Here's What Life Is Like In Small Town Colorado Now 

Here's my entire Mountain West Road Trip playlist: ru-vid.com/group/PLq-_cmf3H6yq836p_Frch75GtIGQXn-AX

Lived there for 31 years and had a real love of place, but at 53-years-old I'm content to have moved away. The 90s were the salad days in Colorado.

That's why you NEVER tell anyone about your secret fishing spot !

The worst thing about a small towns progress is they lose that uniqueness that draws everyone there... pretty soon they all look alike with Starbucks and chain restaurants pushing the small mom and pop places out... I am shocked traveling across the country at how every place looks the same with the same stores ect.... sad...

Came to Colorado in 1950, grew up in Boulder during the 50s and 60s, if you didn't experience it there is no way to explain/comprehend how wonderful the state was back before shopping malls, maze street suburbs and interstate highways...

South Park did at least two episodes on this. First, when they gentrified Kenny's neighborhood into SoDoSoPa. Second, when Cartman became a real estate agent for all the new people moving in. He ended up pricing all the locals out. Also, social media has changed a lot of these quaint, isolated communities and sights. Once somebody puts your secret fishing spot or hidden valley on TikTok, it's gone. The scenesters swarm in.

Just wanted to comment that this is one of the best videos you've done! So true what's happening to these small quiet towns with the residents fleeing from California to small towns with the same mindset they had in California. Bringing their beliefs that just don't work. Kudos!

"Is there anyplace in America that hasn't been ruined by economic decline... or economic success?" --Nick Johnson Truer words have never been spoken! Everywhere I go, people are either complaining about how their small town is dying. No jobs. People are moving away. OR they're complaining about how there's all this growth and all these new people are raising property values and prices. Another GREAT video! And the mayor you interviewed really knows what he's talking about.

The population has increased almost 40% since 2000. The worst part about places growing like this is often the long time residents get priced out of real estate. The median cost of a house is almost $600k.

I love how hard the Mayor of Durango is fighting for his town. Prayers for him and his strength.

Great video Nick! I agree with your guest, when you move somewhere be respectful of the culture and try to assimilate, rather than trying to change things. This is unfortunately happening in a lot of places.

I had a friend who was a real estate agent in a small Colorado town. When the Californians moved in they started complaining there were not not enough restaurants, boutiques and salons. They effectively Californicated the town and drove the locals out. I miss the old Colorado when all we had was a Montgomery Wards.

I'm taking the rails next week across the country from Sacramento to Chicago on amtrak, in a roomette. Its going to be so nice to sit back, relax and watch the country go by.

Hey, your in my town, which is probably the best small town in America. I'm sure glad I moved here 25 years ago when it was still affordable because the cost of an typical home here is approaching $1,000,000. Unfortunately, Durango is rapidly on the way to becoming Aspen where the rich people live in town and all their servants live down valley an hour away. Developers and the city counsel have steadily pushed the city up-scale while giving lip service to affordable housing but doing nothing about it. Despite this, it is still the best small town in America because of it's Victorian Architecture, world class outdoor activities (mountain biking, rafting, skiing, hiking), and sunny climate. The price of admission is very fat wallet.

Truly, this is happening everywhere.

This has happened to fort collins in northern Colorado. I am a native and it is sad to see that people don't camp in tents but ugly RVs and our mountains are trashed. People are rude. Wish they would move back to where they came from.

Nick, you are totally unique. I love your narration. Thanks for another great video.

I remember when I lived in Colorado Springs in the 90's, at a stop light a car was in front of me with a bumper sticker that said "Move back to California and take a Texan with you". Ironically the car to the left was from Texas and the one to the right was from California. I wish cell phones were a big thing back then so I could have got a photo of that...

After 35 years in Colorado I just moved to small town Nebraska pop.5000, at 6pm on the Main Street in town not a single car, lots of closed shops, some empty houses, but it is quiet and Affordable.

