Durango Kid Friendly? (Ouray, Silverton: real estate, day care, motel)

[Sean&Payten'smom]

I am new to this whole posting thing, but I have a question and not really sure where else to find answers, my husband and I have really wanted to move from Texas to Colorado, my husband grew up in Ouray,Co. but we are thinking of Durango, I am just wondering how Kid Friendly it is, we have two kids under the age of 2 and want to make sure there are plenty of activities, restaurants, entertainment, that our kids can participate in, not just for now but as they get a little older as well, So if anyone has any insight it would be greatly appreciated, thanks

[I_LUVNM]

Originally Posted by Sean&Payten'smom

I am new to this whole posting thing, but I have a question and not really sure where else to find answers, my husband and I have really wanted to move from Texas to Colorado, my husband grew up in Ouray,Co. but we are thinking of Durango, I am just wondering how Kid Friendly it is, we have two kids under the age of 2 and want to make sure there are plenty of activities, restaurants, entertainment, that our kids can participate in, not just for now but as they get a little older as well, So if anyone has any insight it would be greatly appreciated, thanks

Durango is very kid friendly. Lots of restaurants, entertainment, parks, skate park, ice rink for hockey, snow sledding in winter or even tottler skiing, and tons of organizations to join, from 4H to volunteering. Soccer is a big hit here. Plenty of lakes too. The largest lake in New Mexico, Navajo Lake, for boating, jet skiing etc is right by. Another large lake too Vallecito, third largest lake in Colorado, is near here, not a pond like most lakes in Colorado. Great education too. Recent reports list Durango far ahead in standard testing for Colorado students.

[Phazed-Coug]

Yes Durango is kid friendly...

I will caution (unless your a stay at home parent) day care for children under school age is extremely difficult to find... there are wait lists 2-3years long at some places(most "parents" are on lists before their kids are born)

http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/art...ws070408_1.htm

[jazzlover]

I suppose that would depend on your definition of "kid friendly." There are a lot of activities and recreation opportunities in Durango--so, in that sense, I would suppose it is. It is also a tourist town. If your husband grew up in Ouray, he knows what that means.

Tourist towns in Colorado tend to have a social split among their residents: the "worker bees" who actually have to try to make a living in the town (often with some difficulty, i.e., both parents working long hours), and a "moneyed gentry" that don't have to depend on the town for a living. Oftentimes, children of the two groups don't mix very well. Often, there tend to be more drug problems in a tourist town, too. (I know, some people will vehemently dispute this about Durango, but I knew a school administrator from there some years back who related that it was indeed a significant problem then.)

So, if I had to sum up my personal opinion of it, I would say Durango probably offers more of good things for children to involve themselves with than many Colorado communities, and probably more not so good things, too. As I have posted before, I generally don't consider resort towns to be "normal" small towns sociologically.

Personally, (and ILUVNM will fall over in her chair when I say this), I wouldn't mind living in Durango were it not so hideously expensive and prone to significant economic problems if high fuel prices or a recession tank the tourist industry. But, I do not have children, so that issue would not enter into my decision. If I did have children at home, I would probably more heavily consider some "less touristy" communities.

[I_LUVNM]

Well my mouth flew opened on that one Jazzlover! Really though the fuel prices are about the same. I am in Famington and it is about the same there as it is here. Sometimes I do see a 10 cent difference but may be due to the cost of carrying it there. But Durango has really low taxes so that really offshoots that one. The tourist thing, it really isnt that much of big deal like it was Jazzlover. Sure tourists help, no doubt, but there are enough people in Durango now to sustain it without tourists. Some things would suffer i.e. raft rides and the train but really most things really are being supported by the community and not tourists although again they make the wallet fatter. I love that the Durango community supports the downtown too, which I dont see much of here in Farmington.

