NASJA 3: Gunnison

If you fly to Crested Butte, you’ll probably be flying into Gunnison. By comparison with Crested Butte, it looks to be a tired town. Sure, the main street has two or three blocks that look neat, and out of a TV western: tall, flat storefronts with a sloping, overhanging roof.

But go beyond that, and you see a lot of poverty, or at least non-wealth. During the 30 minute drive up to Mt. Crested Butte, I saw at least two settlements of mobile homes that had seen better days.

A fellow participant in the conference told me that Gunnison had been “dolled up” in recent years. He must be talking about the two or three blocks that I saw.