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Our town is less than 1000 people. Our nearest place to buy clothes and shoes (and I have 2 growing kids, so that's important) is 30+ minutes away, and more than a few gallons of gas. I don't see small towns growing much with gas prices going up as they are. It's gotten very difficult to live in this small town because I can't even afford to escape it due to gas prices. DH works 35 miles away and we have to pay $$$ just to get him to and from work. That's the case with the vast majority of people here. Some drive over and hour to get to work. I know folks who've been trying to sell their houses for literally years. People here beg for developers, but none come to shrinking places. Go figure...
So, there is some good about a growing town. But yes, bad too. Believe me, in Medford we had a Wal-Mart potentially going up blocks away from our house. Schools were overcrowded, traffic increasing, etc. It's no fun to see your home invaded by newcomers. In traveling around the country, it's the big box stores that have the most impact on the dying downtown. Here we have no fast food, no chain restaurant at all, and party because of the gas prices, the local buisinesses are doing much better. There's good and bad in every situation.
BTW, when I moved here, I thought I could just buy on-line what I needed, but have you seen the shipping prices lately? No way can I afford that anymore. We make do with what we got.
Our town is less than 1000 people. Our nearest place to buy clothes and shoes (and I have 2 growing kids, so that's important) is 30+ minutes away, and more than a few gallons of gas. I don't see small towns growing much with gas prices going up as they are. It's gotten very difficult to live in this small town because I can't even afford to escape it due to gas prices. DH works 35 miles away and we have to pay $$$ just to get him to and from work. That's the case with the vast majority of people here. Some drive over and hour to get to work. I know folks who've been trying to sell their houses for literally years. People here beg for developers, but none come to shrinking places. Go figure...
So, there is some good about a growing town. But yes, bad too. Believe me, in Medford we had a Wal-Mart potentially going up blocks away from our house. Schools were overcrowded, traffic increasing, etc. It's no fun to see your home invaded by newcomers. In traveling around the country, it's the big box stores that have the most impact on the dying downtown. Here we have no fast food, no chain restaurant at all, and party because of the gas prices, the local buisinesses are doing much better. There's good and bad in every situation.
BTW, when I moved here, I thought I could just buy on-line what I needed, but have you seen the shipping prices lately? No way can I afford that anymore. We make do with what we got.
Yes, shipping prices are pretty ridiculous. When I buy from L. L. Bean, I use their credit card. If you have one, they charge you no shipping. However, I do understand you can't outfit a whole family just buying Bean clothes and other stuff. Catalog prices are usually high unless you hit the sales, which I do. I get coupons with my credit card, so that helps, but, again, it wouldn't go far with a family.
You mentioned a Wal-Mart possibly going up near you at one time. Lots of my friends are anti-Wal-Mart, and I can't understand what their beefs are. They don't live in small towns where they worry about the local merchants, so what the heck is the problem? I know Wal-Mart has been cited for unfair employee practices, but I figure a lot of other store chains and even local stores might not be treating their workers fairly either. Wal-Mart serves a useful purpose for people who want to save money. I buy all my staples there -- paper products, vitamins, soap, shampoo -- that type of stuff -- and some casual clothes. When I worked, I used to buy all my clothes at K-Mart and nobody knew the difference. Course, I never hid my shopping practices either because I thought they were stupid paying lots of extra money just to say they shopped at so-and-so store at the Mall. And....I worked in an office where we had to look good. As a result of my K-Mart ways, I managed to save a lot of money and now am in pretty decent shape in retirement. Why spend $$ when you don't have to? The thing is, too, that I could never afford to shop at the local town merchants -- their prices are almost always sky-high because they don't do volume sales like the chains.
Anyway, I feel for you about the gas prices, and I hope the situation there gets a lot better before too long.
"Like beauty, crappy is also in the eye of the beholder. And even the same beholder, may at times percieve something as crappy and later in the day, look at the same situation with new eyes, and this time see beauty. Beauty and crappy are perceptions...not reality."
Perception is reality to the one who perceives it.
