In the interest of livening things up, and hopefully not flare too many passions, here's my take of this West Slope vs. Front Range resentment you occaisionally see. I am a Front Ranger trying to understand this stuff.
A lot of Front Range people are there because of jobs. Since we kayak, we like the outdoors and we'd probably want to live in a neater place, but the jobs lock us down. Many of these jobs are a bit of pain and the cost of living is a bit high, but its generally an OK trade off. Yea, the density of people and the traffic is a bit much, but Colorado is a great place and you can be some place nice to enjoy the outdoors with a bit of effort. It's a free country so no problems. Yea, the Front Range soaks up some water, but the urban areas soak up less than the east slope farmers and the people would soak up the water whether they lived in Denver or Grand Junction.
The West Slope people like living away from masses of people and many have chosen to deliberately live away from urban areas. Perhaps they could make more money in an urban area, but the West Slope offers more quality of life. Some of these people can't stand the density of urban areas. Perhaps some of these people want a simpler life. The outdoors are important and they don't want them spoiled. They feel nervous when development encroaches on them because it threatens how they want to live. And, they don't want the urban areas to impact them very much. Tourists are a love them/hate them relationship since a lot of West Slope economy is based on them yet they can encroach on the way of life.
Front Rangers probably have more stress in their life and don't feel as close to their fellow man--rules should help organize things. West Slopers have a closer connection to their fellow man and think common sense and just being courteous will organize things fine.
A lot of Front Range people are there because of jobs. Since we kayak, we like the outdoors and we'd probably want to live in a neater place, but the jobs lock us down. Many of these jobs are a bit of pain and the cost of living is a bit high, but its generally an OK trade off. Yea, the density of people and the traffic is a bit much, but Colorado is a great place and you can be some place nice to enjoy the outdoors with a bit of effort. It's a free country so no problems. Yea, the Front Range soaks up some water, but the urban areas soak up less than the east slope farmers and the people would soak up the water whether they lived in Denver or Grand Junction.
The West Slope people like living away from masses of people and many have chosen to deliberately live away from urban areas. Perhaps they could make more money in an urban area, but the West Slope offers more quality of life. Some of these people can't stand the density of urban areas. Perhaps some of these people want a simpler life. The outdoors are important and they don't want them spoiled. They feel nervous when development encroaches on them because it threatens how they want to live. And, they don't want the urban areas to impact them very much. Tourists are a love them/hate them relationship since a lot of West Slope economy is based on them yet they can encroach on the way of life.
Front Rangers probably have more stress in their life and don't feel as close to their fellow man--rules should help organize things. West Slopers have a closer connection to their fellow man and think common sense and just being courteous will organize things fine.