Ways Colorado Springs could attract more large corporations (health insurance, schools)

[Jalhop]

Originally Posted by BornintheSprings

Large cities surrounded by green space I think are the way of the future.

Consider the bigger picture. You probably aren't retiring in that large city; it's too expensive for that. Property taxes are high. The HOA fee in that building is $1k/month. In the US, because of hyper capitalism, crime is higher, homelessness is higher, and it's dirtier.

When I imagine a better future, the human population is at a sustainable level, maybe only 2 billion worldwide. Cities the size of COS are still among the best.

[BornintheSprings]

Originally Posted by Jalhop

Consider the bigger picture. You probably aren't retiring in that large city; it's too expensive for that. Property taxes are high. The HOA fee in that building is $1k/month. In the US, because of hyper capitalism, crime is higher, homelessness is higher, and it's dirtier.

When I imagine a better future, the human population is at a sustainable level, maybe only 2 billion worldwide. Cities the size of COS are still among the best.

Ideally 2 billion would work but the UN has population projections of the Earth hitting 11.2 billion individuals by 2100. These people if our future is to be sustainable will live in dense cities its the only way this can work from a energy standpoint unless some magic technology is invested that allows for limitless clean energy.

[otowi]

As for the population increase, yes, we expect to increase for the next few-several decades but we're also leveling off in the younger generations so that growth is not expected to continue after that. https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2013/1...pulation-bomb/

[DrDog]

Originally Posted by Jalhop

Consider the bigger picture. You probably aren't retiring in that large city; it's too expensive for that. Property taxes are high. The HOA fee in that building is $1k/month. In the US, because of hyper capitalism, crime is higher, homelessness is higher, and it's dirtier.

When I imagine a better future, the human population is at a sustainable level, maybe only 2 billion worldwide. Cities the size of COS are still among the best.

If population stays steady you have to find a way to keep the economy moving without construction. In COS construction is a big part of the economy.

Most of the future sci fi films show huge vertical cities and it seems most of those movies are coming true.

[BornintheSprings]

Originally Posted by DrDog

Most of the future sci fi films show huge vertical cities and it seems most of those movies are coming true.

Those films are drawing inspiration from real developments in urban planning and design. Large high density cities are the most energy efficient and environmentally friendly.

[TCHP]

Will they have landing pads for our flying cars and how will we store all these flying devices in a multi-thousand tenant complex?

In all reality though, how do we attract more corporations would best be answered by how do we create a business friendly environment without sacrificing quality of life and environmental impact, and then how is that marketed that far outside our borders? CO in general and Cos in particular suffer from two big perceptions; that of being a winter wonderland 9 months out of the year and a landing place for Evangelical mouthpieces. Fix those perceptions, market the climate, and companies will consider us. The EDC already is working on this. Unfortunately they, as well as the local news, rarely ever communicate well with the rest of us on what is going on in these regards. The Springs has lost two major distribution centers it was bidding on that would have brought a few thousand jobs to town, and that is only a slice of the efforts going on out there and the efforts and final loss of the bids were glossed over so quickly I'd bet most don't even know about them or any of the current efforts going on.

[orngkat]

Aside from policy and business decisions...figuring out how to attract an educated, creative, open-minded populace to live and stay here.

[Jalhop]

I doubt the current population is sustainable. For example, the peak fish catch was in 1996 and has been declining since. The birth rate is declining and already below replacement rate in the US. It's not an absolute must that we keep the population growing exponentially via immigration.

Suppose though that Colorado's population will keep increasing for the foreseeable future. I think the goal should be to allow the highest standard of living to the greatest number of people. In my book, that's not a highly dense city. Some people love the amenities of the large city, of course, but most I know only tolerate it to get the higher wage, with the goal to move to a smaller city when they retire.

I think there's room for a middle ground, dense suburban housing, which already exists in many cities but is rare in COS. Row homes, patio homes, townhouses, low-rise condos. There can still be high rise condos for those who want (and can afford) the amenities that come with that lofty HOA fee. It's really too bad that COS built what seems like 95+% single-family homes, because now the cost of the house is built into its replacement.

The best city I've seen in North America is Montreal. They have an excellent subway system and a full range of housing density. The housing bubble is there as well, but the prices still allow a high standard of living, ignoring the climate.

If COS wants to attract more large corporations it needs to attract talent. Corporations tend to go where the talent is or wants to be. Building municipal internet (e.g. see NextLight's 1G service in Longmont) would go a long way to that. As would allowing recreational MJ. If CO had implemented ColoradoCare, a mere 10% tax while you're working in exchange for otherwise nearly free health care from cradle to grave, like every other modern country has, that would've been huge for COS I think.

[DrDog]

Originally Posted by Jalhop

If COS wants to attract more large corporations it needs to attract talent. Corporations tend to go where the talent is or wants to be. Building municipal internet (e.g. see NextLight's 1G service in Longmont) would go a long way to that. As would allowing recreational MJ. If CO had implemented ColoradoCare, a mere 10% tax while you're working in exchange for otherwise nearly free health care from cradle to grave, like every other modern country has, that would've been huge for COS I think.

I’m not sure what sounds like socialism would attract corporations. Would probably attract low income migrant population and would cost taxpayers a fortune. Anything free in this country gets abused.

[TCHP]

Originally Posted by Jalhop

If COS wants to attract more large corporations it needs to attract talent. Corporations tend to go where the talent is or wants to be. Building municipal internet (e.g. see NextLight's 1G service in Longmont) would go a long way to that. As would allowing recreational MJ. If CO had implemented ColoradoCare, a mere 10% tax while you're working in exchange for otherwise nearly free health care from cradle to grave, like every other modern country has, that would've been huge for COS I think.

Corporations tend to go with there is a combination of community authorized perks (taxes, land, etc) and talent, and usually a few other factors like cost of living or quality of life, etc. This is what attracted large corporations here in the past. Where I think this effort failed previously was that way back in the early 1970s, nobody imagined that the cleaner running, higher paying, high tech manufacturing community Cos was courting would become such a commodity based business built by the lowest bidder and see amajority of those jobs migrate overseas. Having been a victim of that off-shoring effort and knowing that we actually could produce goods faster, better, and at comparable cost, I'd have to say the unlevel playing field between the US Federal tax system vs that of various south-east Asian countries is what undid the game for me.

Currently, 38% of Cos residents hold a bachelor degree or higher, which is above the national average. We have been highlighted by several national organizations as a good place for stem graduates to start careers. We have 5 very successful higher education facilities, not to include numerous for profit colleges. We have major industries in Aerospace, Defense, Healthcare, IT, Cyber Security, Medical Technologies, Sports, and Manufacturing. We have a high quality of life with a very active oriented residential base. We have reasonable cost of living expenses. Overall, the majority of the pieces are in place for things to continue growing.

BTW, Cos does have municipal broadband. We approved it last year. We have Recreational weed in the county. Healthcare is a racket nearly everywhere in the US, so there is still much improvement to be had there regardless of the US location, so we aren't too unique in that regard.