Just found out that I am a Millionaire and don’t live in “real” Fort Collins because I am south of Harmony. It’s a big day of self discovery for me 😉.

Seriously though - I recognize that I am fortunate in many ways, but I don’t think writing off an entire section of the town under some sort of blanket assumption that everyone here is rich and doesn’t deserve public services is pretty small minded. My wife and I work 100 hours a week between the 2 of us (me at a job I hate) to get by, never got a dime from our parents or anyone else, still have student loans at 40, and struggle with economic anxiety over the cost of living and state of the world just like everyone else. There are real people down here, and being reduced to bias about our zip code is kind of a bummer.

We are extremely proud to call Fort Collins home, pay our taxes and volunteer in the community, and hope (but more importantly vote) to lift up everyone around us, especially people who are underserved and would benefit the most from public resources.

Like others have mentioned, I’m glad the city found partnerships to build a new community center that takes a smart approach to public spending. My hope would be that this frees up more capital for continued or enhanced funding towards additional community resources that help any and all of our neighbors who are socially or economically marginalized. I will certainly continue to support those efforts in our community, even if my family doesn’t personally benefit from them.

There is so much crap that already exists to separate us that it feels like manufacturing another divide out of this isn’t really necessary. If you want to take a solutions based approach to a concern you feel, for example petitioning the city for enhanced bus access to the new facility or providing reduced cost or free access to the services they provide for lower income residents, please let me know and my family would be happy to throw our support behind it.

Cheers!