[jazzlover]

I_LUVNM,

Durangoans (especially the newbies) love to assert that the economy has diversified and is less dependent on tourism, and--to some extent that is true--but tourism is still driving the Durango economy. There have been recent articles in the Durango newspaper about the economic impacts of the 2002 fires which reduced ridership on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad by 30% and visits to Mesa Verde by 20% that year. I happen to have very great familiarity with the railroad--a friend of mine who worked there for several years (his family still lives in Durango) summed it up this way: Let that train not run for one season, and half the businesses in Durango would probably go broke. The typical economic formula says that an "outside" dollar spent in a local economy will turn over 3 to 6 times in that local economy. So, a drop in outside tourist dollars spent in Durango will affect far more than the first business where that money was spent. It will resonate through the rest of the economy of the town. I've watched what happens when an industry that brings a lot of outside money into a community flounders. The reverberating economic implosion is not pretty to endure.

I will guarantee you that $4.00/gal. fuel will severely impact Colorado tourism. Nearing $3.00/gal. has a lot of people I know rethinking their summer vacation plans--shorter length trips, closer to home. One of the beauties of Durango before it "went upscale" was that it was an affordable family vacation spot. Now, with lodging rates as high as they are there in summer, a lot of traveling families can no longer afford Durango. High fuel costs will just aggrevate the problem. And, yes, the affordability thing will be a region-wide problem. Tourism depends on people having discretionary income. If they don't because they have to spend it at the gas pump, or to heat their home, or for higher food prices--then they don't have it to travel.

[I_LUVNM]

Come on now Jazzlover, half the business would go broke if the train didnt run! As my granny would say, horsefeathers! Man Jazzlover, you are just full of optimism for Colorado arent you? Well, the gas is high everywhere and I have never seen so many tourists this early already here in this area so it must not be hurting them too much. Anyway, I can understand what your concern is about rising costs but dont limit it to just Colorado or Colorado resort cities, it is a national thing. Your state Wyoming - Yellowstone, Jackson Hole, etc. would be in the mix of being hurt too if your prophecies are true, I just dont get why you single out Colorado and its resort cities. Do you think Wyoming would somehow be spared from disaster or something? I have to ask because you keep bringing it up in about EVERY post about the doom falling on Colorado. I understand your point of view, just think it is wrong. I think we have covered it EXTREMELY well, can we move on now? Because if everytime I answer a question to help someone with a question and this doom thing keeps happening every time, then I am moving on, life is too short to have to hear doom and gloom. To make a post on an issue in relation to the question is fine but to drag the whole doom and gloom thing in every post, I am tired of it. Live and be happy, that is my motto.

[jazzlover]

I_LUVNM,

You are absolutely right. Colorado will not be alone when the "crash" comes. My own state of Wyoming, particularly its tourist areas, is also going to be severely hurt. What will cushion the blow here, as well as in your area of New Mexico, will be that the spiralling energy prices will lead to more energy-related economic activity. Of course, that won't make the liberal environmentalists happy in the Four Corners (or here, either), but I don't think they will be able to stem the activity when gas is $5.00+ and there are lines at the stations.

My whole point is that areas that are disproportionately dependent on cheap energy and excess discretionary income are going to be disproportionately affected in the coming crisis. I wouldn't want to be in California, or Arizona, or Florida, either. They are going to hurt--plenty.

Now, I'm going to leave this alone after this with this one suggestion. I would suggest you go read a book titled "The Long Emergency" by James Howard Kuntsler. Now, I will tell you that I do not agree with a lot of the political bent of this book, but I believe his analysis of the horrific energy predicament we are entering is irrefutable.

I do really wish that I could hold the "everything is fine" attitude that so many (including some of the posters on this forum) believe. When I look at the current economic and political situation today, though, everything in my professional training and experience tells me otherwise. I guess time will tell. I truly hope, in some respects, that I am wrong about this. My philosophy today is "hope for the best, plan for the worst." I would also suggest that you read Bill Fleckenstein's columns on MSN Money--he has written some very insighful articles concerning the "real estate bubble."

P.S.--I stand by my comment on Durango's reliance on the railroad. And, about the early influx of tourists. We're seeing a little of that here. A motel manager I know calls it "pre-emptive tourism." His theory is people are scared that fuel will be $4.00+ by later this summer, so they are travelling now, before the price goes up further.

[Phazed-Coug]

Don't forget, that the Train was nearly bankrupt not long ago, and First National bailed them out and saved the train.. shhhhh only the locals know that.