Three boxes arrived on the porch yesterday, courtesy of FEDEX. Not an unusual thing; my family orders regularly from various online sources. In fact, about the only purchases we typically make here in Pagosa Springs are food items — from the grocery stores, or take-out from restaurants. For other items, such as clothing, shoes, art supplies, electronics, the vast selection available online far outstrips what local retailers can offer.
Even the selection of used and recycled items is pretty amazing, online.
But the selection of locally-sourced second-hand items has nevertheless grown noticeably here in Pagosa Springs over the past 10 years. We have no fewer than seven retailers, within our modest downtown commercial area, who are selling recycled goods. Some call themselves “thrift stores,” while others claim to be “antique stores.” One could cynically claim that “second-hand goods” are the main industry in Pagosa Springs.
That’s particularly true if you include “real estate” as part of the “second-hand industry”. We’ve seen only a few new homes built in Archuleta County over the past couple of years, and hardly any new commercial buildings. Archuleta County Building Department documents suggest that we will see about 11 new homes built in the unincorporated county this year, 2020, and zero commercial structures.
We don’t have online access to 2020 data yet on the Town of Pagosa Springs website, but last year there were 21 building permits pulled for new residential homes, and two permits for new commercial buildings.
These numbers are a far cry from the building boom that we saw in the late 1990s, when the community was adding 400-500 new homes each year.
However, if you are looking for a commercial business — second-hand — we have a selection available. I mentioned the Liberty Theatre earlier this week; the real estate there can be had for less than $500,000.
But that’s only one of many commercial possibilities. Local real estate websites are currently listing about two dozen commercial businesses or properties for sale. Here’s a screen shot from Jim Smith Realty (one of our Daily Post advertisers) showing the highest priced listing — a marijuana business at the east end of downtown Pagosa. The $4 million price tag includes a second property, out in the county, where the actual growing operation is located.
Meanwhile, the same web search lists about 674 properties for sale, of which 153 are residential properties. “Recycled” residential properties. (471 listings are for ‘Lots/Land/Acreage, and 26 are “Farms/Ranches”.)
I have nothing against recycling, per se. And I believe most Americans would be completely comfortable buying and living in a second-hand house. (My own house had half a dozen previous owners.)
Yesterday, in Part Seven, we discussed the “Pagosa Springs/Archuleta County COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force”… a group of local community leaders who met weekly through a virtual meeting platform for about two months from March to June, and who published a ‘Recovery Plan’ on July 10. You can download that report here.
We shared, yesterday, the main recommendations from that report:
Mid and Longer Term:
- Continue to explore ways to further broadband expansion and development. Economic growth and recovery is integral to having a resilient local economy. In order to support he businesses that are here now, encouraging teleworking and distance learning, and encourage businesses to relocate to the area, more robust, reliant and competitively priced broadband is required. This is not a new goal of the community, and has seen recent investment from Town and County, but more needs to be done in this area.
- Use data to analyze trends for decision making purposes. There are a lot of questions that arose from the group that would be helpful to answer. For example, what is the true impact of second home owners on the local economy? How much do online sales account for sales tax revenues? Will rural areas become the next “hot spots” for people wanting to relocate from cities? What sectors were most impacted in 2020? What is the long term job loss and personal income loss from the pandemic and how long will it last? What impact did slow tourism in March-May have on local spending and revenues?…
- Hire Economic Recovery Coordinator and Task them with Leading Implementation of Priorities. A grant opportunity is available to allow the CDC to hire a Coordinator through Region 9. As capacity to move new projects forward is not available through the CDC, this additional staffing will help with implementation of this Task Force’s recommendations (plus others from CDC and partners).
- Continue focus on economic diversification.Tourism has been a driving economic force in the community for many years. Growing our own primary businesses and helping them to expand locally is a proven economic growth strategy. This is a key area of focus, along with recruiting other diverse employers to the area.
I hope our Daily Post readers will forgive me for beating what might well be a dead horse.
But as I read through the 5-page report from 21 task force members, I search in vain for the word “housing.” In a community where developers are apparently constructing fewer than 35 new homes this year, and where the median asking price for a residential home on the market is (according to Zillow) $449,000…
…and we note that “median” means that half the homes are priced higher than $449,000…
Where is our Recovery Plan?