I met with a colleague yesterday at Higher Grounds Coffee at the corner of Talisman Drive and Village Drive, situated between the City Market shopping center and a fairly dense residential area comprised of mostly condominiums, town homes and Wyndham Resort timeshares.
I often schedule meetings with friends and associates at Higher Grounds… partly for its atmosphere and its selection of beverages and pastries… and partly for its convenient central location near the most populated neighborhoods in Archuleta County.
The Pagosa Daily Post operates without a commercial office space, so our various local coffee shops provide fine, neutral spaces for friendly (and sometimes energetic) discussions about Pagosa Springs and its problems, its potential, and its politics.
I live in downtown Pagosa, and have lived in downtown for nearly 30 years, so Higher Grounds is less convenient for me, personally, than some of the downtown coffee shops.
But it’s more convenient for many of my friends and colleagues. And did I mention the pastries?
I’d estimate that I have coffee at Higher Grounds once a week, on average.
This morning, I’m thinking about the view out their large windows there that face due south, overlooking the patio and a stretch of public sidewalk. Beyond the sidewalk is Village Drive, and across the street, a grass-covered 1.5 acre parcel that’s remained vacant for at least the past 30 years.
But I’m thinking, this morning, about the sidewalk… between the street and the Higher Grounds patio. I’m thinking about how often, as I’m sipping coffee, I see people walking by, on that sidewalk, often led by a dog… or riding by on bicycles.
I’d have to guess that the Village Drive sidewalk is one of the most popular walking paths in Archuleta County — compared to the sidewalks in historical downtown Pagosa, which I observe on a daily basis as a downtown resident.
I’d have to guess that this little asphalt sidewalk, in front of Higher Grounds, is typically busier than the wide, Town-maintained, geothermally-heated sidewalks along the business block of Lewis Street, in the very heart of downtown.
I’ve always held the idea that our uptown business district — surrounded as it is by a suburban, automobile-centric development pattern — was not ‘pedestrian friendly’. Without really observing my community, and without really thinking about what has passed before my eyes, I have been discounting our uptown neighborhoods, as less enjoyable places to walk than downtown.
Which is not to say that walking is the primary mode of transportation in our uptown districts. Certainly, cars and trucks dominate the streets, just as they do in downtown Pagosa Springs.
But thinking about my 30 years living in downtown, and also thinking about the window at Higher Grounds, I’m have to guess that the only sidewalks in downtown that see the level of pedestrian traffic I’ve observed along Village Drive recently would be the 400 block of Main Street (aka Pagosa Street, aka Highway 160), the sidewalk along Hot Springs Boulevard (where our two main hot springs resorts are located), and the mile-long River Walk trail that follows the San Juan River through downtown.
When I hear our elected leaders at Town Council meetings promoting the idea of making Pagosa Springs more pedestrian-friendly, it’s obvious that they are talking about the downtown core — where 30 years of sporadic effort, and millions of tax dollars, have been applied to making the downtown as walkable as possible.
During the summer months, the downtown pedestrians seem to be primarily tourists, out for a stroll past the gift shops and second-hand stores that populate our downtown district, or perhaps returning their inner tubes to Pagosa Outside.
During the winter months, the number of downtown pedestrians drops off significantly. As would be expected.
Does the number drop off in the winter, along Village Drive, uptown? I can’t say. I spend most of my time downtown. I assume the pedestrians and cyclists along Village Drive must be a mix of tourists and locals, just like downtown. So maybe summer is busier?
With that said, a few maps can help explain my concerns about ‘Main Street’.
Here’s a map showing the Town of Pagosa Springs, overlaid with a white color.
The areas outside the municipal boundaries are within the jurisdiction of the Archuleta County government, and in some cases, of various homeowners associations.
The vast majority of our commercial businesses are located within the Town boundaries. The vast majority of our residents, however, live outside the Town boundaries.
The small minority of us who live within the Town boundaries are special, in at least one sense. We get to vote in Town elections.
We’re also special in another sense.
Here’s a map showing the eight municipal parks located within the historical downtown district.
Most downtown residents (downtown voters) live within easy walking distance of these parks. The green color indicates our eight existing Town parks.
The pink shape at south end of the map shows the proposed $15-million-dollar ‘South Yamaguchi Park’, which is still on the drawing board.
This next map shows the entire municipal boundaries, and the complete absence of municipal parks at the west end of town.
The pink color gives an indication of where 80% of the community lives.
There’s one more sense in which those of us living within the downtown are special. The Town government is currently engaged in creating a ‘Main Street’ program that will focus additional energy and money on the historical downtown core.
The same area where millions of dollars of investment has been made into public parks and walking trails.
We can’t seem to stop investing public money in making downtown the very best it can be.
While essentially ignoring the part of the community where most people live?