Boomtown Design is managing the first-time rental of a unique home I built back in 2000. To learn more about this spectacular house click on this link and explore!\....or copy and paste this link:
http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p269714
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Luxe Rental in Canaan Valley
Boomtown Design is managing the first-time rental of a unique home I built back in 2000. To learn more about this spectacular house click on this link and explore!\....or copy and paste this link:
http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p269714
Monday, November 16, 2009
Bike race on the Riverwalk patch
Congrats to Backyard Bikes for running a successful first cyclocross race in Davis. Here are the photos
www.akaflash.com/coverage/biking-cyclo-cross-nov-14-2009/photos
Sixty-odd racers zoomed around the Riverwalk property in an anaerobic sprint round a course of grass, tarmac, trails and obstacles. Cyclocross is a niche sport in between mountain biking and road biking that many have never even heard of, but it is a popular variation for many serious cyclists.
More mountain sports events based in Davis is the future of Davis.
I recently watched a documentary called Race Across the Sky. While not a particularly special piece of work, I found the story pretty interesting. The Leadville 100 mountain bike race has put Leadville, CO, on the map. Abandoned by business following the mining boom, Leadville languished for decades. When I lived in Denver in the early 80's Leadville was known for its grand boomtown building architecture and simultaneously its paucity of economic activity.
Incumbent business types in Davis -- not mentioning names -- have grumbled that mountain bikers don't help local businesses. I say that reflects more on the missed opportunity than the lack thereof.
The Leadville doc was no doubt made and marketed on the Lance Armstrong factor. He had ridden it once before but this time he won, and did so in front of the documentary camera, and boom -- the Leadville 100 is now 100 times hotter, and the queue to ride it no doubt 100 times longer. That's great, but the long term buildup to this was the year-in, year-out, management of a great race in a great place...an extreme race that came of age in an age that celebrates all things extreme, and all who triumph in these rarefied altitudes of mountain sports.
The fellow that runs the Leadville 100 is a community leader. His gig is not just running a race but to include anyone who would dare, and everyone who supports the race and its racers. This is not just literally his position, it is how he feels and how he behaves in the community. The Leadville 100 is about the non-finishers and the families, friends and fans as much as the obvious. It is a race, but it has a huge halo of positive energy and economic benefit for the community. That. Is. What. Davis. Needs.
And it may not come in the package of one race, but there will be an anchor race around which all the other events revolve. It may be a race that exists today but eventually breaks through. Perhaps it will be an adventure race, a mountain bike race, a cyclocross race, a trail race...I don't know. It was a race called "24 hours of Canaan" a long time ago, but that was before its time and did not stay in town.
Sometimes, when nearly everyone who's been at it for 20 or 30 years knows exactly why this and that won't work...well that is when the opportunity can emerge. This Cyclocross race is nice to see in Davis along with Revenge of the Rattlesnake, the WV State Championship race and others. We could host 20 mountain sport events from Davis instead of 3 or 4. And one of them will become a major regional or national event.
www.akaflash.com/coverage/biking-cyclo-cross-nov-14-2009/photos
Sixty-odd racers zoomed around the Riverwalk property in an anaerobic sprint round a course of grass, tarmac, trails and obstacles. Cyclocross is a niche sport in between mountain biking and road biking that many have never even heard of, but it is a popular variation for many serious cyclists.
More mountain sports events based in Davis is the future of Davis.
I recently watched a documentary called Race Across the Sky. While not a particularly special piece of work, I found the story pretty interesting. The Leadville 100 mountain bike race has put Leadville, CO, on the map. Abandoned by business following the mining boom, Leadville languished for decades. When I lived in Denver in the early 80's Leadville was known for its grand boomtown building architecture and simultaneously its paucity of economic activity.
Incumbent business types in Davis -- not mentioning names -- have grumbled that mountain bikers don't help local businesses. I say that reflects more on the missed opportunity than the lack thereof.
The Leadville doc was no doubt made and marketed on the Lance Armstrong factor. He had ridden it once before but this time he won, and did so in front of the documentary camera, and boom -- the Leadville 100 is now 100 times hotter, and the queue to ride it no doubt 100 times longer. That's great, but the long term buildup to this was the year-in, year-out, management of a great race in a great place...an extreme race that came of age in an age that celebrates all things extreme, and all who triumph in these rarefied altitudes of mountain sports.
The fellow that runs the Leadville 100 is a community leader. His gig is not just running a race but to include anyone who would dare, and everyone who supports the race and its racers. This is not just literally his position, it is how he feels and how he behaves in the community. The Leadville 100 is about the non-finishers and the families, friends and fans as much as the obvious. It is a race, but it has a huge halo of positive energy and economic benefit for the community. That. Is. What. Davis. Needs.
And it may not come in the package of one race, but there will be an anchor race around which all the other events revolve. It may be a race that exists today but eventually breaks through. Perhaps it will be an adventure race, a mountain bike race, a cyclocross race, a trail race...I don't know. It was a race called "24 hours of Canaan" a long time ago, but that was before its time and did not stay in town.
Sometimes, when nearly everyone who's been at it for 20 or 30 years knows exactly why this and that won't work...well that is when the opportunity can emerge. This Cyclocross race is nice to see in Davis along with Revenge of the Rattlesnake, the WV State Championship race and others. We could host 20 mountain sport events from Davis instead of 3 or 4. And one of them will become a major regional or national event.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Riverwalk's solar foray in the news
Grid-Tied Solar Panels Offer Quick Payback
Posted Sunday, October 4, 2009 ; 06:00 AM | View Comments | Post Comment
Thanks to generous state and federal tax credits, solar power is seeing a new surge.
