A tale of two towns
Just returning from my yearly trek to my mother’s hometown of Craigmont, I’m struck by the differences and similarities with my hometown, Carbondale, Colo.
Craigmont is a true small town. It’s had 500 people from the time the town and my mother were born in 1920. Carbondale likes to think of itself as a small town, but at 7,000 population, it really isn’t.
Situated on the Camas Prairie at the base of the Idaho panhandle, Craigmont is at the heart of some of the richest farmland in the world. One hundred bushels per acre wheat harvests are common. The entire economy centers around agriculture.
Being surrounded by magnificent mountains and challenging rushing rivers, tourism keeps Carbondale going.
There is, unfortunately, one feature Craigmont and Carbondale do have in common. Lewiston, a city of about 35,000 at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater rivers, is to Craigmont what Aspen is to Carbondale. It’s the place where the majority work, but few can afford to live there. So young families are moving to Craigmont, which is 40 miles away, and other small towns that’re even farther.
This is a bad trend. It’s not only dangerous and time-consuming to be traveling that far to work, but the emissions from gas-burning vehicles aren’t doing the climate any good. There are few public charging stations in the area, so electric vehicles are rare.
Cities like Lewiston and Aspen need to build affordable, perhaps multifamily dwellings, so the folks who work there can live there.
Fred Malo Jr.
Carbondale, Colo.
