1000 Words That Come to Mind About GJ

Before I moved here 9 years ago the only thing I knew about Grand Junction, CO was that my older brother went to college at Mesa State. It has grown immensely over the past 9 years and I have made a few other discoveries about the Grand Valley. Mainly the many sights to hike, bike, and take in a few views. It strange that some parts of the dry desert can be so beautiful. If you have not hiked Mt. Garfield, it is a must. It’s an awesome view overlooking the Grand Valley. I have also ridden horses on some of the many trails here and enjoyed snowboarding at Powderhorn. I love the fall time colors as you travel over the Grand Mesa. Also fishing in one of its 1000 lakes was fun too. The Monument is a great drive as well and offers many trails to hike and bike on. The many orchards in Palisade are quite pretty too and provide some of the best peaches and wine I have ever tasted. I love going to the Farmer’s Market in the summer time and buying fresh produce and helping to support the local farmers.
I used to work at a hotel on Horizon Drive so I know Grand Junction is definitely a destination for some summer vacationers. With JUCO, all of the wine festivals and probably one of the largest reasons to visit Grand Junction in the summer time-good ‘ol Country Jam. We are also one of the last stops between Salt Lake City, UT and Denver, CO so many people don’t even realize we exist until they are ready to quit driving for the night.
I love to walk around downtown Grand Junction at all of the specialty shops or just the different clothing stores you don’t find at the mall. I think it’s wonderful they have the Art on the Corner, but it is also sad that is really the only part of town to witness art. Being an art major it is quite disappointing the lack of art galleries or even museums that Grand Junction lacks in.
I have seen Grand Junction boom with the building of new houses, but it does not feel like they boom the entertainment part of it to compensate for the growing population rate. We have one decent sized mall with the exception of Kohl’s and the Old Navy complex. There isn’t much in the ways of great clothes shopping here. Currently there is only one night club-Cactus Canyon- and I believe they are still trying to figure out how to open up Rum Bay again. As far as eating it seems like there is just your usual restaurants you would find in any bigger city. Not too many local ma and pop places to eat that once you visit you tell all your friends and family if they ever go to Grand Junction they must eat there. We do have 2 movie theaters now, but it cracks me up they are less than a mile apart. Give some love to the other side of town!
The Botanical Gardens is a neat place to visit but it is so close to the 5th street bridge where most of the transients reside. It’s hard to even visit any parks here without seeing one napping or passed out under a tree with a dog. Every day I walk to school I pass a few transients on my way there and home. For being a smaller community there are sure quite a few homeless people here.
Speaking of smaller town that is the mentality most people have here. That they want to keep Grand Junction as a smaller town. The reality is it is growing. One thing I hate about living here is how behind it feels like we are in the times. From music to clothes, to advertising to news anchors and news stories. I know this is also considered a retirement community, but let’s get real. There is a college here as well, so you need to consider the younger generations as well.
And what is it with all of the roundabouts and crazy street numbering here. Like a friend once told me, the reason we have so many roundabouts here is because men like things round and in pairs. And there is never not a time when there is no construction going on somewhere on a major roadway.
The weather here is nice in the summer time. I love the summer nights here. The snow is great because it doesn’t stay too long but long enough to make it really cold in the winter months.
I have seen a lot of negative activities here in the Grand Valley. The rise of meth use and the results of meth use have poured in over the news channels. I know there are drug problems in every community it just seems to be outrageous here. Maybe because it is a college town but I have dealt with many older individuals who were drugged out or smelled of booze. Again this can relate back to the homeless situation here as well.
There is not much for young people to do so you see many pregnant teenagers walking around the mall. It’s a joke about “Don’t drink the water here!”, but it’s really sad how many young people are pregnant here. There are not very many pregnancy clinics or preventative pregnancy clinics here to help the teens either. Grand Junction is very conservative so that could be the reason. The teens here need places to go hang out besides the mall and the ice skating rink. Grand Junction needs a water park. Its warm enough here in the summer time. There needs to be a YMCA to help the youth get involved in physical sports and activities. There needs to be positive leadership to help keep the kids active and out of each other’s pants. They need positive mentors to help with their lack of self esteem and to help get them involved in their communities.