Opinion | 'Will we ever learn to build with nature instead of spoiling the West?'
High on a mesa where everyone can see it, a trophy house is going up in the northern Colorado valley where I live. Some of my neighbors hear that the house will be as big as 15,000 square feet. Others say it will take three years to complete. Whether that is valley gossip or truth, the house is now the center of everybody’s attention.
Most of us in this valley delight in what we’ve been able to see from our front door: Uninterrupted ridgelines, cliffs, and the rounded slopes that converge to make foothills, which then rise into mountains. Nature made these views, and we’ve been fortunate to have them in our lives every day. People who have lived in my valley for decades share a different style. Appreciating what a winter wind can do to steal warmth from inside a house, they looked for sheltered areas to build. They saw it made sense to build low, tucking a home against the south side of a hill or cliff.
It’s shameful to think that just as we first moved into the West to exploit its valuable resources, we now exploit the last resource our region has to offer — its heart-stopping beauty.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Big Waves Roll Into San Diego Beaches on Monday, TuesdayWest swell means west-facing beaches will again see the best surf.
Read more »
'SNL' cast can't hold it together during wild dinner skit: 'There were no survivors'Ego Nwodim stole the show and got laughs from her co-stars, including host Pedro Pascal.
Read more »
University of Texas at Austin students will hold referendum on 'Eyes of Texas'A report concludes the intent of the song was “not overtly racist” but acknowledged that “it is similarly clear that the cultural milieu that produced it was.”
Read more »
Armed Robbery Crew Linked to at Least 15 Crimes, Mostly on Chicago's West SideAn armed robbery crew is connected to at least 15 robberies in the last month, brandishing rifles and stealing victims’ phones, cash and cars in a wide-ranging crime spree.
Read more »
Broken defense: People’s right to counsel routinely violated across WestAcross the West, public defense systems face crushing caseloads, historic underfunding, structural problems and staffing shortages, imperiling criminal defendants’ lives and denying them their constitutional right to counsel.
Read more »