A couple years ago, Grand Junction's economy was still booming, housing was in short supply and local retailers had trouble filling jobs because the oil and gas companies paid better for low-skilled workers.
Some people thought that the energy economy was going to sustain western Colorado and Grand Junction would continue to outperform the state and national economies. After all, gas was around $4 a gallon and it wasn't going back.
Locals who lived through the last boom and bust in the earlier 1980s, or the ones before that, weren't quite so optimistic.
And now the recession and the tail end of the recession is snapping around like a dead alligator's tail. It still has plenty of power to hurt. Some of the impacts are familiar to other parts of the country, but others have a local flavor.
Some recent notes:
Grand Junction lost a greater
percentage of employees than any other metropolitan area in the United
States between November 2008 and November 2009, according to the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. And once hot real estate sales plunged to their worst levels in 20 years.
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Waste mercury is going to Texas instead of my backyard. Damn, more jobs lost because of those damn environmental regs in Colorado!
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Tax revenues are down because gas prices are down, along with consumer spending.
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State budget cuts closed a skilled nursing unit in town that served severely disabled adults. Without the special unit, residents had to find new homes with non-profit agencies that run group homes in the community.
Surprise — some current residents think the group homes don't fit their neighborhood.
And another subdivision is changing it protections for homeowners who built there before the developer ran into trouble.
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Climate change and a stagnant economy are tough on animals, too, horses present special difficulties.
“Abandoned horses and livestock issues are somewhat new,” Dr. Anderson said. “It is a new thing causing some drains on the budgets. Large-scale impounds are going to be drains on the community.”
