It seems to me, Utah is the new Colorado.

That is, a little like CO may of been like 40 years ago.

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Originally posted by airbubba:
born/raised in denver, graduated hs 1964. went in the army/helicopter pilot 69-71, drove a cab for 4 years. went to iran in 1976 for 4 years, planning on olympics in russia/1980, that us boycotted....left iran dec 1978 before khomeni came out of exile in paris jan 1979. flying in iran, germany, new york, boston, new hampshire, phoenix, closing out flying career after 11 years flying tours on maui.
my 60th reunioun is this year, small get together planned in sep 2024....i don't look forward to traffic/congestion but will see a lot of old friends.

Hope the reunion is really enjoyable for you.

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Originally posted by sourdough 44:
It seems to me, Utah is the new Colorado.

That is, a little like CO may of been like 40 years ago.

I don’t know about that. I made a few work related trips to the Wasatch Front and thought the traffic was pretty horrible there too, but city people must look at that sort of thing differently than I do. As the joke goes, “I’ve had my patience tested; I was negative.”

I read once that SLC fell below 50% LDS in the late 70s. I lived in rural NE Utah for most of 5 years, the Church (at least then) dominates life in rural areas, but the residents were nothing but wonderful to me. They were always trying to marry me off to some woman who was still unacceptably single.

Same exact thing where I live in TX. This has happened in all of our major metro areas. But from reading, Denver, Nashville, Boise, a lot of places, exploded. Driving anywhere here, is a nightmare now. Looking forward to when I can flee the state.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by TMats:

Hope the reunion is really enjoyable for you.

thanks, i'm looking forward to some catching since the 50th!!

Long story but there's a point.

So my lady and I went on a kayaking trip on Eklutna Lake here in Alaska today. Got surprised in the middle of the trip by a fast moving thunderstorm, had to land the kayaks and seek cover. I went into the water after landing my kayak, the bank gave way underneath my feet and I went ass first into the water off the embankment. I'm talking ass first into glacial water enema looking up at the thunderheads above. Spent an hour and a half underneath spruce boughs waiting for the storm to clear and paddle another hour to get back to the beach.

Land the boats, I unass myself from the kayak, my right hamstring cramps and won't straighten, I do a faceplate right into the mud. Stand up and all I could do was laugh, I’m looking like I just lost a 3 round bout of mud wresting with a stripper on Hollywood Boulevard on a Friday night. My lady is shivering uncontrollably, I’m exhausted, we’re both drenched and we’ve still got to haul the kayaks up the beach and the hill to the car.

We must have looked pathetic. A family that I will forever be thankful for invited us over to warm by their grill, offered us hot dogs, and most of all their 2 teenage boys offered to carry the kayaks for us. I paid them $20 when we got back to the car, probably some of the best spent money in my life. Thankful that I live in Alaska with other Alaskans. Warming my hands over that grill and having their boys carry the kayaks was an absolute Godsend. Generosity and kindness from strangers, it’s what Colorado was growing up.

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Generosity and kindness from strangers, it’s what Colorado was growing up.

I get angry at “Coloradans” for their driving habits, pretensions, lack of courtesy, and lack of self-awareness, but I’ve long known that there are no Coloradans anymore, at least not from FoCo to Castle Rock.

This seems to fit here.

Always hits me in the gut.

I lived in Colorado from 1972 to 2021 with a three-year break in the 80's in Oklahoma. The last 43 of those were in Park County. I well recall the "Don't Californicate Colorado" bumperstickers even back in the 70's

When I first got to ParkCo there was grass in the middle of the two-tracks on Forest Service land. That started changing with the arrival of ATVs and the growth of the Denver population. When we left, the two-tracks were worn down and were more like grooves or slot-car tracks where you didn't need to bother steering.

The locals began calling the weekends the "285 Boat and RV Show" and it got so bad that people were voluntarilly putting themselves on "house arrest" starting Friday through Sunday night. If you went anywhere it'd take forever to get back home.

I responded with lights and siren to a situation on a July 5th Sunday, 17 miles south of my residence and made it in under 12 minutes, running down the center line, mostly. The return trip took 2 hours-8 mph for 17 miles. that line stretched all the way to Jefferson County (almost 40 miles).

If any locals wanted to get out into the Nat'l Forest they were shit out of luck on the weekends-every dispursed campsite was taken and RVs were creating there own new ones past the carsonite "no vehicles beyond" signs. (I have tons of pictures of "campers behaving badly" from the extra-duty USFS patrol shifts I worked, if anyone is interested...)

