Few of us like to think or talk about death. But perhaps it will comfort you to know that your loved one's death may help keep the city's economic engine chugging. | The city is buying three double-niche columbaria, two for Mt. Hope Cemetery and one for Riverside Cemetery. | (A columbarium is a vault for urns containing the ashes of the dearly departed.) | More people are choosing cremation over ground burials, says the resolution giving the city the authority to make the purchases, and city officials apparently sense a money-making opportunity. | "Cremation is less costly and requires less ongoing maintenance," the resolution reads. "Cremation also makes much more efficient use of cemetery space and provides a steady revenue source for the city." | Now don't you feel consoled? | City Council member Dana Miller says that while it's not ideal to cast death as a revenue enhancement, cremations and burials do make money for the city. | "It's not going to balance the budget," Miller says. "But it is a revenue stream like parking is a revenue stream." | Council member Elaine Spaull says that since the resolutions are generally short, the author was probably just trying to be efficient.