Not too long ago, on a road trip to Santa Fe, we listened to Greenlights, the incredible memoir by Matthew McConnaughey. His underlying message is that life is full of moments when we’re just stuck. Maybe it’s a relationship, job, or an important land use project. Whatever it is, when you’re not moving, you’re at a red light.
The trick, according to St. Matthew, is to avoid the red and yellow lights — or the things that slow you down — and focus instead on the path forward. Find those green lights, and get into the flow state. And once you’re there, you can be more present and focus on the bigger opportunities. This simple philosophy was a revelation.
This wasn’t just a metaphor for me in my own professional life. I was seeing it every single day: worthy housing projects that could bring much-needed housing relief are facing steep resistance from small groups of neighborhood opponents who have social media savvy and nothing but time.
Across the Front Range, incredible land use projects to bring much-needed housing are being stalled by small groups of neighborhood opponents who have social media savvy and nothing but time. Whether the opposition is centered around neighborhood character, traffic, drugs and crime, home values, perceived loss of Open Space, or something else from the NIMBY playbook, it’s clear that too many worthy projects that would bring housing relief for so many are being dramatically scaled back or delayed by years. And that’s where we come in.
Greenlight Strategy was formed to help major land use projects move forward. We’re a boutique public affairs firm focused on the public and quasi-judicial processes, and we’ve successfully helped major mixed-use and mixed-income projects secure passage at local planning boards and city councils across the Front Range. We help define your project before the opposition can, and we believe in Starting with Why.
If your project is stuck, let’s connect. DM us here or email us at go@greenlightstrategy.sitedistrict.com.