{"id":477,"date":"2025-09-02T15:12:53","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T15:12:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sleepystork.com\/?p=477"},"modified":"2025-09-04T10:17:54","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T10:17:54","slug":"how-to-bridge-the-chasm-between-colorados-urban-and-rural-communities-letters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sleepystork.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/02\/how-to-bridge-the-chasm-between-colorados-urban-and-rural-communities-letters\/","title":{"rendered":"How to bridge the chasm between Colorado\u2019s urban and rural communities (Letters)"},"content":{"rendered":"

We can bridge the rural-urban divide in our state<\/h4>\n

Re: “Why rural Coloradans feel ignored — a resentment as old as America itself<\/a>,” Aug. 24 commentary<\/p>\n

Years ago the Colorado Humanities Council (as it was then called), sponsored a marvelous program called the Five States of Colorado<\/a>. The divide we have is a regional one, as different areas of the state look at issues differently. In order to celebrate that diversity, especially with Colorado\u2019s upcoming 150th birthday, we ought to reestablish a sister cities and town program in which a variety of communities adopt each other during 2026.<\/p>\n

Community leaders can exchange visits, gifts, and events to celebrate not only our unique differences but also common interests that bind us together as a marvelous state.<\/p>\n

I think it would be a much better bridge to build, rather than one across Lincoln Street.<\/p>\n

Sam Mamet, Denver<\/em><\/p>\n

As a child of the suburbs and a denizen of cities for almost 70 years, I am compelled to write that I have never in my life felt any antipathy to people who live and work on farms. Nor do I romanticize agricultural life, or urban life for that matter.<\/p>\n

Reading this article depicting this divide between urban and rural leaves me with sadness. Here we have yet another example of a divide that separates us. And yet, as the article infers, the divide has been with us since the first cities were created thousands of years ago.<\/p>\n

Let us strive to find the connections between us. Let us celebrate our interdependence. My intuition tells me that we will want to rely upon one another more than ever as we address the issues that beset our planet — our shared planet.<\/p>\n

Evan Siegel, Westminster<\/em><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t buy the class comparison of urban people looking down on rural people. I have traveled all over rural America. I have great respect for farmers and ranchers who tend the earth in a sustainable way. The fact is, city-bound corporations are running industrial farming, including livestock raising, relying on chemicals, hormones, feedlots and scarce water for low-value crops like alfalfa for cattle feed. Eating beef the way Americans do is becoming unsustainable for Earth\u2019s climate and water supplies. It is treated as a delicacy for much of the world.<\/p>\n

Yes, our fossil fuel consumption is an even greater threat to the planet (and to agriculture). Climate change is creating havoc on agriculture worldwide. But we need to address greenhouse gases across all sectors.<\/p>\n