Let me offer similar scenarios to put some flesh on the arguments against fixing downtown Durango.

While living in Westport, Connecticut, in the 1990s, our village with colonial roots was discovered by tourists, mostly from New York City and New Jersey. Westport was also the TV home for “I Love Lucy.” As enamored tourists became residents, the new residents with saddlebags full of money to pay cash for real estate wanted downtown Westport remodeled to more resemble NYC’s Fifth Avenue. Lose the charm, spoil the heritage.

It happened. Longstanding mom-and-pop shops on Main Street were evicted to make room for boutiques and overpriced restaurants. Westport is now home to the rich and super-rich. (Did I leave anyone out?)

Next, Laguna Beach, California, known as one of Southern California’s last villages for the arts, with its plein air festivals, and the Festival of the Arts, fell to the same investor-type groups seeking to turn downtown Laguna Beach into Rodeo Drive of Orange County. Again, family-owned shops, restaurants, coffee shops and art galleries were torn down to make way for rows of four- to five-star hotels and restaurants. Like Westport, Laguna Beach became too expensive for the local workforce to live – let alone buy a home.

The upshot is, there is no rationale for converting historic downtown Durango into a replica of Miami Beach or Palm Springs, where there is little history.

Note to City Council: Just because you think you can doesn’t mean you should.

David Ohman

Durango