Todd Nelson: Locals apathetic
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Remember that old anti-litter commercial? The one where the noble Native American looks out on a trash-strewn landscape with a lone tear in his eye. That's how I feel driving down Rabbit Ears looking at the condo-clogged catastrophe that is the new Steamboat, or should I call it Vail II.
When I moved to Fort Collins six years ago, after seven beautiful years in the 'Boat, I knew someday I would return to make a life in the town I loved. Little did I know that town would be destroyed.
I don't blame the developers and real estate agents. These people circle over any piece of undeveloped land, seeing nothing but money. This is their nature.
No, I blame you locals. You powder-skiing, river-rafting, mountain-biking locals who were just too busy enjoying this paradise to protect it. Quick to go to a happy hour at Slopeside but loathe to attend a city council meeting.
This is no longer a real town with real people, it's just another overdeveloped eyesore. A monument not to the greed of developers and second-home owners, but to the apathy of the locals who claimed to love it. Steamboat Springs is dead.
Todd Nelson
Fort Collins
Comments
steamvent 5 years, 11 months ago
Todd ... If you dislike Steamboat so much, then go back to the Front Range and stay there! There are those of us who live here full time and positively contribute what we can to inevitable change that stresses us all and there are the quitters who simply leave to be absorbed by the overpopulated water sucking metro scene. Any day in Steamboat beats the best day in Ft. Collins.
another_local 5 years, 11 months ago
Go away Todd. The changes you mention in the 'Boat were in place well before you arrived here let along when you left. Perhaps you were too dazed or inexperienced to see them.
definition_of_local_over10yrs 5 years, 11 months ago
Little too much kool aid this morning Todd. There are people in Ft. Collins just like you, and they were pissed when you moved into their town. However, just like Steamboats buyers of today, you had a right to move wherever you pleased.
There is no town that survives without growth, there is no holding period. We are either moving forward or backward, and I, for one, am grateful for the former.
another_local 5 years, 11 months ago
Dang I need to remember to review for spelling etc before hitting the post button. I meant "alone" not "along".
All those new condos make good camo to hide in, but the locals are still here, Todd. Our kids are in the schools, we go to work, we get out and have a good time.
What short-timer 20 somethings look for in a town (7 years is short time) is not the same as what is looked for a few years later when "making a life". The qualities that make this a great place to live are very much still present.
Matthew Stoddard 5 years, 11 months ago
The trash in Steamboat can't be all bad, right? I mean, Todd Nelson left. D'oh! Okay, that was bad, but made me giggle, at least.
BTW- The "native american" in the commercial was Iron Eyes Cody, and he was Sicillian but claimed to be of Cherokee and Cree descent.
Iron Eyes Cody - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
another_local 5 years, 11 months ago
Hash, I can't agree with you on the snowboarders. The kids visiting with families today and for the last 20 years are just now beginning to come back as paying customer adults. This trend will accelerate over the next two decades. The problem is not what equipment the customer rides.
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