In 1905 my grandfather, who was born in 1885, took a buckboard to Sedona Arizona. That is a wagon and horses. He enjoyed the pristine natural environment and the "natural surroundings." They really were natural back then. While he was gone his niece stabbed herself on a rusty nail and died of lockjaw. He told me a story about a relative who got a relatively minor wound in the civil war who ended up dying of gangrene. These are stories I have heard of first hand. I have also heard of people he knew who died of food poisining in the late 1800's. People talk of quaint small towns and the good ole days when all of Colorado had cute little towns. That is nice, but did you know that many miners in Ouray and places like Campbird Colorado died of starvation in the winter because they couldn't go to big box stores and buy groceries cheaply. How about Al Packer who in the winter of 1864 in the San Juans of Colorado not far from Montrose ate his buddies to survive. When you get mad at box stores at the south end of Montrose remember the good ole days of Colorado weren't always that good. Be glad we can buy food cheaply and have medical care. We have never had it better. I'm originally from Flagstaff, Arizona and I lived there long before big box stores came to town. I cursed Walmart when they first came to town and said I never would buy anything there!!! How dare they ruin my pristine town!!! Those @#$@#$@. But you know what? I saved a lot of money there. I was hungry and could afford to eat because of them. The good ole days weren't always that good. Be glad we have the shopping selection and medical care we have now. We live in a great country and people don't die very often from lockjaw like my great aunt or gangrene like my great great uncle in the Civil War or die from starvation in the mountains of the San Juans outside of Montrose because they couldn't get food. I'll take modern conveniences like Wal-Mart and Target and Walk-In clinics any day!!!
So find another what you would call paradise. The rest of us will enjoy what we have here (even if it's just more stores) since there's no stopping the train of progress.
This is exactly the problem with America right now. Everyone is out searching for their so-called paradise, only to find it's been discovered, destroyed, and ruined. I'm guilty of it. I left Colorado looking for my own piece of paradise. Have I found it? Maybe. But, the point is, if everyone is trying to find their pristine piece of land, eventually we are going to pollute and destroy it all. Its happened in most of Colorado already. Some places were not meant to sustain population growth. Just look at Summit Co. or any of the other resort areas. The wetlands and other pristine pieces of land have been taken over by strip malls and outlet stores for the benefit of consumerism. And why? So we can buy more stuff that we don't really need.
Montrose, while not as bad as some towns, is heading in the direction of Grand Junction. Obviously, if I had the choice, having lived in Grand Junction, I would pick Montrose. It's prettier and not as crowded. I don't know much about the schools there. I imagine it's similar to GJ. There are probably some schools that are better than others.
I just moved to Oregon from GJ. I live in Bend, but Medford seems pretty nice. I think smoke from fires is far worse in OR than CO. Medford, while not as rainy in the winter as Portland, is still going to get much more rain than Montrose does in a year.
I once lived in the upper Midwest, Michigan and Wisconsin, and now live in a small town near Montrose. I grew up in what is now inner-city Green Bay, but also lived in a GB suburb, a tiny northern Wisconsin town, various-sized towns in Upper Michigan, and even a remote US territory in the South Pacific.
You can probably imagine my reaction to some of the common themes and quotes of this and similar threads about Western Colorado, for example:
"It's too bad that people like this poster either weren't around or don't remember what small-town America was like before it became the brainwashed ward of the chain big boxes, franchise restaurants, and auto-dependent sprawl. These kind of people really don't even belong in small towns--they don't understand what living in one is really about. They just want it to look and feel like the suburban ****holes they left." (Jazzlover)
When I moved to my small western slope town, I bought a property within the city, which is about 3 miles from my workplace. I ride my bike in the summer. Yes, I do shop at Wal-Mart, but also at Ace Hardware, City Market, and I patronize local restaurants, both old and new. I work in natural resources, and some of my projects involve helping local communities become more sustainable through planning and fund raising. I am community-minded, and feel connected to my small town, even though I've only been here for a short while.
My point is that some of the complaints of long-time residents of this area come across as very divisive and exclusionary....especially you, Jazzlover. Why does my one-time residence in a "suburban ****hole" have to define how I live here, or anywhere else for that matter? What about the ****hole you once lived in, did that mold you into some kind of insensitive gas-guzzling vehicle-dependent moron? I think not.
I detect real resentment in many of these comments from those who lament the development that has happened here. That resentment seems focused on newcomers, including Hispanic immigrants and Californians. I find that offensive. Maybe those of you who write these things have had some bad experiences in the past. But why generalize and blame entire groups of people?
Haven't Californians, Hispanics, retirees, and all the others who have moved to the region also improved it in a way? Merely by bringing diversity, maybe? But also new skills and experiences and knowledge that can help this region begin to think about sustainability and smart growth?
