Craig Daily Press

Craig — Sonic is in the process of coming to Craig, just one more sign of the boom.

The fast-food franchise is one of several businesses to view Craig as more than an industrial city. From Wal-Mart to Walgreens, from one Mexican restaurant to the next, the town’s commercial business is growing.

That’s a good thing.

It helps create competition, which benefits you, the consumer.

And if Craig can become Northwest Colorado’s commercial center, it provides that much more stability to our economic base — one not entirely dependent on a possible boom/bust cycle of energy development.

We’re not alone in wanting Craig to be a shopping hub.

Some comments from Steamboat Springs’ residents on the Daily Press and Pilot & Today Web site include:

• “I’d drive to Craig for a Sonic! All those TV commercials make me jealous, I’ve never been to one.”

• “That’s what I’m sayin’!!! Craig might just become my new Silverthorne!”

Could it be that people are starting to view Craig in a new light: A destination town for shopping?

Now, there are people who won’t like this, those of us who suffer from “last-settler syndrome” — an affliction that comes from moving to a place and believing no one should follow.

The problem with this theory is that unless a town is growing, it is more than likely dying. And Moffat County has done enough of this through the years.

There needs to be an anchor to help the area through up and down years. Could shopping be that anchor?

We’re moving closer to that, and with Steamboat’s decision last year to limit the size of stores that can build inside its city limits, it could bring more chain stores, such as Barnes & Noble or Best Buy, to Craig.

But before we get to that point, there is one element that could greatly enhance Craig more than others: some nicer, sit-down style restaurants. In addition to the competition, they would allow Craig to effectively host bigger meetings and conventions.

And not just sit-down restaurants, but recognizable ones — chain restaurants that will help separate Craig’s industry from Steamboat’s.

Such restaurants will help keep shoppers in town that much longer, perhaps making Craig a day outing for shopping rather than a city you drive through to get to the ’Boat.

And again, we’re not alone in thinking this.

As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, 51 percent of the people answering the current question of the week on the Daily Press Web site — “With the recent announcement of Sonic looking to build in Craig, what other restaurant or store would you like to locate in town?” — said a sit down restaurant is what they would prefer.

It shows residents want such a restaurant and they want it in force.

Now, there are other actions we could take to make the city more appeasing, such as more consistent hours at the Moffat County Ice Arena, and emphasizing more of the activities available in the area.

But the next stop to Craig’s long-term success is creating a more stable infrastructure and economic base — an economic base that will not be gone in a sonic boom.

Becoming a destination town is one such possibility.