Josh:
I don't know how in-depth you're planning to get with your paper, but there's a good (but fairly obscure) book called "Quest for the Golden Circle" by Gomez that describes some of the issues surrounding development in the Four Corners area in general. Durango is one of the cities that is looked at in more detail, and Gomez talks about the transition from a resource-based economy to a tourism-based economy. There's also some very interesting discussions of the role uranium played in getting better highways into the area.
Andy