The CRAZY Rise Of The Front Range 

You forgot the *MOST IMPORTANT* factoid of Albuquerque for a whole lot of us: It's also the place where Bugs Bunny always forgets to make a left! 😂🐰🐇

Correction: Breaking Bad was on AMC and then was later part of Netflix's offerings

I was just in Colorado Springs last week. Still a wonderful area, but the rapid growth is turning it into a typical soulless suburbia, full of chain store strip malls and cheaply built cookie cutter neighborhoods. In other words, what most people are trying to escape when they move out west.

The Front Rage is one of the largest regions without rail connecting the major cities. There's Intercity rail through Denver and Albuquerque, but nothing North and South.

Denver resident here! I would not have put New Mexico in the Front Range. Cheyenne is the farthest north and Pueblo is the farthest south. There's a lot of undeveloped land between Fort Collins and Cheyenne, and Colorado Springs and Pueblo, but not as much as there used to be. Urbanization between Fort Collins and Colorado Springs is almost continuous. I love my home state and its proximity to the mountains, but it's getting hard and harder to enjoy the natural beauty the more people move here. But I will continue to live here. Love this place. Colorado Springs especially is a "staycation" destination for my family.

The founding of the USAF academy in the mid-50's had a huge impact on Colorado Springs.

I remember visiting my grandparents every summer in Colorado Springs. 20-30 years ago their land was surrounded by pastures. I recall the cookie cutter homes and strip malls slowly creeping up I-25 towards their land. By the mid 2000s, the urban sprawl made its way across the street from the entrance to the property where it stands today. We used to wake up to views of pikes peak and open pastures, now the view is of Starbucks signs and McDonald’s Golden Arches. I hate to be a hater, but this type of uncontrolled growth is killing the spirit of the West. Colorado has now become attractive to a transient population and very soon Denver and Colorado Springs will be one massive city.

Denver/Front Range: Los Angeles' newest most eastern suburb.

Pueblo, CO: also, home of the Consumer Information Catalog.

I love living in Denver, because being next to the mountains is something incredible since I like nature and hiking, so being on the Front Range is something unique.

Also, Colorado Springs owes a lot of its growth to the major military presence. Peterson and Schriever SFBs, Fort Carson, Cheyenne Mountain, and the Air Force Academy are all there

We've driven I-25 more than once, or at least the stretch from Cheyenne to the cities in northern NM you mention. It is watering down your earlier selectivity to call it a "megalopolis.". The area between Pueblo and Santa Fe is a long stretch of almost nobody and almost nothing (except the Rockies, of course, which are very picturesque along the route). The biggest change from 1950, though, is housing prices. This area used to be one where people moved to get away from it all, and before air conditioning made Phoenix inhabitable, e.g. Now it defines, by contrast, the eastern boundary of the western unaffordability zone, whose western boundary is the Pacific Ocean. It's one more "growing megalopolis" where people cannot, paradoxically, afford to move. Make no mistake, though. This series of videos of yours is better than I think you realize. You're accomplishing a lot on a serious relative micro-budget.

The correct pronunciation for the Cache la Poudre is Pooder. Us locals are very stern on it being called pooder!

The New Mexico cities you mentioned are in no way geographically associated with the Front Range, which extends south to Pueblo, Colorado, and no further. The upper Rio Grande Valley, home to Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Los Alamos, Española, Taos and many smaller towns, reaches into Colorado through the San Luis Valley, nowhere near the Front Range. This area is within the southern ranges of the Rocky Mountains, not adjacent to them. These places are historically, culturally, demographically, agriculturally and economically distinct from the Colorado and Wyoming cities on the western edge of the central Great Plains. The two regions are indeed linked (across a considerable distance) by Interstate 25, which delivers a notable quantity of tourists and truck traffic. A brief check confirms nearly all North American towns to now be likewise connected by highways. Just over two hundred years ago, an overland trail first connected Santa Fe (then half its current age) with Westport, Independence and Franklin, Missouri, and with water routes to St. Louis, Cincinnati, New York, New Orleans and the world. Albuquerque has always shared a closer connection, in every respect, with El Paso, Texas (down the old Spanish Camino Real route) than with Denver or Colorado Springs. It is rumored that a declining number of sad but hardy Denver Broncos fans may still reside in New Mexico. But a few somehow reportedly continue to hold out on the ragged edge in western Kansas and Nebraska as well, so ...

