Each week we highlight some of the most insightful, passionate and witty comments shared on Facebook in response to stories in The Durango Herald.
This week, readers weighed in on the removal of 10 parking spots on East Third Avenue, Durango’s ranking as Colorado’s No. 1 most loved destination and problems at Purple Cliffs.
We enjoy readers’ input and reactions to local stories: People can weigh in on our Facebook page, at the bottom of local news stories at www.durangoherald.com and by writing a letter to the editor.
Here are a few comments that stood out this week:
“It’s quite true that the sight lines are awful for cars crossing 3rd Ave and other places. Delivery trucks are and will continue to view the red zones as the perfect place to stop for a drop-off and they are the hardest of all to see through or around; this proposal does nothing to stop that practice. The proposal will garner the support of the noisy minority anti-car group, of course. Why is the City Council deaf to parking needs? What can we do to make it politically safe – or obligatory – for the City Council to prioritize parking?” – Robert Evans
“I like the proposal, but do feel bad for the 3rd Ave residents without parking. What about giving each house without parking a reserved spot? Or one per block? At least that is 10 minute unloading parking so they can bring in groceries etc.” – Matt Kenna
“The entire downtown area needs a thorough traffic safety review, including, but definitely not limited to, the College and Main, College and East 2nd Ave, and 160 and Roosa intersections. And it is probably time for Durango to stop relying on overly clever and overly intellectual traffic engineers who have probably never driven a car, much less visited Durango, for traffic planning. Seriously, overhead lane indicators that don’t line up with the lanes they indicate and left turn lanes that don’t align with the street on the left, what would one think would happen? Then again, there are Durango’s finest, who sit daily, watch cars blast through red arrows and red lights and cross-walks on Main, nearly running over pedestrians, and do absolutely nothing, nothing. I guess that is because Durango only really cares about bike safety and tourists; if locals have issues or get injured, who cares (as long as the injured locals already paid their taxes)?” – Laurence Hutt
“We love tourism! No parking anywhere, congested roads, menial seasonal low paying jobs, inflated food and grocery prices, camping with 1,000 others around you. Torn up mountain roads and trails, hour wait to eat out anywhere. Oh but ya they support our town. Whatever. The city only cares about tourism, they care less about working residents here and have proven it time and time again by ignoring the requests of residents.” – Josh Cool
“Durango was the most loved tourism destination in Colorado in 2021, and it is being loved to death. Too much is not enough for Rachel Welsh, spokeswoman for Visit Durango. It seems like anything worth doing is worth overdoing. She should take some of their budget and help deal with the homeless ‘tourists’ plaguing our community.” – Larry Zauberis
“Dog bites? Shots fired? These are all issues people with houses have too. Of course the folks at Purple Cliffs deserve safety to the highest degree possible, but pretending it’s entirely about their housing situation is stigmatizing and harmful. They are more heavily policed and more criminalized than people with houses, by virtue of lacking houses. People with houses generally have better access to the services that might help avoid these issues, but even when they do arise, the community doesn’t tend to respond with such vile hatred.” – Natán Rebelde
“I don’t see why there is a designated outdoor homeless camp at all, managed or not. The city and county should provide low cost indoor housing and require that occupants actively seek work, which is easy to find here, and then be required to reimburse the governments a percent of their income. Those who don’t agree should be made to move on. Santa Rita park was once a homeless camp of sorts, and now this eyesore is gone. Accommodations could be partially found in the Best Western motel the City is in the process of buying and perhaps other sources.” – Richard Ruth