I think the irony of the lady at the grocery store perfectly sums up a bunch of peoples' attitude in this state. "Out of stater that's been here for 20 years complains about out of staters that have been here for 2 years." I was in Ouray about a year ago and struck up a conversation with a guy who was a native and his outlook on the whole influx of people was interesting. His take was that he was kind of ok with the boom this state has had, given that many of these towns and their histories would likely be forgotten and they would slowly rot away (think wv).

Based on what you filmed for this video, Durango, Colorado is a beautiful place. Much of the natural area surrounding Durango is forested, with abundant Poderosa Pine and Quaking Aspen. The stunning scenery ranges from high desert mesas and canyons to high alpine peaks and meadows. However, it's elevation is 6,512 feet. It's average high temperature for the month of July is a very comfortable 86.0 degrees Fahrenheit. Its average low temperature in January is a very cold 14.5 degrees Fahrenheit. The average annual precipitation is 20.95 inches. The average snowfall each year is 64.7 inches of snow. Durango is somewhat isolated--the nearest international airport is in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a distance of 214 miles or so.

I have been so bored with youtube videos....but yours rock! I live in Colorado and did a 2 month business trip in Salt Lake.....loving your videos and learning lots. Jesus bless you!

Man I miss Colorado of the early 2000’s when you could get a seasonal job in Vail or Steamboat and easily find affordable housing . Colorado is the most beautiful state next to Utah

I grew up in Colorado and lived in small mtn. mining town, i had a small business for 9 years but when our town officials began letting franchise businesses with big $$ push us smaller independent businesses out! I threw in the towel and moved out of state. i also saw the gentrification destroying the rustic infrastructure and the disregard for the land it was disgusting to witness its demise!

Wow same in FL, use to be so nice and peaceful until the bridge from NY & NJ finished up and steady stream came pouring in.

They're doing this to my home town too, they're turning Arizona into California...

I have to travel into western Colorado on occasion... seeing the changes in Montrose, Delta, and yes, Durango, is kind of bittersweet to me... I wish the folks moving in there could dig how the lifestyle is the real gem of these places. Cheers!

I had a good friend that said that when a town gets a stop light it is time to move. He was 100% correct! This happens everywhere. Thing is most of those CA people will move out in a few years. The winters and altitude plus they brought the problems they had in CA with them. Anyway start going to City Council Meetings and push for No Growth or Slow Growth. The City Council will always sell themselves out to the developers and real estate industry.

What a tragedy for our country. Used to love Durango 20 years ago. Californian politics and culture are pure poison. They seems to ruin anything they come into contact with.

This all started happening in every nice city and town when people starting working from home during covid. They packed up and moved. It's destroying everything.

Nick, you have the best narration ever when it comes to your videos. Kept me entertained. Keep it up friend!

People who have moved to the small town in Arizona that I live have ruined everything and brought traffic and noise, higher rents, higher home costs etc. It used to be a town that travelers got gas and kept going. Now drugs and crime are on the rise. It sucks

You should have checked out Ouray, CO. I grew up spending my summers there. My parents owned 2 homes on Main Street. It's a small mountain town. Old gold mining town. It's in between Montrose and Silverton off 550. My dream has always been to move there one day, but that's now impossible. So many people form the outside (other states) have ruined it. They've built HUGE homes there and now the prices of homes are outrageous. There's no way I can ever move there unless I win the lottery. Too many outsiders. Too trendy. The place to move. People who work in Ouray have to live elsewhere due to the shortage of affordable housing. It's sad.

The only train I've been on was the one from Durango to Silverton. Back in 1980. Family trip. Thanks Dad and rest in peace til we meet again.

