Durango is Still Special. Same As It Ever Was.....

While it can be argued that Durango has flourished and prospered into the place it is today for any number of reasons, the importance of the Railroad to the local economy simply cannot be overstated.
If you took the railroad out of Durango, it would merely be similar to other places in Colorado which think so highly of themselves as @#$%& arrived from elsewhere and took over. But they have a different problem in Durango. The Railroad still props up the economy and makes it the special town it is.
I'm sure the D&S will do everything it can to accomodate the annual bickerfest broght on by those who think that now that they have arrived its time to lock the place down. I'm from Boulder, I grew up with this silliness.
This nonsense goes on every year and will continue in the future. But the bottom line is that the railroad is way more important to the economy than the whiners and elitists who continue to bring it up. All they do is pay taxes. Big deal. They are expendable, indeed. There are many others who are willing to come in and replace them and the politicians and buisiness community know it. The railroad has already done way more than many would have thought possible to reduce the noise and smoke it produces. Anyone who remembers the old days would agree.
The railroad will be an attentive and sympathetic partner in the community, and continue to do everything they can to be good neighbors to the newbies.
Mountains, academia, bike trails, environmentalists, and expensive houses and the types who inhabit them are nothing special in Colorado. Durango is. And its still because of the Railroad, same as it ever was.