Ballot Initiatives are what made Boulder, Colorado great

                     Boulder's famous Flatirons, unsullied by development, thanks to the Blue Line.

Most of the great things about Boulder were voted in by citizens, after a ballot initiative petition, NOT by City Council! This includes keeping development off the mountains (the 1959 "Blue Line" which prevents City water from being supplied above 5800' elevation), Open Space ( the country's FIRST voter-approved open space, 1967), the 55' Height Limit for buildings (1971) Slow Growth so we wouldn't sprawl like Colorado Springs (The "Danish Plan," 1976), banning discrimination based on sexual orientation (again, the country's FIRST, 1987) and Public Campaign Financing (1999). We also kept the Library downtown when the City wanted to move it East, about 1990 and put an end to the practice of City Council members resigning at just the right time so they could help appoint their successors, instead of voters deciding. The City website often uses phrases like "Boulder adopted" to make it sound like THEY did these things, taking credit for what WE did, and which Council mostly opposed.