This is what Colorado has become: Overrun with tourists and transplants from California and Texas. I lived in Montrose 3 years ago and the Texan Tourons invade in droves. You can’t find a trail or scenic road and enjoy solitude. In the winter the ski towns are overrun. The closer you get to the Front Range, the worse it gets. You will spend more time driving to and from the mountains then you will hiking or skiing in them. I love Colorado and wanted to stay but it has become too reminiscent of the crowded, congested, expensive east coast l fled from. Now I’m in a remote area on Lake Powell in Utah working in a campground where more than half the people who visit have Colorado plates. They are coming here to the desert where it’s over 100 degrees to escape their mountain towns that are being overrun . 😂

You keep getting better. Love your commentary.

That was a good interview Nick, I've lived in the Denver area for 66 years (native). The good mayor Jasper brought up a lot of good points about living in Colorado.🤠

NICK BRILLIANT VIDEO VERY INFORMATIVE VERY WELL DONE BIG THANKS 👍👍👍👍

I don't understand how ANY Colorado city can be listed on a top place to live, list. One, the home prices are INSANE, two, it is very crowded and the various cities did not plan well for the influx of people or HOUSES that they have allowed to build. There are still single lane roads that are heavily trafficked. The road that that girl who died after having that rock thrown threw her windshield is a majorly traveled road...its still a country road, with no plans to widen in. Three, its just overcrowded and crime is growing....

Here in England we have a different problem. All the coastal towns get bought up as holiday homes so the locals get priced out but also because nobody lives there 45-50 weeks a year, the stores go out of business too. Eventually you just end up with 100s of little villages that date back 100s of years but are now incoherently expensive and empty

I lived in Durango from 2016-2019 The homeless were EVERYWHERE! They sleep and hangout whenever the want. Manly around the soup kitchen. The soup kitchen enables far-far more than it helps. The people who are temporarily down their luck will automatically do better if they want to. Then we got the underbelly class that wants to stay like that ON PURPOSE.

Lived here for 6 years of my childhood during the 70's and early 80's, graduating high school. I KNEW this would change because that was the stated GOAL. The parts of town that were dirt cheap to live in simply don't exist anymore, nor do the people (many of whom were minorities). They've literally moved MOUNTAINS here (see: Smelter Mountain tailings), and although I recognize it, I remember a time where a retired miner in his 90's talked with me about the 'old days' while on my paper route for the Durango Herald. That was 40+ years ago now and MY memories of Durango then are as different from now as his were from MINE. Change is inevitable, and it was only a matter of time before Durango was 'discovered'. But, it still looks as pretty as I remember, and Nick, you should've ridden the train. The trip on the tracks to Silverton are just amazing.

I feel the same way about Temecula, CA. I moved there in 1987 when it really was a "small town". Now it looks like Anaheim... it's a shame what people have done

It's wild how quickly things can change when such a massive population of rich people seem to collectively decide to move somewhere en mass. I'm considering a job in CO which does break 6 figs but still have doubts...All I hear about is people moving out because the cost of living is so insane, 21% higher than the rest of the country. I've never seen a housing market so cracked as the Denver area. Even with a 100k salary on my own it would be hard to do.

Dear Mappy, Your channel is one of my favorite channels on the entire RU-vid’s! I also like when Nick Johnson talks about his adventures.

Charleston, SC used to be fairly small... but natives have absolutely been priced out!! It saddens me everyday. 😢 People move in and ruin it for the people who've been there, often for generations

I love listening to you, you are wonderful! ❤

You should have been here last year before they cleaned out the homeless camp by purple cliffs, behind home depot by the river. Whole area completely trashed and covered in tents. Was there a couple years before they cleared it out. Was a real eye sore. Plus they were leaving used needles and crap (literally) by the river. Oh and the used toilet paper is a nice touch. Definitely improved though since they cleared out the camp. People were coming from Farmington, Albuquerque and all over because they heard homeless were well taken care of in Durango. Luckily that's changed. Durango can't support a large homeless population

I grew up in Durango. It was a thriving community back in the 90's. I loved my hometown. The pain of going there now and seeing what it has become, and seeing old friends that are near poverty in Bayfield is akin to losing the closest of family members... California can suck my globes...

