALISTS, or "PROGRESSIVES" as they prefer to call themselves, will proudly own up to how much they detest America's system of private enterprise and the American Dream single family home on a decent sized private lot LIFESTYLEl (for everyone but THEMSELVES, that is) and how well the local "progress" is advancing toward wiping them out.

Schultheiss, Toor, and Tayer's dishonesty is nicely complimtented by their classic socialist hypocrisy. Each of these fine men wouldn't think of having THEIR families reside anywhere except in very choice very low density "suburban" style single-family-home neighborhoods. Yet they feverishly and fiendishly go all out to make sure as many other lesser Boulder citizens as possible are being rounded up, elbow-to-elbow, into overcrowded concretized exhaust-fume-saturated high density urban GHETTOS.

Mr. Jared Wears-Ties-With-Polo-Shirts-On-The-Floor-of-The-U.S.House of Representatives Polis again (this time permanently) confirms his status as the poster boy for Donald Trump's characterization of the current political class as stupid and incompetent.

Earlier this year at a PLAN Boulder soiree, Will Toor "proclaimed that the biggest challenge of the future will be the redevelopment of “auto-dominated, suburban-style” areas in Boulder and other Boulder County cities into dense, but “livable,” residential districts."

Media reported, "Toor predicted that the major, remaining land-use battles in Boulder County will occur within neighborhoods. He remarked that much of the eastern part of the City of Boulder “looks like Oklahoma City,” and, while the western part of the city (where he happens to live) contains old, established neighborhoods which probably should not be disturbed, the eastern areas are ripe for redevelopment. Toor expressed support for transforming “auto-dominated, suburban-style areas” into dense, but livable, residential environments.

Will "Sling Blade" Toor and his minions have declared jihad against the preferred and predominant American low-density single-family-home-with-a-private-yard LIFESTYLE which they DETEST (for everyone except themselves!!!). Their fanatical socialist and wacko environmental lunacies call for the DESTRUCTION of low and medium density Boulder living and its' transformation into an overcrowded, congested, over-urbanized, no breathing room, sardine can atrocity- for everyone except themselves, of course.

Great long-standing classic American residental neighborhoods where people choose and love to live transformed into gruesomely overcrowded 30th and Pearl trainless "train-oriented" and Peletonesque "dense residential 'districts'"? This is both pure insanity and yes, pure dark evil.

Along with the Cowles relocating out of Boulder, one of the best things that could ever happen here would be for Mr. Toor to seek a new place of residence in one of the already existing high-density dystopian hell holes he loves so much- hopefully one that's as far from Boulder as possible.

Earlier this year at a PLAN Boulder soiree, Will Toor "proclaimed that the biggest challenge of the future will be the redevelopment of “auto-dominated, suburban-style” areas in Boulder and other Boulder County cities into dense, but “livable,” residential districts."

Media reports, "Toor predicted that the major, remaining land-use battles in Boulder County will occur within neighborhoods. He remarked that much of the eastern part of the City of Boulder “looks like Oklahoma City,” and, while the western part of the city (where he happens to live) contains old, established neighborhoods which probably should not be disturbed, the eastern areas are ripe for redevelopment. Toor expressed support for transforming “auto-dominated, suburban-style areas” into dense, but livable, residential environments.

Toor and his minions have declared jihad against the preferred and predominant American low-density single family home LIFESTYLE. Their fanatical socialist and wacko environmental lunacies want to transform Boulder into an overcrowded, congested, over-urbanized, no breathing room, sardine can atrocity- for everyone except themselves, of course.

This is both pure insanity and yes, pure evil.

Along with the Cowles relocating out of Boulder, one of the best things that could happen here would be for Mr. Toor to seek a new place of residence in one of the already existing high-density hell holes he loves so much- hopefully as far from Boulder as possible.

The reality of LANEGATE is that for the city council (with one exception), the council's' transportation advisory board puppets, and the city's transportation/congestion-creation department bureaucrats, it is neither an "experiment" or a "failure."

LANEGATE is nothing more than an AUTOMOBILE DRIVER PUNISHMENT PROGRAM.

For the three entities named above and the local delusional anti-car crazies/fascists, letters of complaint like Mr. Dick's are proof positive of the success of LANEGATE and cause for celebration.

I can assure you there are high fives all around on the success LANEGATE is having abusing and punishing car drivers.

Not to mention the city "leaders'" continuous hysterical laughter at citizen's trying to put forth rational objections based upon the city's phony hide-the-ball diversions like planning, data, communication, and traffic delay times.

I heard something about it being Romanians.

Wider bike lanes and poles do not constitute physical space SEPARATION. Bikes and cars are still adjacent to each other on the SAME fast, loud, engine fume choked busy road surface.

I trust you know what a fully separated multi-use path looks like and that's not what they're doing on Iris.

You're smart to ride on the sidewalk where there is SEPARATION.

Stay there.

Iris also has had wide on-street bike lanes AND nice virtually pedestrian-free sidewalks in both directions forever.

I drive both directions on Iris regularly and have for many years.

Biking on Iris is virtually non-existent. It always has been and always will be until a designated bike-friendly multi-use path is built that TOTALLY AND SAFELY SEPARATES bikes from the same road surface that carries the imminent threat of annihilation by loud, fast-moving, ever-increasing-due-to-high-density-building-madness, multi-ton, often-distracted motorized vehicle traffic.

Even if that were to happen (which it won't because the LANEGATE policy is that drivers MUST be punished, not that truly safe and bike-friendly paths THAT SEPARATE BIKES FROM CARS be added), there are already better options to bike from Broadway to Folsom.

No waiting is needed to see the LANEGATE driver abuse scheme for what it is.

No, how about let's not wait and see.

Fanatical anti-car lunacy, along with anti-free enterprise ideology and other hard left articles of faith, is ingrained in the city government bureaucracy and city council.

Orwellian-titled "right sizing" is a cynical and twisted LANE CLOSURE SCHEME whose purpose is to kick the long-standing policy of antagonizing drivers with unnecessarily unsafe and congested roadways up another few notches.

The purpose of lane closures and the obvious-even-to-small-children increased congestion and delays these closures will cause (especially on Iris which is headed for complete driving chaos) is to inflict PUNISHMENT on Boulder's drivers for failing to hop to the city's detached-from-reality decree of mass abandonment of car travel.

As even Councilperson Morzel stated, this whip-the-drivers lane reduction lunacy should not be "rammed down our throats" (Of course, in typical Morzelian style, she then immediately voted to ram it down our throats.)

If you've spoken with people about this or read the opposing commentary in the DC and elsewhere, you may have noticed that "wait and see" is a rather unique reaction to the city's next little roadway atrocity-in-waiting, aka LANEGATE.