Rocky Mountain Hi

©2013 Text and Photos by LeeZard

Friday July 19 – Rawlins, WY to Superior, CO

I must drive Interstate-80 east for almost 100 miles to Laramie before I can get off the freeway and turn south on U.S. 287 toward Colorado. Before leaving Wyoming, I see small oil operations and huge wind farms, reminders of the state’s economic underpinnings.

Crossing the Colorado state line almost magically changes the scenery from the wide-open range to the beginnings of a more mountainous terrain. First small, then larger rock outcroppings appear on either side of the two-lane highway and soon the front range of The Rocky Mountains floats on the western horizon.

I always feel at home in Colorado. I love the mountains and the lifestyle. I’ve almost moved here twice. I’m headed to Superior, near Boulder, to visit my nephew, his wife and their two sons. Of course, I will interview in several different, diverse communities.

Frankly, I must stay in the Denver area for at least a week. I’ve been on the road a lot early in my journey and gas prices are killing me. I’ve driven more than 1,500 miles since leaving the Seattle area eight days ago. That’s about 83 gallons of gas at an average price of $3.70 for a total of $308.33. I’m not complaining; it is what it is and it’s worth every penny. I am having the time of my life but I am also on a tight budget.

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Saturday July 20 – Louisville, CO

Louisville, CO is a 12-minute drive from my nephew’s home in Superior. I’m here because in 2011 Money Magazine named Louisville the most livable city (under 30,000 population) in America. According to Money:

"Top 100 rank: 1
Population: 18,400
Unemployment: 6.3%
This sunny, lively mountain town is safe (crime rates are among the lowest in Colorado) and easy to navigate. Lots of good jobs in tech, telecom, aerospace, clean energy, and health care can be found right in Louisville, and more are on their way. And there’s world-class mountain biking, hiking, and skiing in the nearby Rockies. Real estate prices have barely budged since 2005, yet a typical three-bedroom house here still runs less than a comparable one in nearby Boulder. Its schools consistently rank among the top three academically in the Denver area."

Money’s unemployment number for this hip little town strikes me, however. “Full employment” is technically four percent and Louisville’s easily exceeds that. I am certain there are recession stories here, even in a place where the median home listing price is $383,569.

Louisville – you pronounce the ‘s’ – is located 23 miles northeast of Denver. On this beautiful summer Saturday evening Main Street’s many cafes, restaurants and bars are jumping, their large outdoor patios jammed – plenty of potential interviews.

Thirty-five year old Christopher is an electrical engineer at Ricoh, the copier/printer manufacturer – one of those tech jobs mentioned in Money. At first, Christopher insists the recession didn’t affect his life but, as we talked, he admitted it did affect his company, causing instability and anxiety amongst his co-workers.

“Many of our customers are banks,” he explained. “When they got in trouble our revenues went down. I didn’t feel threatened. If I lost my job, I was confident I could land something but many of my older co-workers were very anxious. Some were planning to retire in one year and now figure they have to work another ten. There was a lot of negativity in the workplace.”

Twenty-nine year old Bill is a project manager for a general contractor. I seem to attract construction industry people like a magnet but every story is different, yet the same. Work with me here.

As the recession neared its “official” end Bill lost his job; the work just wasn’t there. It took six months for him to find a new gig at a much lower salary because he was “starting” over with the new company.

“I lost my job two weeks after my son was born,” Bill said. “My wife obviously wasn’t working so it was very difficult. We had to scale back tremendously. We couldn’t afford to pay rent anymore and had to live with family until we could save some money and move. It was tough.”

“We scaled back on everything, groceries, gas, where we buy, how we buy. Now, we’ve started to implement all the things that got us through, to make us more fiscally responsible for the future.”

I always ask my subjects how the recession changed them personally. Bill told me, “It gave me thicker skin. I used to be very happy go lucky and open. This just hardened me a little bit.”

Shae is a 43-year old divorcee who is a supervisor of the training department for a local business. Her divorce came toward the end of the recession and she went back to school for re-training. Today she is making more money than she ever has in her life. Shae went on to tell me how the recession changed everything for her.

When the recession began she was a self-described stay-at-home mom with no income of her own. As with many women in that position, she was running a small business; she managed the family finances. After the divorce there were times when there was no second income from her former husband and Shae worked two jobs while still going to school. (I LOVE tough women!). “With four kids, it was very scary at times,” she says.

And, even though she is making good money now, Shae says the experience makes her “more conservative with my money.”

“Before the recession, when I was married, it was house and cars, that was really important to me. Now those things don’t matter; they’re just metal and walls. I don’t have to drive a Lexus to feel important. Now I drive a much more practical Honda Accord. I’d much rather go out and spend the evening with my kids, be with friends, travel a little bit. The recession gave me a better perspective.”

Another single mom, 36-year old Erin Millikin, says the recession played a part in her divorce. She currently manages one of Louisville’s downtown restaurants. Five years ago it was a different story.

“We were a dual income family, even though I was not working full time,” she says. “When the recession hit, I had to take a night job as a waitress.

“Certainly my husband and I already had issues. But with me working nights and him working days, we never saw each other. As things got tougher, tensions rose. It certainly contributed to our getting the divorce.”

Even in America’s most livable small town, recession happens.