Grand Junction booming

Its metro area is 9th, Greeley 12th in U.S. growth rate

By Burt Hubbard, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Originally published 05:44 p.m., March 26, 2008
Updated 12:13 a.m., March 27, 2008

Matt McClain / The Rocky

Construction worker Luis Sanchez works on a home Wednesday in the Chatfield housing complex of Grand Junction.

The Grand Junction area emerged last year as one of the fastest-growing metro regions in the U.S., boosted by energy development, tourism and retirees.

"We've been discovered," Mesa County Commissioner Craig Meis said. "Every part of our county is growing."

A Census Bureau report released Wednesday found that the Grand Junction/Mesa County area was the ninth-fastest-growing metro area in the U.S. from 2006 to 2007, increasing in population by 3.7 percent to 139,082.

In Colorado, it edged out the Greeley area, which grew by 3.6 percent and had held the top spot in the state for most of the decade. The Weld County area, where growth is driven by affordable new housing, ranked 12th nationally.

Several factors have converged to boost growth in the Western Slope's largest population center, but one stands out, officials said. The oil and gas boom has made Mesa County a services center for the energy industry, drawing people and jobs.

"The elephant in the room is the energy sector," said Diane Schwenke, president of the Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce. "It snaps up people for jobs, and we see more people moving in for jobs. Our labor force is just under 79,000, and it's grown by 10,000 in the last 18-24 months."

Regional center

But Grand Junction also is growing as a regional center with large medical and educational facilities such as Mesa State College, said Aron Diaz, executive director of the Associated Governments of Northwest Colorado, a regional planning agency.

"I think it has a lot of resources you find in a metropolitan area on the Front Range, but that aren't common out here," Diaz said.

State demographer Elizabeth Garner said the Grand Junction area also benefits from the booming population in adjacent Utah, which does not have nearby medical facilities or other support services. "Utah is a significant player in the success of Grand Junction," Garner said.

Paul Nelson, a native and longtime real estate broker, points to the magnitude of the St. Mary's hospital expansion as proof of the city's regional draw. The hospital, which is the major medical center for western Colorado and eastern Utah, is embarked on its $261 million "Century Project" - a 12-story, 440,000-square-foot addition.

Doesn't mind growth

Longtime Grand Junction resident Tanya Strickland, 34, doesn't mind the growth.

"There's a second Wal-Mart and a lot of oil and gas companies have come in," she said. "If they can find a piece of land to develop on, they do."

Born in Vernal, Utah, Strickland moved to Grand Junction when she was 4 because her mother decided to move back in with her parents after being separated.

Strickland has been there ever since. She's been married for 12 years and has three young sons. Her husband, Steve, 42, works for Halliburton.

"I like Grand Junction - it's not too big and not too small," she said. "It's right in the middle - it's not a spot in the road, and you don't have to travel to go to a good place for shopping, eating or even grocery shopping."

Oil shale bust

The metro area's transformation into a regional center began after the oil shale bust in the early 1980s when it survived by attracting retirees, Diaz said. It is still a retirement center, he said.

Tourism, especially for outdoor recreation, is also bringing jobs and people, Meis said. The small town of Gateway near the Utah border is booming to accommodate a new resort center. The Powderhorn ski area east of Grand Junction is increasingly drawing people, as are the orchards near Palisade, Meis said.

South of Grand Junction, the Montrose area was one of the fastest growing small urban centers in the U.S., the Census report found. It grew by 3.7 percent last year to almost 40,000 people, which was eighth among the Census Bureau micro centers.

Most of the growth has come from retirees and construction workers drawn by the strong, second-home market, said Montrose County commissioner Bill Patterson.

"We've got what everybody's looking for, a rural, small-town environment with good climate," Patterson said.

Ellen Miller and Tillie Fong contributed to this report.

Colorado growth in the 21st century

Metro Areas 2007 population Gain 2006 to 2007 Gain 2000 to 2007

* Grand Junction 139,082 3.7% 19.6%

* Greeley 243,750 3.6% 34.7%

* Denver-Aurora 2,468,866 2.2% 13.1%

* Fort Collins/Loveland 287,574 2.1% 14.3%

* Pueblo 154,538 1.6% 9.2%

* Boulder 290,262 1.4% 7.6%

* Colorado Springs 609,096 1.1% 13.3%