We were in Durango last summer. Santa Fe -> Taos -> Durango. It was really just a stop to take the Durango to Silverton train. We stayed a couple nights and it was OK. Nice people and it is beautiful.

Everyone leaving other states to come to Colorado over the past few years. Time to move out. Unfortunately...not many other nice/affordable/safe places to go in America anymore.😟

Nothing destroys a small town faster then people who are not wanted planting themselves and trying to change everything.

Thank you Mary for taking care of it for us until we get there.

I don't know why Durango felt like they'd be spared from all the hell that's going on the Earth

Wowwwww!!! I went to high school there and graduated from Fort Lewis TWICE in that little town!!!!! It really was a safe, warm, nice place. Everyone I know who is still living there has told me how bad the place has changed and completely ruined.

Great video as always! We live in a small Colorado mountain town and hear locals with these same complaints. It's a ski town and NEEDS the tourism to survive yet many people simply don't understand that. Blows my mind!

My Band played Durango in the 1980s and again in the early 2000's. I didn't recognize the place! With a different Band, I played a corporate party on that train. The atmosphere was anything but "small mountain town". I moved to Ouray in 1996 to work in Theater Shows, the last of which was with Dennis Weaver (Chester on Gunsmoke and McCloud). Since 96 Ouray has been taken over by a handful of people who think it belongs to them because they have money. Silverton is the most preserved of the area because it's quite secluded, and there's nothing more there than there used to be, and you can't make a living there. We played New Years Eve in Silverton and it was like stepping back in time. Very Nicely Done video, Nick!

"What goes around comes around" . Indeed, the sad truth is that it happened more than 200 years ago in Centennial State was a Nicknames for the State of Colorado. Despite the changes in the past, Native American Indians, a forgotten people, are still present here and observing their land. All Native American Prophecies are coming True, ... we were told we would see Amrican come and go and sense American is dying from within. Because they forgot the intructions on how to live on earth.

Simple Formula: More People = More Problems.

I live in Philly and a family member wants me to move out to Idaho. I looked up COL in Idaho, Montana, Washington....it's all astronomically expensive! I can't afford those places! Guess Ill just stay where I am and continue working to try and make my neighborhood a better place.

As a Texan, I am so sorry. We have seen the same thing. The town I have loved here in Texas went from 14,000, maybe, to over 110,000 in less than 8 years and it's still going. I would love to come visit your town. I do not do politics and idealisms. Just want a good cup of coffee, some beautiful scenery, hiking and a good book.

The landscape around Durango is nothing short of stunning......

I live in Denver. It’s not recognizable. It’s unreal how many Texas, Florida, and California plates we see on a quick drive. Almost everyone new I meet is from one of these states. Not only can we not afford it, we refuse to spend asking price for homes here. it’s not worth it to us. 😂 so we’re moving to Europe. It feels ruined. But I lived here for over a decade and enjoyed it. Great years.

Sounds so much like what has happened to Prescott, Arizona. You need to come visit.

I moved to Longmont, Colorado from Wyoming back in the early 70’s. It was a zoo then and it’s a thousand times worse now. I lasted 3 months until I was back in Wyoming.

Extreme limits need to be put on wealthy people. They are ruining our country.

Colorado definitely use to have more of a country/western kinda feel(even near Denver) and it totally has turned into over populated California type place unfortunately.

Silverton may be the next victim! Beautiful scenery, love the railroad and Old West history. Rv'd in Colorado e few times and saw a lot of special places, never went near Denver or any other big city, Leadville was awesome, camped @ Turquoise Lake.

I’ve lived 45 miles south of Durango my whole life. The best way to experience this beautiful small town is to do just that. Aztec, New Mexico (45 miles south) is a great small town of about 6,000 people. Farmington, New Mexico is only 15 minutes away which has everything you need. When you get the itch for the mountains, they’re 45 min away in Durango. You don’t get the harsh winters in Aztec that you do in Durango. Skiing is amazing up there at Purgatory. White water rafting right there in Durango. Zip lining. All kinds of stuff.

