That old story is not how Salida got it's name! That story was made up by people in the County (Chaffee County) that were jealous of Salida. I think it was about the time Salida became the County Seat.
when the Denver & Rio Grand Railroad won the "Royal Gorge War" they laid their
tracks up the Arkansas River Canyon. The upper end of the canyon opened into the beautiful
valley of the Upper Arkansas River. Just into this valley they platted a
town site which became one of the more important division points on the railroad.
The town was given the Spanish name of "Salida" meaning "exit", probably due to the emergence of the railroad from the canyon. The Spanish name was appropriate as the town is on the Southwest side of the river in, what once was, Spanish Territory. The opposite side of the river was part of the Louisiana Purchase.
After the town was first built, fires burned much of it so the town was rebuilt of brick. Since the brick endured, Salida looks much as it did 90 years ago.
This page used to have a gallery of pictures showing scenes from around town. When I moved back here a few years ago I was really happy to return and wanted to show off what a nice place it was, and it was. Now an element that is not so nice has taken over the town and it is no longer a place to be proud of.
The city government no longer concerns itself with the welfare of its citizens but uses them for the benefit of those who want to use the area and the city for personal profit. It would appear that the ones who stand to make the profit are the developers, the contractors, and the realtors. The citizens are kept poor to the extent that they are not even able to maintain their property, they have little opportunity for employment and what may be found is at minimum wage. Even the small businesses are no longer being supported by government but only used as a show to promote development.
The parks and recreation facilities receive the most support. Obviously, the intent is to promote real estate development. The streets are no longer maintained in the residential part of the city. Sidewalks and curbs must be maintained, the city says, by the people on their own. Sewer and water fees have risen dramatically so that the city can extend these services to the new developed areas and those where development is projected. The poor population must pay, out of their taxes, moneys used to attract people to live in the area. This is not using taxpayers funds for the people, it is actually against their interest. The money comes from a tax increase the people voted in to maintain the streets.
A new hospital is being built. Again the result is to make the area more attractive to outsiders. The common folk in town can no longer even afford medical insurance let alone use the current facilities. A people's clinic is now available for them and it is staffed by volunteers. Economic development in the area could provide jobs for the people so that they would have the money for, not just medical services, but for a meaningful existence. Since the railroad left there has been no effort toward economic development. In fact, many of the businesses who operated out of Salida have left. There was a department store, an embroidery and silk screen clothing concern, a stained glass manufacturing business and many others that have closed in the last few years. No attempt from city hall has been made to attract other businesses where the common folk could get a reasonable paying job. Mining was once big here but that is gone. An Indian owned outfit wanted to quarry a mineral in a remote area that they owned about 15 miles from town. That would have provided some employment but those concerned with housing development stopped them from opening. If the price of labor in this town goes up they would have to pay more than minimum wage and they don't want that. The type of employment available now consists of jobs like Motel Maid, Restaurant Waitress, Fast food help, and work at Wal-Mart, which is one of the few stores left in town.
A while back some people in town attended a City Council meeting to complain. A council person was heard to state "I don't see why we have to listen to them." Another council member stated that he believes that what this town needs is some savior like "Ben and Jerry's Ice cream" and that they will just rise up from the local population and save us. The newspaper shields the city council from any negative input by refusing to print letters to the editor that they do not like. Likewise they filter any news that is reported as coming out of city hall. A survey has been taken to support city hall. Questions were asked as to what kind of development the people want. They get to choose from picked answers only and are not even told what the survey results will apply to. It only had to do with developing vacant land for real estate. They titled it "Economic Development." Pure manipulation. This has happened more than once.
The city hired a landscape architect to redesign the space where the US highway goes through town. You would think a job like that would go to a traffic engineer. Anyway, they want to add more traffic lights and get rid of the turn lanes. They want big gateway signs for the city and to slow traffic as much as possible. It's not for safety. They figure that the more traffic disruption the more people will stop in the city and visit the real estate offices. Bike lanes and trails are included in the package so it will look better for the developers.
I could go on like this for a long time. These are just a few examples of misuse of power by the local government. I guess in a Small town you expect "Small Town Politics" but this goes beyond that. It is hard to attribute all that occurs in this administration to just incompetence.