Letter: Steamboat seems to favor more affluent neighborhoods
It has been a long dusty summer here in Dream Island, punctuated with the clanking, grinding, and backup beeping of a transient pack of heavy machinery that moved into the neighborhood for what we were told by the City of Steamboat Springs was a two-month stay to replace the water main, but has gone on for more than two months now, with the promise of many weeks to go before the job is complete.
This is important and necessary work, so I’ve tried to be understanding. When we were told we couldn’t park our vehicles in front of our houses, I dealt with having to park not just down the street, but far enough away that it was a challenge to haul groceries and other supplies to and from my house. I’ve now been allowed to park my vehicle in front of my house again, but the tradeoff for that convenience has been that my car accumulates a thick coating of dust due to the torn up roadway, which has had no form of dust control applied. It makes me wonder what this is doing for my lungs and those of my neighbors, including the young kids riding around on their bicycles through the ever-present dust clouds.
As I understand it, the road will not be paved before winter. We will spend snow season driving on half-dug-up roads, which will add to the challenge of getting in and out of this busy and crowded neighborhood.
The diggers only work 12 hours a day. The nights are quiet enough that one can clearly hear the nighttime activities of the local wildlife, including the bear that tore my gate apart on Friday night. The bears have been making their rounds through this neighborhood on a regular schedule, breaking into the bear-proof trash cans that are required by the city, causing our dogs to bark and carry on, and damaging property in order to gain access to food. I’d like to sleep with my windows open, to enjoy the cool mountain air, but I’m afraid that the bears will find their way into my house.
I love this town; I’ve lived here for over 40 years. However, I have to ask myself, would this happen over on Crawford Hill or another neighborhood where the median house price is much higher than here in the Island?
Jeannie Berger
Steamboat Springs
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