A tale of two cities

Wasilla mayoral candidate Bert Cottle, in answering a question, rattled off his succinct views on the character of a handful of borough communities.

Palmer is residential. Big Lake is recreational. Houston is industrial. Wasilla is commercial.

It’s an interesting way of looking at the Valley, and one that hadn’t occurred to us. What has occurred to us, though, is that Houston and Big Lake are facing some pretty crucial decisions in the coming years, decisions that will help shape the way those communities develop.

Those questions all revolve around major infrastructure projects. Which direction should an access road to the Knik Arm bridge take? What type of road should it be?

The Big Lake Community Council has endorsed a bypass around the city to the east. The Houston City Council has endorsed a route further north that would, the city hopes, encourage development along the corridor inside city limits.

Something in this debate seemed familiar to us.

Both Wasilla and Palmer were faced with similar decisions. Each has a large road going through it. Palmer chose more of a bypass model, with its downtown center on a side street and big box stores along the Glenn Highway.

Wasilla, when faced with the prospect of a major highway running through its city, advocated in favor of a route through downtown. The city fought for that option and won it.

The results are pretty apparent. Palmer is a pedestrian-friendly city with a cohesive downtown and an almost excessive number of summertime festivals.

Wasilla is a box store Mecca. With that has come traffic snarls but also oodles of cash. It truly is amazing what Wasilla can do with just a 3-percent sales tax and no property taxes.

If you haven’t caught on already, in our analogy Houston is playing the role of Wasilla and Big Lake that of Palmer.

Houston already has a big highway running through its downtown. The Parks Highway separates Houston City Hall from Houston Lodge.

But we hope that in advocating for a route that would bring industry to the city, Houston takes heed of the lessons learned from Wasilla’s growth and guides development in a way that helps the fledgling city develop into a livable community.

Currently, Wasilla is looking at its own bypass to help move some of the Parks Highway traffic around the city. The state of Alaska is hoping to construct one around downtown to the south. Anyone who’s ever spent some time backed up in traffic after work understands the need.

But while we haven’t seen anything but positive feedback on the idea of a bypass, the elephant in the room is that this proposed roadway would pass through a residential area. It’s going to be a tough process to get a bypass built. There will be no shortage of homeowners worried about the impact.

These are the kinds of fights that can be reduced through careful planning. Let’s hope Houston and Big Lake are up to the task.