I thought about moving back to Colorado but after I heard that Colorado Tax Dollars are being wasted on ILLEGAL ALIENS my response was F**K that.

Excellent video. Hopefully the town can find a balance of keeping its traditions and culture.

Curious…what percentage of “Californians” that move and change things up were born in California, vs having moved to California first, changed things up, then left for the new states to change them up? Anecdotally I’ve noticed most who leave California had left somewhere else first. - from a native Californian who’d rather stay and fight.

Having lived in the Four Corners region (Cortez) for an extended time and as a Colorado resident for 50 years who now lives in the Western Slope Region, I can tell you that the nature of Colorado is irretrievably changed. Durango is no singular exception to the decay of western rural life; it is everywhere. The Front Range is a giant octopus whose tentacles have touched the rural, conservative life that existed here long before it was loved to death by newcomers. There are very few places left that you can still feel the past, places that have not had their heritage sucked up by the socio-political machinery of the Front Range. In most cases, you will only find this past life in Louis L'Amour books. Nick, I think you didn't (maybe on purpose?) say enough about how the college has influenced the character of the present-day Durango. Colleges today are a force as they bring the newest ideas and culture to bear wherever they are; a force that is counter to what towns like Bayfield, Durango, Cortez and Dolores have lost. Colorado, as it used to be, RIP.

Moved to a small town of 13,000 people 35 years ago. Now the population has tripled to 39,000. Went from 6 cops and two stop lights to 48 cops and at least 50 stop lights. Tax and spend is what politicians call progress.

Everybody that moves to a nice place wants to shut the door behind them.

You can imagine my going back to my HS town of Moab after 30 years. We must have been close to the same parallel. I played football against Cortez, Colorado, was like a foreign country. I am thrilled that there are people who enjoy the SW. I have never been so hot, tired, dirty, thirsty, hungry and measurable as I was working in the SW. After graduating from Cal Poly, I took a job with Weyerhaeuser and except for 3 years in Chicago I have been here ever since. I never tire or complain about the rain. Enjoy the company, there is nothing more lonely or beautiful than a SW desert.

Thank you so much for loving America enough to be the channel of choice to get real information on its hills, hollars, and hamlets..

Poor Mary 😂 can't imagine my town getting taken over by people from California....

Well, you made it to Durango - such as it is. I first got here in 1987. Bought some property and made it my home until 2002. During that time, I sadly watched a pasture that fed herds of elk get turned into a golf course littered with expensive homes. After too many years away, I came back in 2018 to a Durango I barely recognized. I discovered a man-made lake had been created, named after a former senator. I still haven’t seen that lake. I discovered marijuana had been legalized. And the apparent doubling of the population came along with being Californicated. No, it sure isn’t the Durango I used to know and love. But the beauty of the nature surrounding this little town still survives, and I’ve decided to retire here. I live on the outskirts, in a place that’s more rural than urban. That’s just the way I like it. I also still drive down old Main to admire the old buildings that still dominate downtown. And I do love that ol’ train. People, if you come here to live, enjoy it, admire it and respect it. Don’t come here to try to change it. That just ruins it for everybody.

Lived in Durango from 2011 through 2013. It was a great place to live, just wasn’t sustainable long term because of the housing costs.

Great idea to interview a local that really knows his community to comment on their local issues 👍👍👍

Nick and Mappy ❤❤❤😊😊😊

I live on the outskirts of Halifax Nova Scotia... This story is almost identical to here.. with the exception of the people moving here seem to be escaping liberal controlled provinces.. the problem is that they are changing it to be more like home which is making it hard as hell to live here as someone who has lived here all of his life beside six years living in British Columbia..

I love Colorado, I thought to move there a while back, but its sooooo expensive now. I just want a nice place I can ride my bicycle around :)

I lived in Bayfield for 14 years and moved back to Durango almost 7 years ago in order to care for my dad. I live close to the hospital now with my dad long gone. I love Durango but may have to relocate in a year or two due to being priced out. Makes me sad.

