When I drove over Rabbit Ears Pass in April, I was returning to Steamboat for my third stint. Some would call it the Yampa Valley Curse, but I didn’t have much of a say when I first left the valley in the mid-’80s.

After I was born at Routt Memorial Hospital, my parents had two kids under the age of 5 and a mishmash of full- and part-time jobs that barely paid the bills. My mom could bring a baby to work bookkeeping at the Mother Lode restaurant, which helped.

She also worked as a teller at Alpine Bank and a prep cook at the Butcher Shop in Ski Time Square. On the side, she helped her parents, who owned what was then Ski Town Campground west of town. In the winter, my dad worked days at SportStalker in Gondola Square and nights as a security guard at the Sheraton. In the summer, he worked for the Division of Wildlife in North Routt. There was little work in the offseason.

A year after I was born, they gave up and moved to the Front Range. More than 40 years later, the offseasons aren’t so bad, but the cost of living is much worse. Today, so many local families face similar financial struggles.

When I returned to town after college for a pair of jobs at the Steamboat Pilot & Today and Steamboat Ski Resort, my parents considered it their opportunity to spend more time in the community in which they had tried to raise a family.

I worked a similar schedule, with full-time work at the Pilot and a series of seasonal jobs at the ski area, local restaurants and the Chamber. I was lucky to have support from my parents to buy a condo in Walton Village just before the Great Recession. I quickly found myself underwater on my mortgage, but it didn’t matter — I had roots in Steamboat Springs.

After 13 years in town, I got an opportunity for my dream job: newspaper editor. The role was in nearby Summit County, so I packed up, sold my condo and put the Yampa Valley in my rearview for the second time in my life.

A lot has changed about Steamboat since I headed over the pass seven years ago. Like all ski towns, the cost of living skyrocketed during COVID, driven in part by location-neutral workers flocking from cities to towns close to recreation and nature.

As I work to reacquaint myself with the community, I want to hear from you.

Keep your eye out for information on community events this summer, including listening sessions, focus groups and meet-and-greets with the Steamboat Pilot & Today staff, some of whom have been on the team for decades.

We’ll get started in June with a couple of opportunities to meet the Steamboat team and share your thoughts on the Pilot as we chart a path forward.

• June 10: 4:30-6:30 p.m. at Mountain Tap Brewery, 910 Yampa St., No. 103, Steamboat Springs
• June 23: 8:30-10:30 a.m. at Beard & Braid, 116 Ninth St., Steamboat Springs

Some changes are already taking place, including restructuring our news and advertising teams. On the news side of the business, we’ve promoted Sydney Anderson to the assistant editor role, managing the production of our print products alongside Editor Trevor Ballantyne and copy editor Keith Kramer. In addition, Shelby Valicenti has returned to the team as our digital editor.

After eliminating a part-time reporting position held by Suzie Romig, the news team is moving forward with three local reporters — Julia Coccaro, John F. Russell and Nick Slater — with support from our regional reporting team. John Chalstrom, Courtney Brackett and John Camponeschi have moved to the Craig Press team in Moffat County.

On the advertising side, Alexandra Traub was promoted to director, leading the sales team of Jenna Robbins and Maria Pruneda.

The team has deep roots in this community, with staffers and contractors living all over the county, including North Routt, South Routt and Hayden. Photographer and reporter John F. Russell has 36 years under his belt, and operations manager Holly Hunter has been on the team for 28 years. Distribution manager Amanda Sundberg’s family homesteaded here dating back to 1884, and other staffers — including myself — have family who live in the community, too. We’re your neighbors, friends and community members, and we care deeply about Routt County.

I’ll plan to be at the Steamboat Springs Farmers Market this summer if you want to stop by and chat. You can find me at the guest services tent from 9 a.m. to noon on June 6, 13 and 20.

If you can’t make it to one of our upcoming events, feel free to reach out with any questions. My contact information is below.

Nicole Miller is the publisher of the Steamboat Pilot & Today. You can reach her at 970-668-4618 or nmiller@steamboatpilot.com.