As a recent visitor to your beautiful area, I was struck by the lack of planning in the local area. I had come to find long term rentals and failed to do so. I tried the three property management sites with very little luck. Whatever did become available was taken extremely quickly.
I tried placing an add in the local newspaper and got one reply. After three months, I just gave up.
My thoughts are, they don’t want their area to grow, like Durango, so they don’t seem to want to plan for any growth. You have a very few number of restaurants, no brand name hotels, which is totally amazing. You have a few mom and pop hotels, motels, but really nothing else. I asked in Cortez why that was and they replied the local government makes it very difficult for the larger chains. Why, I have zero clue.
As far as housing, wouldn’t some controlled growth be desired? The local economy could use the increased revenue to repair their roads? You can’t deny growth. It will happen whether you plan for it accordingly or not. Seems like the community cares only about million dollar developments, and homes, and cabins.
So after 3 months of diligently trying I have moved on to other communities. Not Durango either, who did zero planning over the years and it shows. You still have an opportunity to control your growth reasonably with planning.
Jim Walters
Phoenix, AZ