Let the river in! - Dana Coelho

In Golden we know the value of rivers and we keep it close to home. Clear Creek brings us fresh water, cool air, fish, and an abundance of recreation opportunities… right down town. This is not the common picture of the “outdoors” as presented by the Obama administration’s America’s Great Outdoors initiative, but it is a critical piece of the conservation and recreation puzzle that we all need to talk about and support.

We are an urban nation, and indeed an urban world. About 80 percent of Americans (and Coloradans) live in cities and towns, 50 percent the world over. This trend is growing and can be a tremendously positive outcome if our cities and towns are healthy, well designed places that welcome nature instead of shut it out.

Natural spaces in cities and towns, especially connected with water, have been shown time and again to increase property values and quality of life. Around the country spaces like Central Park in New York City, natural bottom portions of the Los Angeles River, waterfront trails in Portland come to mine. Here in Colorado we have plenty of examples as well along Boulder Creek, in Gunnison, and along the Platte River in Denver. Let the river in! Golden itself can be used as a fantastic example of the integration of natural and urban spaces and the value of water-based recreation in a community.

As part of its America's Great Outdoors initiative, the administration should promote natural spaces in cities and towns that provide a diversity of recreational opportunities. Places to walk, run, tube, paddle, fish, and wade. You don’t have to go far to get outdoors.

Submit your ideas and join the conversation. Get outdoors and share your story! http://www.doi.gov/americasgreatoutdoors/ Dana Coelho lives and works in Golden.

For submission at Great 8 Newspapers, a collection of online local papers in CO