TWO COLORADOS
Front Range and everywhere else
Re: “In Colorado, living outside Front Range means being left behind,” May 14 Ryan Heckman column.
Ryan Heckman’s column is spot on. I’ve lived on thewestern Slope for all but five years of my life. Many of the struggles Heckman writes about from his growing up in Granby exist here on thewestern Slope. We are always the last area of the state to recover from recessions and economic effects. I am blessed to have a good job that I enjoy. Many are not. There are skilled, hard-working and intelligent folks here. We need steady employment for them. We have an excellent university in Grand Junction and some forward-thinking individuals in our communities, but we need a lot more. A huge percentage of our graduates leave thewestern Slope to places like the Front Range. This is why there is only half the percentage of folks with college degrees here as on the Front Range. We need to continue to ask our Colorado public servants to recognize this fact and put more effort into supporting our local community colleges and Coloradomesa University and start turning these numbers around. Steve Foster, Grand Junction
Ryan Heckman points to the fact that in Colorado, if you don’t live on the Front Range, you are being left behind. I agree with his assessment but must also add that this is true not only of Colorado, but virtually every state in our country.
Common sense will tell you that if you live in a small, rural town in any state, you are not going to have the same opportunities as if you live in a larger city. You have two choices. Stay where you are or move to a larger city if you want to have access to more opportunities.
I come from a small town inwisconsin. By 14, I knew that if I wanted to make anything of myself and enjoy a bigger life I had to get an education and relocate. There was no money in my family for college, so I devised a plan and made it happen, knowing that was the only way.
I feel for people in areas where jobs have been eliminated, factories shut down and businesses closed. But those are facts of life and that will never change. You must step up and move towards the change. Ellen Haverl, Denver
Ryan Heckman is correct in saying that Colorado citizens in areas other than the Front Range are being left behind and that there is untapped potential there. He is correct that we are a two-tier state. If you are not on Interstate 25, you are left behind.
But he forgets one thing— the metro area knows where thewestern Slope is because they will need our water to grow. It is the simple truth. Scott Fasken, Palisade