I'm surprised you didn't mention that military installations played a big part in the growth of Colorado Springs. Or that you didn't mention the U. S. Airforce Academy. Albuqueque has military and federal research facilities.

Very good video glad you talked about my hometown

Love your videos Reminds me of when I was young I was flip through maps while eating my cereal

how can you include Albuquerque & Santa Fe but not Boulder & Greeley

I've loved keeping up with your channel growth. Keep up the great work!

I don’t typically like cities but denver is a pretty sweet place to hang out, especially because for me it means the first stop on a ski trip haha

Disappointed that you didn't mention the beautiful communities in between Santa Fe and Pueblo on the front range like Taos, Eagle's Nest, and Raton. This area is a must see, Definitely the highlight of my road trip up to Denver was when I passed through these towns.

Right between Laramie and Cheyenne up in the mountains is the Lincoln bust which still feels really out of place but it turns out it's the highest point on I-80/Lincoln Highway.

I drive up and down i25 all the time. Heading north its insane how you're in denver with tons of traffic and the moment you pass cheyenne you become one of the only cars on the interstate. Same going south once you pass pueblo. I wouldn't put the new mexico cities in the front range personally but my favorite thing about this megalopolis is how you can go from extreme urban to wilderness almost immediately

Northern NM and the Front Range of CO are really not connected physically nor culturally (nor economically). The Front Range megalopolis stretches from Cheyenne to Trinidad.

Pueblo aint too bad. Ive lived there about 6 years, seldome hear gunfire. I lived in Colorado Springs and heard gunfire 4 or 5 nights a week. The mountains outside the Springs are kind of trashed. Not so down here, and fourther south. Ive got good decent neighbors.

Another good video. I wonder, as I don't have the stats, if Boulder wasn't mentioned because it was not growing as much as the other cities or just for time? Thanks for thinking out of the box and putting all of this time and research into these videos!

3:58 I will retire in Colorado Springs, Garden of the gods sounded like such an overkill name for a park but the name is accurate. It is literally is the prettiest place I have personally visited.

Are you planning to do a tier list of all cites and towns in USA in one video?

The one population center nobody really thinks about is the Wasatch Front from Nephi,UT all the way up to Idaho Falls, ID including Salt Lake City

Have you done a vid yet of all the cities you have yet to visit? That’d be amazing.

I’m glad I’m in the discord. I got the discord notification 2 minutes before the youtube notification

Nice. I lived in the front range for 12 years between Colorado Springs and Denver. I live near Durango Colorado now. I like it way more here. 3 hours from Santa Fe and Albuquerque. 6 hours from Denver. We get a lot of tourists but very rural in the mountains

As someone who has lived in Miami and traveled all over that region of Colorado. Hearing 6 million across so much space is hilarious. I think the 3 counties that make up the Miami metro area is over 6 million.

Video idea: the interstates of the DC region. Was driving around this weekend and realized how strange they are. 495 is a traditional ring road but then you have 395 only going from 495 to the capital, 695 basically going nowhere, and 295 starting at 495 and then turning into state highway 295 even though DC isn't a state!

Isn’t the “front Range” already stating to drop off because it’s crazy expensive

I used to live in Colorado Springs and currently go to college in Boulder, I don’t like living in cities though lol

There is a proposal to connect the cities of the front range with passenger rail. Great videos.

I've only ever visited the Front Range, and it's a fascinating place.

I thought Trinidad, CO was gonna be a worthy mention but I'm surprised to see it lose 4k since 1950.

I really like the video. However, you kept saying city has blah population, when you were really speaking about the metro area. For example, you stated that Denver city had 2.9 million - that’s the population of the metro area.

you should do longer videos!

Possibly might want to include El Paso, TX with a population well over 1M! It appears to also be an up-and-coming area with resurgent transportation infrastructure as well as manufacturing base with it's ideal location next to Mexico!

