Ear to the ground

“I’m calling from the Bay Area, you know just outside of Bayfield.”
– A novel interpretation of the greater eastern La Plata County

‘Outside’ looking in
Much of Durango already knows that Outside magazine recently proclaimed that “Life is Better Here.” However, reaction to the recent top tenning of the local burg is proving more interesting than the honor itself.

Durango was named the “Next Big Thing” in the October issue of the outdoor magazine.

“Think of it as a border town,” the magazine explains. “It has Southwest underpinnings – Mesa Verde National Park is only 47 miles to the west – but because it sits in the lush Animas River Valley, it serves as the geographic and cultural link between high desert and high country.”

The story goes on to take a few liberties, adding, “A thousand miles of mountain-biking trails surround the city (pop. 16,900), the largest wilderness area in Colorado is just to the north (500,000-acre Weminuche Wilderness), two ski resorts are an easy drive away, and the paddle-friendly Animas flows almost down Main Street. At night, four local craft breweries appease the nearly 4,000 students at Fort Lewis College.”

The Durango Area Tourism Office promptly issued a loud call of “Congratulations Durango!” However, opinions were decidedly mixed in cyberspace. On

Outside’s website, a poster going by “Nimby” wrote, “None of what they say is true. Durango is a cold, windy little place miles from anything convenient.

The people are crusty and chronically unemployed. I suggest you look somewhere else. Anywhere else, actually. Please.”

Joining the chorus, a poster going by “DRO” chimed in, “Ah , Nimby, you forgot to mention the rattlesnakes, strange and fatal viruses, scalding hot springs, venders selling defective bike tires.”

And “TownPoor” added a little dose of reality to “Life Is Better Here,” writing, “If this article showed the median salary no one would want to move here.”

These and other protectionist sentiments drew strong responses from the other side. One writer, going by the unusual handle of “Barry Dolan,” noted,

“The only thing wrong with Durango CO is all of the stuck up people who think it is exclusively for their own pleasure and would build a wall around it to keep everyone else out.”

In the end, “Go-DRO!” struck for the middle line. “Durango is a combination of what every commenter has said,” the post read. “It’s awesome, it’s expensive, it’s beautiful, it’s hard to make a living, it’s friendly, it’s growth-paranoid. All true. I like living here, although I am gainfully employed. If I weren’t, I might feel very differently.”