Sacrificed?

Sorry, man.
This kind of stuff doesn't evoke much sympathy from me.
History is a moving target. You can't just freeze in time something you found quaint or beautiful twenty or a hundred years ago. The guy who wrote that piece would have been horrified if he could go back in time to see the various effects "greed" has had on Colorado over the years. Central City/Blackhawk is a perfect example of this. What in Hell does this guy think the quaint ruins he was so fond of came from?
Hell, it was probably a blessing for a lot of people that the place burned down so they have no idea today of the sprawling, bawdy, criminal and sinful places these once were. Only a few fortunes were ever made up there. These places were always hard and unforgiving to little people seeking instant wealth, and they still are today.
Over the years, far more money has been "mined" out of pockets of those who can ill afford it than out of them thar hills. Still true today.
Sure, I hate to see all these wonderful old sites trashed, but what hasn't been? How about Aspen? Telluride? Boulder? Louisville?
Coker and I have always laughed about the ditzy girl who came into our store in Boulder one time and referred to one of her favorite old places in Boulder as "The Old Good Earth Building", whose 2nd floor disco had recently closed. To anyone who had lived in Boulder any time at all, it had always been known as "The old Citizen's National Bank Building". Yeah man, now those were the days. I wonder what it is known as the "Old..." today?
There was once a time when REAL old-timers felt the same way when mining, and gambling, and yes, railroads, came to the State in the first place.
For me, one of the greatest tragedies was the recently discussed construction of McDonald's in Durango. 18 years earlier, I'm sure someone else thought the biggest tragedy in history was the destruction of the old sleazy buildings that stood where the parking lot behind today's "Palmer House" is located so they could have a parking lot for tourists.
Where do you draw the line? I liked Boulder a lot more when it was a college town of 25,000 people. For the last thirty years, newcomers have tried to keep anyone else from trashing what they already trashed. Now, expensive homes and shopping malls are being built over Coal Mining Tunnels! What a joke! It's the same fight. Good luck if you think you can win it.
Enjoy what we have today, people. It's only for today we have it.