I would add to your list of front ranges the Wasatch Range. Salt Lake City Utah is located at it's base. Most noted for desert and intermountain geology..

Santa Fe isn't just the oldest city in the west it's the oldest capital city in North America.

5:12 Hey I can see my house from here!

That shot at 2:12 is an accurate representation of how San Francisco Rd looks in Santa Fe after 9. Source: literally just left. First time in downtown Santa Fe and the whole city practically closes at 9.

Also not to mention they are pretty much free from most natural disasters.

1:36 Breaking Bad was an AMC original.

When you do the sunbelt and talk about Phoenix’s growth start in 1930 or 40 as it will show you how insane the growth of the city has been. At that point the msa was 173k

What about Greeley? For several decades that was a bigger deal than Ft. Collins, especially with the presence of U.S. 85, and the fact it's a shot-cut connector between Ft. Collins and Ft. Morgan.

Epiccccc

Do gulf coast mega region next.

Front range! That's me! Denver proper, here!

Fyi, Trinidad, CO/Raton, NM's population is constantly on the rise.

Would it be possible to add the cities of Billings, Calgary, Red Deer, and Edmonton to this megalopolis?

Would you count Billings, Mt as the front range too? Going just west we hit mountains also to go into Missoula

As a Californian flying east for a visit to Chicago for the first time, once the plane was done flying over The Rockies and there were no more mountains, I felt this feeling I had never felt before which was sadness like my soul was empty--I kept trying to look back to see the mountains one last time. How can one even live if one cannot even see the mountains (any mountains) from a window or while riding around town?

I really hope that one day a JetTrain will link them at 150 mph/240 km/h

I guess I can see why Loveland is part of the Fort Collins metro area, but I'm not sure I agree with that characterization, they have distinct vibes and public transit systems, although one bus from fort collins runs through loveland down to longmont and boulder, and are really only connected by strip malls. For the population are you counting both Fort Collins and Loveland? Because Fort Collins itself has 160K people right now

Very interesting and well done. I am not fond of metropolitan population being given for city pop but not identified as such. I was like "Albuquerque has almost a million people and therefore is roughly the same size as Austin - Wow!" uh..no...

Just curious on why Casper, Wyoming is not included. Wikipedia says that northernmost part of the Front Range is here in this city.

Pueblo's population is around 112 and has been pretty consistent around that number for years. I don't know where you got your numbers.

That Ariel view of Denver makes look like a smaller version of LA

I love the scenery around Denver, but my God does Denver have some of the worst traffic in the country, I have gotten through Chicago faster than I've got through Denver lofl, also the median home price of 800k and the political climate are reasons I'll never live in denver. But I do love the area and I definitely don't mind visiting. I'm only an 6-hour drive from there.

I think by mentioning that Pueblo calls itself the Steel City you've upset the Yinzers.

Bucky, numerous pueblos dot NM river systems preventing population explosions

if your ever in the Springs Ill buy you lunch

You forgot Boulder, as it is considered front range

I think you mean the Denver Complex

Looks like someone forgot about Greeley ;)

see i like Denver, like Pueblo but absolutely hate Colorado Springs. lol

Only 6 million (or 5.5 according to Wikipedia)? I wonder if most of England (up to Lancaster on the west and Newcastle on the east, plus the north and south Wales coastal areas and the South Wales valleys, would be a "megaregion"? I guess the concept is hard to apply in a country where you can get a chain of local buses from the NE corner of the country (John O'Groats) to both the capital (London) and the SW corner (Land's End). The Front Range corridor looks long, I don't think it is consistently urban to the 200 metre standard (no gaps more than 200 m between urban land uses, except rivers, lakes and ponds).

So disappointing when someone making videos to make people smarter mix important characteristics of the information. Denver is not the metro area & the population of the metro is not the same as the city, yet that’s been conflated. Also, this is too freeway centric as you missed Boulder, which is at the Front Range & an important component of the regional economy, but not on the interstate

Maybe Las Cruces & El Paso could be considered a part of the Front Range?

Colorado Springs is a decently large city while staying refreshingly conservative.

Just had some friends move to CSprings. Glad to hear it was a good choice