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Betty Leipold didn't ask to be the advocate against change in Steamboat Springs. She shuns that label, in fact.

She's not an activist, doesn't look for fights and realizes that she's probably the last person who should carry the banner for old-fashioned Steamboat.

Then why does the 81-year-old resident keep such a close eye on City Council and pepper the newspaper with handwritten letters voicing her opinions and concerns?

"I just get frustrated," Leipold said.

Leipold said Steamboat Springs isn't hers to protect. She first moved here 30 years ago and says she still feels like a newcomer. She was drawn to the Yampa Valley from Baltimore first for the skiing, and then for its people.

She said she's always loved the city's personality. She worked several different jobs after settling in Steamboat, her favorites always were the ones that allowed her to meet and greet her neighbors.

Her love of the city goes deeper than the people, however.

"All the buildings that are gone now, of course they were old, but they had character," she said. "All these new houses they are building, they all look alike. If you go in them, there's no personality."

She's afraid there will be condo complexes so tall, they'll obscure her view of Howelsen Hill. She's afraid they'll knock down more age-old buildings along Lincoln Avenue and put up new structures that don't fit in. She's afraid they'll change the town again and again, chasing ever-higher profits until the Steamboat she stumbled upon, the Steamboat she fell in love with, is nothing but a memory.

That's why Leipold writes letters. It's why she follows the decision-making of city officials and trades rumors with her neighbors. And it's why sometimes she just gets frustrated.