In today's Grand Junction Daily Sentinel . . . (Boulder, Montrose: real estate, travel, income)

[jazzlover]

Well, Grand Junction and Montrose are now among the fastest growing areas in the nation. Anybody who thinks that's great news should read the other articles next to it:

Influx to GJ, Montrose among nation's fastest (broken link)

As populations soar, so do costs of living, raising family (broken link)

Income growth just isn't keeping up (broken link)

To sum the articles up: Grand Junction, Montrose and neighboring areas are growing at a rate that is making living there unaffordable for many of the residents who actually have to work to make a living. Hmmm . . . just what I've been saying on this board about most of Colorado for a long time now.

That may be fine for the affluent, non-productive retirees flocking into those places, but if you actually have to, like, HAVE A JOB to make a living, you'd better be looking elsewhere. So, we can chalk up two more formerly "working class" areas that are now going to be playgrounds for the affluent with an underclass of "worker bees" struggling to live there. Of course, there are many other places in the world that have this kind of social structure--they are called third-world countries.

[NewAgeRedneck]

Jazz....I was going to post links to these same articles, but you beat me to it. Apparently you read the paper earlier than I do.

[downtownnola]

That's really a shame... my parents live in Grand Junction and I hate to see the area change so quickly- I don't want to see it lose its charm. I hope that the leaders on the western wake up and work to stop the Rifle/Grand Valley/Delta/Montrose corridor from becoming the sprawling mess that the Front Range has become.

I don't think the growth is all attributed to the growth of the oil industry over there. If the oil companies suddenly pull out and head to more profitable areas like northeastern Wyoming, the growth could come to a screeching hault, as will the economy in that area. It happened in the 1980s and could easily happen again.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by downtownnola

I hope that the leaders on the western wake up and work to stop the Rifle/Grand Valley/Delta/Montrose corridor from becoming the sprawling mess that the Front Range has become.

They won't wake up. The developers and their realtor lackeys have them in their back pocket. Unfortunately, I know about this one first hand-- I know a lot of the players.

[NewAgeRedneck]

Not all of the the growth can be attributed to the local population. Some of it is due to these faraway visitors (broken link).

[Bagz]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

Well, Grand Junction and Montrose are now among the fastest growing areas in the nation. Anybody who thinks that's great news should read the other articles next to it:

Influx to GJ, Montrose among nation's fastest (broken link)

As populations soar, so do costs of living, raising family (broken link)

Income growth just isn't keeping up (broken link)

To sum the articles up: Grand Junction, Montrose and neighboring areas are growing at a rate that is making living there unaffordable for many of the residents who actually have to work to make a living. Hmmm . . . just what I've been saying on this board about most of Colorado for a long time now.

That may be fine for the affluent, non-productive retirees flocking into those places, but if you actually have to, like, HAVE A JOB to make a living, you'd better be looking elsewhere. So, we can chalk up two more formerly "working class" areas that are now going to be playgrounds for the affluent with an underclass of "worker bees" struggling to live there. Of course, there are many other places in the world that have this kind of social structure--they are called third-world countries.

3 articles where the facts are positive and the spin is negative. In the first article, the tremendous growth on the Western Slope is cited. In the second, the poster child is a lady who makes $60,000 and has house payments of $1500 or less(depending on her down payment.) Then in the third, it shows Colorado as one of the top income states and the rest are catching up a little. Where we got from these 3 articles to third world countries is beyond me. Third world countries have the exact opposite problems as those cited here. Third world countries have high unemployment, low wages and stagnant economic growth. Do you really consider third world countries as playgrounds? People who I know that travel to third world countries do so on humanitarian missions and derive their pleasure from helping others. I would argue that worker bees in playground areas like California, Colorado, Florida, and Arizona have a much higher standard of living than worker bees in other areas and it is night and day between them and third world countries.

Prices are going up on the Western Slope because people are moving there and they are moving there because jobs are being created. Oh - and if the dreaded developers and their realtor lackeys were not there, the housing prices would go up even faster becasue the supply could not keep up.

Fundamental Economics...Supply and demand... When retirees move to a community, they bring money. They do not take jobs. The demand for labor increases while the supply stays the same. The net effect is positive for the people who currently reside there. If retirees were leaving the area, you would really have something to complain about.

[NewAgeRedneck]

Although I didn't point it out, my reason for wanting to post the articles was to show that good news still survives. However, I usually shy away from stating something as being good or bad, because everyone looks at the same thing with their own perspective, and there is no way to prove that one persons reality is better than any other reality. For better or worse, growth is indeed taking place in the Grand Junction area. As a homeowner in GJct, I'm glad that real estate prices are still going up. On many other state forums there's alot of moaning & whining about falling real estate prices. Humans as a species love to have something to b*tch, moan, whine and complain about! Seems like it's one of our favorite hobbies.

[multitrak]

Originally Posted by Bagz

Fundamental Economics...Supply and demand... When retirees move to a community, they bring money. They do not take jobs. The demand for labor increases while the supply stays the same. The net effect is positive for the people who currently reside there. If retirees were leaving the area, you would really have something to complain about.

if a community doesn't grow economically, it dies...it's as simple as that. colorado is littered with dead or dying towns. adapt or die...

[j1n]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

...Grand Junction, Montrose and neighboring areas are growing at a rate that is making living there unaffordable for many of the residents who actually have to work to make a living. Hmmm . . . just what I've been saying on this board about most of Colorado for a long time now.

That may be fine for the affluent, non-productive retirees flocking into those places, but if you actually have to, like, HAVE A JOB to make a living, you'd better be looking elsewhere. So, we can chalk up two more formerly "working class" areas that are now going to be playgrounds for the affluent with an underclass of "worker bees" struggling to live there. Of course, there are many other places in the world that have this kind of social structure--they are called third-world countries.

hey jazzlover...
Thanks for the food for thought.
I'm so tempted to say that this is such a bad situation. Bad because I'm the guy that would be negatively affected by the "affluent, non-productive retirees" moving in to the beautiful place where my wife and I would be considered the displaced/priced-out "worker bees".
But then again, there are folks on here that represent the "non-working rich" or the "affluent, non-productive retirees"...and I'm sure, to many of them, places like the Front Range, Grand Junction (maybe even places like Boulder, Jackson, etc?) etc are more attractive than the old standby and longtime hotspot of FL.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's sad to think of hardworking folks basically being pushed out of their own lives. And it's extra sad because it seems there's almost no way to fight for it. We can't tell certain people that they can't move in and price folks out, right? Or can we?
What's the solution? Or is there one?

[NewAgeRedneck]

My wife and I are among the hard working folks of the worker-bee class and we don't feel displaced/priced-out by by the "affluent, non-productive retirees" moving in. Both my wife and I have jobs that our employers were not able to fill for quite a few months prior to us moving into the area 2 years ago. They couldn't find qualified local people for the open positions. Just out of curiosity, j1n, how are you being pushed out of your own life by the "affluent, non-productive retirees" moving in? I'm not being critical, merely curious.