Life After the Great Recession

“Local news for (fill in  a town on your bucket list, or in your itinerary) continually updated from thousands of sources on the web.” 

Winter Fun for the Whole Family
For couples and parents, you might find the following quote from city-data a deal breaker:

 

An excerpt from Book Three in “The Knowledge Path Series” dedicated to helping you find the place of your dreams.

5-Year Time Frames — 2003 – 2008

Continuing with favorite Highlights and Headlines for the next five years.

5-Year Time Frames 2009 – 2014

Later in 2009 as the impact of the Great Recession begins to sink in …

Pagosa Springs Blue Grass Festival

Pagosa Springs Locals Resist Arts Cuts

No music festivals, no dance, no theater, no art galleries, no children’s programs, no singing, no film festivals, no sculpture, no debates in the newspaper about differing …

 

Winter 2009 – 2010

While other Colorado towns (Vail) lined up for economic stimulus money…

Winter Snow Scenes

Pierre Mion taught his popular Winter Watercolor Workshop featuring Pagosa area snow scenes, one of which was featured on the December page of the 2009 Pagosa Country Calendar. 

Winter 2013 – 2014

Overlooked Family Bargains in Colorado, Montana and Wyoming –

Wolf Creek,  Pagosa Springs, Colorado, most snow  in Colorado

Pagosa Springs

$58 adult lift tickets, no lift lines. great food at the ski lodge. Great accommodations. Lots to do besides great skiing & great snowboarding.  Hike, cross-country ski, snow shoe. horseback ride, sleigh ride, enjoy Pagosa Hot Springs, right downtown Pagosa. indoor heated olympic pool.  Great restaurants, tequila, Bear Creek, JT’s, Chatos. Awesome grocery – City Market.  miss ski season by 5 months for secret spot fly fishing, ride the Cumbres Toltec narrow gauge railroad, Red Ryder Rodeo every thursday night. 

For regional coverage we’ve relied on Topix.com in the past.

“Local news for (fill in  a town on your bucket list, or in your itinerary) continually updated from thousands of sources on the web.” 

To test it out, search for your current hometown.

Notice and how current and complete the local items in the news are in your search results.

We set up RSS feeds for Topix towns, but soon discovered a major problem.

  • Like almost every other news outlet, local online papers rely on world and state news to fill their editions (that weren’t relevant).
  • AND, the vast majority of local stories centered on crime.

So we set up a variety of filters to screen out “jail,” “robbery,”” burglary,” and all the variations of those terms.

As a back up, you might want to try The Paperboy.com which claims they’ve got lists of 12,064 Online Newspapers & ePapers.

Topix News for Whitefish, Montana

News feeds for Whitefish, Montana:

http://www.topix.com/city/-mt

http://www.pilot.com/ for the  Pilot News – set up an RSS feed

Topix News for Pagosa Springs, Colorado

For Pagosa Springs, Colorado:

http://www.topix.com/city/pagosa-springs-co

http://www.pagosasun.com/ Pagosa Springs Sun

And, finally if you’re serious about Pagosa Springs (or Whitefish so far), or about any other town on your growing bucket list, you’ll want to investigate the most comprehensive resource we’ve found – city-data.com.

In Depth Data for Cities and Towns Across the U.S.

Their detailed, statistical data often provide more information than you know what to do with.

They aggregate public records open and available to the public at large and periodically update their information based on the records that these agencies release.

They also encourage user-generated content.

Here’s the link for Pagosa Springs:

http://www.city-data.com/city/Pagosa-Springs-Colorado.html.

Updated Stats for Local Registered Sex Offenders

For couples and parents, you might find the following quote from city-data a deal breaker:

Winter Fun for the Whole Family

According to our research of Colorado and other state lists there were 24 registered sex offenders living in Pagosa Springs, Colorado as of April 20, 2015.

The ratio of number of residents in Pagosa Springs to the number of sex offenders is 71 to 1.

 

Steps:

25) Compare what “life” was like in those communities before the Great Recession, how resilient each was during the economic downturn, and to what degree did each bounce back after with any “economic hangover.”

30) Review headlines and relevant news as far back as you can find online to surface each community’s unique pulse and identify information necessary to make your decision. Is there a “ticking time bomb” issue you may uncover that eliminates the resort from your bucket list? Search on topix.com.

Seasons

The Ute Indians called the hot springs “Pah gosah.” Pagosa Springs is a small town in southwest Colorado with the largest natural and deepest hot mineral spring in the world known as “The Great Pagosa Hot Springs”.

Pagosa Springs
Cloud-Seeding, Dan Fogelberg and 24 Sex Offenders – What a little digging will reveal.

 

An excerpt from Book Three in “The Knowledge Path Series” dedicated to helping you find the place of your dreams.

Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Refreshingly Authentic

Where the Clues finally make Sense

Pagosa Springs continues to grow as an art community. The Pagosa Springs area is home to a variety of art galleries, live theatres, museums, and cultural activities. You can explore ancient civilizations, our Western heritage and deep history, and amazing artisans throughout the year. 

 

5-Year Time Frames — 2003 – 2008

Skimming Pagosa Springs’ back story helps reveal its attraction, especially before and during the Great Recession.

Highlights and Headlines. 