After all, didn't this area grow because the long-time residents of the region allowed it to happen, or even welcomed it? I think a lot of blame on this and other similar threads is misplaced.
I have been to Montrose many times. I likied the town and thoguth that it was ideally situated. It is really close to some of the most beautiful areas of Colorado withouit some of the disadvantgaes. That being more snowfall than most can stand in winter. Often IMO diversity is way over sold. It often just leads to conflict and problems. Most by the time people over thirty would just as soon get away from those problems for the rest of their lifes. Others thrive on it seemingly; but I really suspect they have to in many cases or were born there and know little else.
I think the conflict texdav is referring to is an inevitable by-product of the diversification of a population, such as when sleepy Montrose twenty years ago started seeing people from other states and Mexico showing up in greater numbers. I don't mean the politically-correct 'diversity' when I say that I think diversity is important and valuable in a community. I mean a diversity of perspectives, backgrounds, skill & ability in addition to political and racial/cultural diversity. Oversold? I dunno, I sure like the mexican food around here, and Montrose has a great himalayan restaurant...or tibetan or whatever. I like the fact that I have met asian and black and hispanic and filipino and other people on the western slope--some are my friends. I also interact with people who grew up in other states who are semi-retired or retired and are available to help work on community projects and whatnot...what a huge resource for all local people. I'm glad my neighbors aren't all right-to-life white protestant republicans who hate taxes and the government.
I once lived in the upper Midwest, Michigan and Wisconsin, and now live in a small town near Montrose. I grew up in what is now inner-city Green Bay, but also lived in a GB suburb, a tiny northern Wisconsin town, various-sized towns in Upper Michigan, and even a remote US territory in the South Pacific.
You can probably imagine my reaction to some of the common themes and quotes of this and similar threads about Western Colorado, for example:
"It's too bad that people like this poster either weren't around or don't remember what small-town America was like before it became the brainwashed ward of the chain big boxes, franchise restaurants, and auto-dependent sprawl. These kind of people really don't even belong in small towns--they don't understand what living in one is really about. They just want it to look and feel like the suburban ****holes they left." (Jazzlover)
When I moved to my small western slope town, I bought a property within the city, which is about 3 miles from my workplace. I ride my bike in the summer. Yes, I do shop at Wal-Mart, but also at Ace Hardware, City Market, and I patronize local restaurants, both old and new. I work in natural resources, and some of my projects involve helping local communities become more sustainable through planning and fund raising. I am community-minded, and feel connected to my small town, even though I've only been here for a short while.
My point is that some of the complaints of long-time residents of this area come across as very divisive and exclusionary....especially you, Jazzlover. Why does my one-time residence in a "suburban ****hole" have to define how I live here, or anywhere else for that matter? What about the ****hole you once lived in, did that mold you into some kind of insensitive gas-guzzling vehicle-dependent moron? I think not.
I detect real resentment in many of these comments from those who lament the development that has happened here. That resentment seems focused on newcomers, including Hispanic immigrants and Californians. I find that offensive. Maybe those of you who write these things have had some bad experiences in the past. But why generalize and blame entire groups of people?
Haven't Californians, Hispanics, retirees, and all the others who have moved to the region also improved it in a way? Merely by bringing diversity, maybe? But also new skills and experiences and knowledge that can help this region begin to think about sustainability and smart growth?
After all, didn't this area grow because the long-time residents of the region allowed it to happen, or even welcomed it? I think a lot of blame on this and other similar threads is misplaced.
Sloopie7, the worst thing about Colorado is the natives who think they invented this state and don't like other Americans coming in here. I detected that attitude way back in the 70's when I was a tourist from Michigan. Now that I'm retired here, nothing has changed with most of these "natives", but I stay here anyway for the scenery and slower-paced life. They can go jump in the Uncompahgre River. I've lived in Colorado a total of 19 years (11 of them working in Denver). I don't know what's worse -- Denverites or the Western Slope locals.
It used to be the Texans who were Satan-incarnate to these people. Now it's the Californians. Tomorrow it'll be some other group. They always need a scapegoat to blame for "ruining" THEIR place. It's the local sport, this "newcomer" bashing. Forget them and go enjoy your life.
I've been reading with interest about the Montrose area. Do you really have a hard time getting out of town to hike without running into a lot of people? The area looks inviting, but I'd like to know if the "wilderness" is still accessible.
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Michigan to W.Colorado
