I'm not sure how we have all the negatives with none of the positives of being in the mountains? For one, it's sunny all the time like anywhere else. It's not nearly as cold as Alamosa or Gunnison in the winter, and not nearly as hot as Vail in the summer. I can go on a trail run in the forest from my front door and I live in the middle of town. Backcountry access is easy. The grid makes it super bike-friendly - I can bike to the grocery store easily, much easier than when I lived in Avon and immensely easier than in Silverthorne. Actually it reminds me of being in Boulder again with how easy it is to get around town without a car...is that a negative? I don't think the Safeway smells like fish either, but I know before the renovation it was a sad grocery store. I don't have any complaints about it now except for the fact that they run out of brussels sprouts too quickly.
This isn't the Leadville of the 90s anymore, much to the detriment of some of the old-timers here (which boggles my mind, but whatever).
An increasing population will do us good. Leadville had 15,000 people when it was incorporated. I don't think we need quite that many, but some growth is welcome. I think people either come from afar or are spilled over from Summit/Eagle (guilty) and realize it's a good place to stay. I will say, however, that I'd prefer to see houses going up on the empty lots within the city grid than having a whole new neighborhood constructed, but I know that developers like their large plots of empty land.
And I'm sure as climate change progresses we'll see some people come up to escape the heat of lower elevations.
Edit: Also the location is pretty hard to beat, in my opinion. Near I-70 without having to be on it; smack dab between Aspen, Vail, Breck, BV; the rugged northern Sawatch is right there; the top of a valley is an easier location to defend in the event of a zombie apocalypse; the wide valley means the sun doesn't set at 2pm in the winter (looking at you Frisco, Breck) but the views are still good.
How about the whole painted words on the rocks in multiple colors when you come into town? It meets both criteria.
