WalMart Keeps Rollin' - Broomfield's Next

The Broomfield Enterprise describes "an unusually well-attended Land Use Review Commission hearing" last Monday regarding a 196,000-square-foot WalMart Supercenter to be built northeast of 120th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard. Broomfield's looking a a nearly $5million sales tax break to lure WalMart in. Sigh.

City-wide WiFi for Louisville, Superior & Broomfield

A coalition of ten front range communities including Broomfield, Louisville, Superior and Boulder released a study two weeks ago regarding their efforts to bring wireless internet service to their respective towns starting in in 2007. Colorado Wireless Communities released "Municipal Wireless Broadband and the Digital Community", saying "access to comprehensive low-cost wireless broadband for residents, businesses, institutions and visitors would enhance their ability to sustain vibrant communities and preserve/improve the quality of life."

According to Colorado Wireless Communities website, users of the network will pay the WiFi provider for service. "No taxpayer dollars will be used to build and operate the network. The network will be built using a model where a WiFi provider with the best proposal for the region will be awarded the contract to fund, build, and operate the network."

You can find several documents with information on this project on Colorado Wireless Communities website and you can listen to an interview about this on Colorado Matters.

I wrote earlier about Longmont's WiFi system already providing free (for now) service in that town. So how about Lafayette and Erie? (And Boulder seeing Longmont pull this off before them? Sure, the Pearl Street Mall has wireless, but still...)

Ubiquitous WiFi access will soon become another key community characteristic much like quality of schools and good transportation systems to attract and retain employers and residents. The CWC effort is a smart move for Louisville and Superior.

Broomfield Opens the Events Center

East Boulder County residents should take notice of the grand opening of the Broomfield Events Center on November 5. Our friends to the south and east continue to take aggressive steps towards the creation of a multi-faceted community with this 180,000 sq. foot, 6000-seat arena. Read more about the Center at YourHub.com.

Our communities are definitely part of the business plan for the center, as the special events and resident sports clubs intend to draw attendance from as far away as Longmont.

As part of the larger 217-acre mixed-use Arista development, the BEC will begin contributing $400,000 a year towards Broomfield's parks and open space. Funding for such quality of life amenities will increase in several years, after the bonds to pay for the BEC are paid off. In fact, the BEC is projected to bring in $7 million in sales tax post-bond payoff. At build-out in 2015, about 3,000 residents are expected live at Arista.