A lot of folks breathed a major sigh of relief this year when Davis-Monthan Air Force Base was spared by the Defense Department's latest Base Realignment and Closure round. The base is a huge contributor to our local economy with money and jobs. But at what cost? The price to save D-M was the declaration of 8,500 homes in central Tucson as "incompatible with residential use." Residents are worried that their homes will become unlivable and their investment in those homes will become worthless as increasing numbers of noisier planes fly more frequently throughout the day and night. We all saw an Air Force jet crash in a residential subdivision in Yuma earlier this year; when will our luck run out in central Tucson? And what is the economic price of all this on homeowners and business owners in the city? Is it worth the benefits that the base provides to our economy? Perhaps it's time to do that calculation. In any case, D-M's days as a base may well be numbered because the development that has been encouraged on the southeast side of the base compromises its mission. We should get our heads out of the sand now. It's time to make lemonade out of lemons, and that's exactly what other communities who have lost their bases are doing. The official BRAC Web site tells us that "A base closure can actually be an economic opportunity, especially when all elements of a community work together." They give these examples: ● Charleston Naval Base, S.C.: Over 4,500 new jobs. 90 private, state and federal entities are currently reusing the base. ● Pease Air Force Base, New Hampshire: 185 tenants currently operating at the Pease International Tradeport, a Foreign Free Trade Zone. 3,800,000 square feet of new space supporting more than 5,000 jobs in biotechnology, education, and a wide variety (Pan Am, Marriott, Redhook Brewery) of businesses. ● Fort Devens, Mass.: More than 3,000 new jobs and 2,700,000 square feet of new construction, and 68 different employers, ranging from small-business incubators to Gillette. Generally, bases in high-growth areas like Tucson do better at conversion. The former Lowry AFB in suburban Denver now boasts a $4 billion economic impact from 3,000 homes in a New Urbanist community, 2 million square feet of commercial space, and a college campus for 10,000 students. All of this is taxable, unlike the former base. Lowry is now a national model for alternatives to urban sprawl. See www.Lowry.org. The Defense Department will clean up all environmental hazards on its dime and offers much more money to help planning efforts, retrain employees and attract new businesses. Progressive developers all over the country are partnering with cities to create win-win solutions and replace defense jobs with clean, quiet, higher paying business jobs and innovative mixed-use communities. There is a lot of knowledge available to help us make the right moves.