Between the politics and the overcrowding we just plain had it and had to leave. If all I was going to be able to do was look at the Divide out the window, I can do that on a screensaver in Oklahoma and be a lot less frustrated.

At one point, a long time ago, I was interviewed by TV and said: "I know Coloradans are supposed to hate Texans, but I never met a Texan who ever sucked any water (our irrigation that they used to meet the population growth) from South Park or voted for Diane DeGette. I don't hate Texans, I hate Denverites." They didn't air that one.



atvs

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At one point, a long time ago, I was interviewed by TV and said: "I know Coloradans are supposed to hate Texans, but I never met a Texan who ever sucked any water (our irrigation that they used to meet the population growth) from South Park or voted for Diane DeGette. I don't hate Texans, I hate Denverites." They didn't air that one.

There’s an old saying that I heard 50 years ago in Colorado, “Water runs uphill to money.” There’s power in state government, then there’s Denver Water Board power.

Similarly, although Phoenix is downhill to Arizona’s high country (referring to the “uphill to money” quote) the Salt River Project seemingly has total control of water resources in Arizona. They could deny approval of an earthen tank for livestock water, because those few gallons wouldn’t continue its journey down to Phoenix’s reservoirs.

“Growth for growth’s sake is the ideology of the cancer cell”
- Edward Abbey

I had a guy tell me how the grass in July would be five foot tall in South Park during the 50's before Denver (and Thornton and CO Spgs...) started buying water rights.
It's not like that anymore. There's just a handful of ranches that still hold their rights, and those are subject to water calls because the senior rights downstream have priority.
One outfit I worked on had 1872 rights and still got shut down regularly. I counted on the tail water from the neighboring ranch but he sold his for multiple millions a few years ago.
In the 80's and even in the 90's it was common to see one ton trucks pulling stock trailers, but now it's just Subarus with bicycles on the roof or SUVs.
I'm grateful I was there when I was and able to see that world from between the ears of a horse.

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Originally posted by TMats:

There’s an old saying that I heard 50 years ago in Colorado, “Water runs uphill to money.” There’s power in state government, then there’s Denver Water Board power...

I grew up in upstate NY (Finger Lakes region) and later lived in Pueblo 1987-89. Water was never a topic (at least not that I heard) until I moved to southern CO, where the Arkansas River runs thru Pueblo.

I don't know how (insert big city anywhere in the southwest) can continue to grow when there is a limited supply of water from the Rockies.

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Originally posted by Sigmund:
I don't know how (insert big city anywhere in the southwest) can continue to grow when there is a limited supply of water from the Rockies.

Construction of Chimney Hollow reservoir has already started and Glade will be the next if approved.

Chimney Hollow Reservoir

Glade Reservoir

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Originally posted by Fly-Sig:
The country's population has doubled since we all were kids. Most everywhere is overrun these days.

Developers are a scourge around here, especially on the east side of the mountains from Salt Lake City. They don't live in the areas where they build, so they don't care about the consequences. The local governments are seduced by more tax revenues to play with, as well as personal gifts from the builders.

All the humans need to live somewhere. The traffic is heavy and aggressive, and road noise permeates town. Congestion in what used to be "nature" is inescapable these days.

Reading through this thread... I had the same thoughts. There are just a lot more people than when we were kids.

In 2023, the global population reached about eight billion people. This is double what the population was just 48 years previously, in 1975, when it reached four billion people.

Sustainable? I don't know... but I certainly wouldn't want it to double again in the next 48 years.

True, population is growing, and people are migrating.

As a kid of 12 or 13 years old I recommend to Colorado Governor Love that we should install border checkpoints on I70 and I25 coming into CO. Too many people moving in; even at that day and age.

I got this idea from CA having the fruit and vegetable checkpoints coming into CA.

Fast forward to today and look what we have.

Governor Polis who wants to Californicate Colorado and is doing EVERYTHING he can to one up Newsome.

It's a sad day in the Rockies.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:

quote:

Generosity and kindness from strangers, it’s what Colorado was growing up.

I get angry at “Coloradans” for their driving habits, pretensions, lack of courtesy, and lack of self-awareness, but I’ve long known that there are no Coloradans anymore, at least not from FoCo to Castle Rock.

Born and raised, elbows OUT these days... Sorry.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:

I get angry at “Coloradans” for their driving habits, pretensions, lack of courtesy, and lack of self-awareness, but I’ve long known that there are no Coloradans anymore, at least not from FoCo to Castle Rock.

When I moved to Utah 26 years ago, drivers in the Salt Lake area were friendly. If you used your turn signal to change lanes or merge, people would actively make room for you. Nowadays they actively block you out.