Story by Pam Kasey
Posted Sunday, October 4, 2009 ; 06:00 AM | View Comments | Post Comment
Thanks to generous state and federal tax credits, solar power is seeing a new surge.
Story by Pam Kasey
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Kids are going to love Leaf Peepers 09!
Bring the wee ones to Leaf Peepers 09 in downtown Davis on Saturday September 26. Turn'em loose in a set of 5 inflatables, including bouncer, obstacle course and slide. This attraction replaces carnival rides of years past to focus more on the younger kids while solving some of the logistics issues of getting massive rides up the mountain.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
It's good to be photogenic
I've often marveled that there seem to be more nature photographers working the Valley than there are restaurants. That's because there aren't many people here but there is infinite beauty to be discovered in the vast protected lands surrounding Davis. A friend brought this piece on the Nature Conservancy's site to my attention. The photo was taken by Kent Mason and is copyright protected.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Davis property taxes 09
Just got off the phone with the Assessor. We discussed the reasons why taxes went up as much as they did on various properties in Davis. Apparently, the county is compelled by law to revisit valuations every three years, and this year has been the year of one heck of an upward revision in values. Approximately 120% on vacant lots and anything from 20-100% on improvements.
The grid of Davis breaks down into 132x60' corner lots, 132x40' standard lots, and the occasional 30 footer. It appears that the typical 40ft lots more than doubled, from about $36 a year to about $85.
The Assessor told me that Davis has finally seen enough sales of lots (over the past year or two) to establish new assessed values for lots in the town...and they are way up. If you could find a lot to buy in Davis, a standard 40' lot would be about $22k, and a 60' corner lot would be about 42k. Unfortunately this was not lost on the assessor, and our taxes have doubled.
With these increases taxes are still low in Davis. The real challenge will be maintaining competitively low property taxes as we start to get more new home construction in Davis.
The grid of Davis breaks down into 132x60' corner lots, 132x40' standard lots, and the occasional 30 footer. It appears that the typical 40ft lots more than doubled, from about $36 a year to about $85.
The Assessor told me that Davis has finally seen enough sales of lots (over the past year or two) to establish new assessed values for lots in the town...and they are way up. If you could find a lot to buy in Davis, a standard 40' lot would be about $22k, and a 60' corner lot would be about 42k. Unfortunately this was not lost on the assessor, and our taxes have doubled.
With these increases taxes are still low in Davis. The real challenge will be maintaining competitively low property taxes as we start to get more new home construction in Davis.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
A White House Farmers Market?
From the Washington Post:
A White House Farmers Market?
President Obama spoke at the DNC about health care and healthful eating. (Alex Wong -- Bloomberg)
Michelle Obama may have planted a garden on the White House lawn. But she isn't the only one in her family pushing the benefits of fresh, local produce. At the Organizing for America National Health Care Forum on Thursday, President Obama said that improving access to fresh fruits and vegetables is a key part of reforming health care. He also floated another idea.
"One of the things we're trying to figure out is, can we get a little farmers market set up outside the White House," the president said in answer to a question about combatting obesity. "That is a win-win situation. It gives suddenly D.C. more access to good, fresh food, but it also is this enormous potential revenue maker for local farmers in the area."
Obama didn't say anything about how such a market would work, but Ann Yonkers, co-founder of FreshFarm Markets, welcomed the initial idea: "There's a lot of emphasis in the White House on health. So it's pretty consistent with that. It would be great if it happened."
Obama also stressed the importance of creating distribution systems that could link small, local farmers to public schools who want more fresh fruits and vegetables on their menus. (Look for my story on how this is already happening in Charlottesville, Va., in next week's Food section.)
Schools serve French fries, tater tots and hot dogs, Obama said, "because let's face it, that's what kids want to eat anyway." But he noted that the problem is exacerbated because "that food is a lot cheaper because of the distribution we've set up. … Getting local farmers connected to school districts: That would benefit the farmers delivering fresh produce. Right now they don’t have the distribution mechanism set up."
-- Jane Black
A White House Farmers Market?
President Obama spoke at the DNC about health care and healthful eating. (Alex Wong -- Bloomberg)
Michelle Obama may have planted a garden on the White House lawn. But she isn't the only one in her family pushing the benefits of fresh, local produce. At the Organizing for America National Health Care Forum on Thursday, President Obama said that improving access to fresh fruits and vegetables is a key part of reforming health care. He also floated another idea.
"One of the things we're trying to figure out is, can we get a little farmers market set up outside the White House," the president said in answer to a question about combatting obesity. "That is a win-win situation. It gives suddenly D.C. more access to good, fresh food, but it also is this enormous potential revenue maker for local farmers in the area."
Obama didn't say anything about how such a market would work, but Ann Yonkers, co-founder of FreshFarm Markets, welcomed the initial idea: "There's a lot of emphasis in the White House on health. So it's pretty consistent with that. It would be great if it happened."
Obama also stressed the importance of creating distribution systems that could link small, local farmers to public schools who want more fresh fruits and vegetables on their menus. (Look for my story on how this is already happening in Charlottesville, Va., in next week's Food section.)
Schools serve French fries, tater tots and hot dogs, Obama said, "because let's face it, that's what kids want to eat anyway." But he noted that the problem is exacerbated because "that food is a lot cheaper because of the distribution we've set up. … Getting local farmers connected to school districts: That would benefit the farmers delivering fresh produce. Right now they don’t have the distribution mechanism set up."
-- Jane Black
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