I lived in Colorado 25 yrs ago & everyone then said CO had changed-after going back this year, CO has really changed! It’s way to busy for me now!

Great timing on this video Nick! I was planning to road trip through Durango to Mesa Verde, but sadly life happen and that road trip isn't happening this year. So thank you so much for this video! I feel like I can still experience a little bit of Durango.

❤❤❤Thank you, Nick! Good video .

I lived in Durango from 00' to '12. I loved living there but the writing was on the wall, not a place to raise a family and be a working class guy. Moved north up the western slope to the Montrose/Delta area where the cost of living was sooo much better. I'm really sorry to see what has become of Durango. It was a really nice place to live once upon a time.

I can imagine how long time residents in CO must feel. I moved from Evergreen in the '80's and back then the residents were complaining about how that town was changing. When I see videos of it now it looks like just another wealthy mountain suburb. A suburb and not a mountain town anymore.

I grew up in a town half the size (Glenwood Springs). Even in the 90s I associated Durango as a semi-ritzy place. Not quite Vail though. Still, a lot of Colorado towns have had the double-edged sword of wealth influx whenever California has a big fire season or crime event. I was always told that my town got a lot of LA people in 1994 because of a fire (just repeating childhood lore here--could very well have more to it). Colorado towns vary a lot. The resort areas obviously bring in more wealth while the mining and ranch towns are amazingly still the same 20 years after I left the area. My town still has a middle-class feel to it. The main complaint I have when I return is that it's such a narrow valley and feels claustrophobic with the development they're put in the last 20 years. But even 20 years ago when my parents wanted to leave a slum-converting neighborhood (drug parties across street), they couldn't move to a different neighborhood. They were priced out. That's how we ended up going to Arkansas.

For early 1970s to around 2005, the woods of Durango were part of Harley rallies and runs. But due to the influx and loss of forestland, those are long gone

I've been in Colorado since 1981.. it sucks now. 3 times as many people.. same infrastructure . Ridiculous

As a florida man I give Colorado folks my condolences you got ten years at best before terminal new California sets in. Florida is stage 3 new new york.😢 An we dont talk about what's happening to poor Texas... Damn shame Texas used to be the strong man state.

Those mountains in the backdrop are stunning

Also, if I ever do want to move, it will be because I like the place just the way it is, not because I wish to change it. It's like a marriage. You have to accept that person for what they are, NOT for what you want them to become.

I live just north of Colorado Springs, and it's become way more expensive in just even the last two years. Every month there are more and more out of state plates (CA, TX, FL) and more traffic on the roads. We used to NEVER have traffic aside from snowstorms. More and more pink and blue haired freaks. Weed churches, pride parades, sky high rent and property tax, tighter firearms restrictions, and yeah paying for plastic bags as if it's even going make the slightest dent in the climate is absolute bullsh*t! Walmart here doesn't even provide bags as an option, it's ridiculous. All it does is inconvenience everyone and offer Walmart another way to take even more of your money. But these are all the things that come in with the democrats and liberals. RIP Colorado.

I lived in Durango in the 90's til 2017. Had a home worked 2 jobs to raise 3 sons. I go back to see friends. It is ruined. What drew us all there is gone.

Same happened when my home town in the mountains was made into a tourist "destination." The first move was for the local newspaper to change the meaning of the name from the native "crow's nest," to a new fangled "interpretation," meaning a more glorious, "Land of four seasons." Then came eliminating the rodeo, which was a kids rodeo I rode in from four years old till I was nine, to a "pro" rodeo and cost money to watch. Then came all sorts of "festivals" , made up, to bring in vendors and tourists. The locals who were grubbing for a dollar left town during these events as they couldn't park near the park, most everyone was someone you didn't know, and most were city people who were rude and complaining.

I like to see an update of what s happening in 2023 in rural towns.