I appreciate your editorial (“
I also find the proposal objectionable because it taxes us just outside the city limits, but we can’t vote on it. The majority of new residents here are retirees buying homes outside the city limits. Thus, though we buy everything in the city, we can’t vote on taxes on what we buy.
I like the Durango area very much except for a few things. The major one is the anti-automobile attitude around here. If I live a couple of miles from the city limits, how do I go downtown on a bus when there are no park-and-ride lots? How do I pick up my granddaughter from her Montessori school at the Smiley building when there are no parking spaces?
I have researched Durango’s parking requirements and I don’t think the Smiley building is in compliance. I can’t be sure, but there is a problem there. They have a sign in their parking lot saying “Thank you for not driving.” If I don’t drive, there is no way for me to get there!
If it were not for 4WD and AWD vehicles and the introduction of natural gas for heating, Durango would still be a sleepy little town of about 1,000 people. Now, because of these things, it has a “market area” of maybe 40,000 people.
The city must be more friendly to automobile access. The average age of new residents here is expected to be 80! The new Durango-area resident will not ride a bicycle downtown.
Richard Ruth
Durango
