The imminent demise of our fair city was on the minds of people when we were told that our local power plant would be shutting down completely by 2030.

People were concerned and upset about what was going to happen and how these policies seemed to make little sense except to those who make the decisions about how we get our power. Bets are on that people in Texas and in some European countries are wondering if going down this path was unwise. But isn’t hindsight always 20/20?

Regardless of the fate of our local mines and power plant, it appears that most of us are fighting back with the one thing that we took for granted for so many years. It was great to look out over our county and know that we were safe from many of the concerns that other cities had because of the tax base supplied by coal mining and power generation.

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But things began to change and people started thinking that if we were going to have a place to call home anymore, then we had better start making some decisions that would serve our interests as a community.

People started asking questions about what we could do to offset the shrinking tax base and figure out how to make Craig a viable city for the future. As one of the last “undiscovered” little cities in Colorado, we began to get noticed by people who were escaping urban life, high home prices or were passing through due to all the construction and road closures on Interstate 70. We weren’t necessarily used to all the new people popping up in our city, but we realized that this might be a good thing.

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This summer has really got this writer excited about what the future holds for our little piece of paradise.

Boom-and-bust cycles have always affected towns like ours, but the slow growth we are experiencing right now may indicate that things will be a little more deliberate and consistent. Infrastructure projects around town tell people that we care about our city, and having some newly paved streets will go a long way toward smoothing out some of the perception problems we’ve always had from the rest of the state.

Good things are happening around town, but better things are happening amongst the people who truly love our little city and want to see it improve and share our Northwest Colorado spirit with the people who have chosen to make Craig their home. Remember to be nice to each other and say hi to the stranger — they might just be your new neighbor!