Its a nice course, but are we really postulating that literally hundreds of other cities haven't done nearly the same thing?
There is a history in the US dating back to Van Cortlandt Park in NYC of building affordable, and generally self sustaining munis (providing construction cost is paid for)
Jeff,
I can only speak to the two areas I have lived in... Suburban Philly and NYC. While it is true that both metropolitan areas have "affordable, self-sustaining golf courses", that is primarily due to the lack of options rather than the quality of the facility. The one exception in NYC is Bethpage, but for someone who grew up in Westchester County, it was an hour and a half to get out there and the practice facilities even there are not what they should be.
The thing I loved about Commonground was it was the total package... quality course, quality practice facilities (even for juniors), affordable rates, centrally located, and a stated goal to embrace the traditions of the game. The lesson that should be learned by other cities is that they took an existing golf course on a flat piece of property which was marginal by most accounts and converted it into a wonderful asset for $4MM with no debt.
Take Philly for example. If you live in the city, it is not uncommon for people to drive 45 minutes to an hour to go play golf. However, if the city and the GAP worked together on a project at one of the city courses that is not well regarded (take FDR as an example near South Philly) and handed the canvas over to a great architect, who knows what type of revenue it could generate (and how it would grow the game). The same would hold true for our project at Cobb's, but our focus is more on restoring what was there rather than completely transforming it. However, we can put more focus on creating better practice facilities and a possible par 3 kids course.
The same would hold true in Westchester County (NY). As they are surrounded by WF, QR and Fenway, someone should take a look at doing some serious work on Saxon Woods, Maple Moor or Sprain Lake. Instead the County decided to build Hudson Hills in the northern part of the county. The best evidence of a dearth of quality public golf options for a golf hungry population?... The fact that Pound Ridge can charge $235/round and still stay in business.