A sample of some of my favorites:

Fall of 2006

From the New York Times

Pro peace forces win battle in Colorado town – Denver – Peace is fighting back in Pagosa Springs 

Spring of 2007 

Drinking Liberally 200th Chapter

Drinking Liberally Anniversary

One of the progressive movement’s most innovative social organizations has reached a huge milestone: With the arrival of Pagosa Springs, Colorado, the Drinking Liberally map has hit 200 chapters.

 

Summer of 2007

Four Corners Folk Festival

The Infamous Stringdusters, fresh off their whirlwind 6 week US tour, will have a new face when they hit the stage on September 1 at the Four Corners Folk Festival in Pagosa Springs, CO.

Now we know …

The Great Pagosa Hot Springs

Summer in Pagosa Springs

The Ute Indians called the hot springs “Pah gosah” Pagosa Springs is a small town in southwest Colorado with the largest natural and deepest hot mineral spring in the world known as “The Great Pagosa Hot Springs”.

 

Fall of 2007

If it’s fall, then it’s Football Season, and …

Pagosa Springs Pirates Football Team

In Friday’s non-league game, the Pagosa Springs Pirates football team got by the host Kirtland Central Broncos , by a score of 20-14.

BootJack Ranch Listed for $80 million

Ranch North of Pagosa Springs, Colorado

BootJack Ranch listed for $80 million. Brown, a developer who owns a significant chunk of real estate in the old downtown area of Pagosa Springs, is planning to sell a vast ranch where he lives northeast of town.

 

Antero Reservoir Trout Limit –

The Colorado Wildlife Commission has affirmed a two-trout bag and possession limit for Antero Reservoir for the near future. 

And, some bad news … depending on how you look at it.

New Reservoir Water Right Denied –

“We think the Supreme Court got it right” The state Supreme Court has denied a large water right for a new reservoir above Pagosa Springs. 

Enrollment Decline Leads to Budget Cut –

Enrollment in Pagosa Springs schools dropped almost 100 students this fall, necessitating a $275,000 budget cut.

Winter of 2007 – 2008

You knew this headline couldn’t be far behind, right?

Property Tax for Education Lawsuit

“This particular issue is going to cause a tremendous increase in property taxes for the schools here in Archuleta County” Mesa County commissioners and several citizens sued the state government Thursday over a law passed last spring…

And, what comes with ice and snow?

Rescued Elk from Iced Over Pond

Elk in Winter

We were all pretty wiped out by that time” In one of the most unusual emergency operations in Colorado this year, three cow elk that fell through the ice of a private pond south of Pagosa Springs were rescued by Division of Wildlife officers, a local …

 

Most Snow Fall – Wolf Creek and Silverton Mountain

Wolf Creek and Silverton Mountain were the big winners, reporting 40 inches in the 48 hours ending Sunday (Jan. 6) afternoon, but other areas also tallied impressive totals: 26 inches at Telluride, 29 inches at Purgatory, 36 inches at Crested Butte, and …

Spring of 2008

And, then after that comes …

Winter Road Closure

Landslide Watch Northeast of Pagosa Springs –

“It’s an emergency because it continues to move, and we don’t know when or where it will stop, and we don’t really know what we’ll have to do when it does stop” Officials from Archuleta County and the U.S. Forest Service are watching a landslide northeast of Pagosa Springs that has already destroyed a Forest Service road and could threaten the east fork of the San Juan …

 

Summer of 2008 

Sad news for fans of Dan Fogelberg …

Dan Fogelberg in Great Outdoors

Dan Fogelberg’s $15,000,000 Ski Retreat –

The Pagosa Springs, Col. ski retreat of the late singer Dan Fogelberg, who died in December of advanced prostate cancer, reportedly is under contract after having been on the market for $15,000,000.

 

 

Wolf Creek Seeing Red

Colorado’s Wolf Creek Ski Area

The U.S. Forest Service has begun a new environmental assessment of Texas billionaire Red McCombs’ proposed Wolf Creek development that would add housing and businesses to serve as many as 10,000 people adjacent to Colorado’s Wolf Creek Ski Area.

Winter 2008 – 2009

Say, what!?

Cloud-Seeding Program

How Cloud-Seeding Works

“Last week, the San Juan Water Conservancy District Board of Directors adopted budgets and joined a cloud-seeding program, but failed to approve a resolution suspending the …

Some us vs. them … or visa versa?

Earthjustice, San Juan Citizen’s Alliance, Colorado Environmental Coalition, Colorado Wild, Oil and Gas Accountability Project and the Wilderness Society –

Last year Earthjustice filed the suit on behalf of San Juan Citizen’s Alliance, Colorado Environmental Coalition, Colorado Wild, Oil and Gas Accountability Project and the Wilderness Society. It challenges the 2007 San Juan Public Lands Center authorization for 27 new coal bed methane gas wells and 11 miles of new roads in the HD Mountains roadless area on either side of the Archuleta/La Plata county line.

USFS Halts Analysis Of Colorado’s Village At Wolf Creek –

USFS halts analysis of Colorado’s Village at Wolf Creek The developers of the Village at Wolf Creek, a development originally proposed to build a resort on …

And, during the Great Recession and later. More to follow …

5-Year Time Frames 2009 – 2014

Steps:

25) Compare what “life” was like in those communities before the Great Recession, how resilient each was during the economic downturn, and to what degree did each bounce back after with any “economic hangover.”

30) Review headlines and relevant news as far back as you can find online to surface each community’s unique pulse and identify information necessary to make your decision. Is there a “ticking time bomb” issue you may uncover that eliminates the resort from your bucket list? Search on topix.com.