Dickens begins his novel with the famous line “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Were he writing today about the two American cities -- Lexington, Mass. and Colorado Springs, Colo. -- he might say, “It was the brightest of towns, it was the dimmest of towns.” In this case, bright and dim refer quite literally to light levels, but also to the decision making of two very different sets of civic leaders.