There is good news coming out of Colorado Springs… incredibly good news. Peak Innovation Park, anchored near our airport, is rapidly emerging as one of the most important economic engines in the region. Today, an estimated 5,500 people already work within the Park. In the near term, new pro jects like Swire Coca-Cola, Frito-Lay, and Forge at Peak Innovation Park will add hundreds of jobs. Over the next 20 to 30 years, Peak Innovation Park is projected to employ between 35,000 and 40,000 people at full buildout. That level of job growth is extraordinary. It strengthens our economy, diversifies our employment base, and positions Colorado Springs for long-term competitiveness. With growth of this scale, however, comes a responsibility to ask the next, unavoidable question: Where will all these people live? Right now, the answer is concerning because housing options in southeast Colorado Springs remain limited. Many future Peak Innovation Park employees will likely look north, to communities like Briargate, Cordera, Wolf Ranch, Banning Lewis Ranch, Pine Creek, and Sterling Ranch. These are attractive neighborhoods, especially for families, but they are miles away from the city’s fastest-growing job center. That distance has consequences. Every day, thousands more commuters will funnel onto Powers Boulevard and Marksheffel Road. Congestion will increase. Commute times will lengthen. Infrastructure costs will rise. Quality of life will decline, not because of job growth itself, but because we failed to plan proper housing options alongside it. This is exactly the problem smart growth is meant to solve! Smart growth does not mean stopping growth. It means aligning housing, jobs, infrastructure, and services so they work together instead of against each other. When people can live closer to where they work, traffic decreases, infrastructure performs better, and families get time back in their day, time not spent sitting in a car. That is why I supported planned communities like the proposed Karmen Line development in southeast Colorado Springs. I voted yes, not because it would accelerate growth, but because it would guide growth responsibly, placing housing within minutes of a major employment center while respecting airport compatibility and long-term planning constraints. Unfortunately, that conversation became politicized. What was lost in the debate was a simple reality: southeast Colorado Springs is exactly where we should be planning future communities to support airport-driven job growth. This area has the space, the opportunity, and the need for thoughtfully designed neighborhoods with amenities, schools, parks, and services. Communities built to serve working families and reduce regional congestion are what we need. Housing is not just about rooftops. It is about fiscal sustainability. New households generate ongoing sales tax revenue that funds public safety, street maintenance, and city services, year after year. Without that revenue, costs do not disappear; they shift onto existing residents through deferred maintenance, reduced services, and higher taxes. The choice before us is not growth versus no growth. That is a false debate. The real choice is smart growth versus unmanaged growth. Peak Innovation Park is a tremendous success story in the making. Let us finish the story responsibly, by planning homes close to jobs, reducing traffic impacts, strengthening city finances, and building complete communities that support both today’s residents and tomorrow’s workforce. That is how Colorado Springs grows wisely and stays livable for generations to come. David Leinweber is an at-large member of the Colorado Springs City Council. He assumed office on April 18, 2023. ...read more read less