GRAND JUNCTION, COLORADO

The 'City of Grand Junction' is a home rule municipality located in Mesa County, Colorado, USA. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 45,299. Grand Junction is the 15th most populous city in the State of Colorado and the most populous city on the Colorado Western Slope, unofficially serving as the capital of the region. It is the principal city of the Grand Junction Metropolitan Statistical Area which had a population of 139,137 in 2007. It is the county seat of Mesa County. The local television stations serve as a major media source for the region, in the way that those in Denver do for the Denver Metropolitan Area.
The city is located along the north side of the Colorado River, where it receives the Gunnison River from south. The name "Grand" refers to the historical name of the upper Colorado River used by locals in the late 19th and early 20th centuries which was renamed in 1921 and the word 'junction' is from the joining of the Colorado and Gunnison rivers. The city sits near the mid-point of a 30-mile (48 km) arcing valley, known as the Grand Valley, that is a major fruit-growing region, historically home to the Ute people and settled by white farmers in the 1880s. In recent years, several wineries have been established in the area as well. The Colorado National Monument, a series of canyons and mesas similar to the Grand Canyon overlook the city, while most of the area is surrounded by public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Interstate 70 connects the city eastward to Glenwood Springs and Denver.

Contents

Geography

Demographics

Economic history

Travel

Weather

Points of Interest

References

External links

Grand Junction Area

Geography

Grand Junction is located at (39.080531, -108.559097). It is 20 miles east of the Utah State Line on Interstate 70. It is about 4,597 feet above sea level in what is called 'high desert' country.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 80.5 km² (31.1 mi²). 79.8 km² (30.8 mi²) of it is land and 0.7 km² (0.3 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.87% water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 41,986 people, 17,865 households, and 10,540 families residing in the city. The population density was 526.2/km² (1,362.6/mi²). There were 18,784 housing units at an average density of 235.4/km² (609.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.78% White, 0.60% African American, 0.94% Native American, 0.76% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 3.81% from other races, and 1.99% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.86% of the population.
There were 17,865 households out of which 25.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.1% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.0% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.84.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.2% under the age of 18, 11.9% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 22.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 95.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.6 males.
The population figures noted are a bit misleading as Grand Junction is in the large Grand Valley with several smaller towns and unincorporated county areas which contribute to commerce, etc. in Grand Junction. They all abut Grand Junction through subdivisions, etc. As of 2007, the population for Mesa County is well over 140,000.
The median income for a household in the city was $33,152, and the median income for a family was $43,851. Males had a median income of $31,685 versus $22,804 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,692. About 7.5% of families and 11.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.8% of those under age 18 and 9.0% of those age 65 or over.

Economic history

Since settlers arrived in the 1880s until the 1960s, the main economic thoroughfare in the region was farming and cattle. Vast oil reserves were known to exist near Parachute, Colorado in the Piceance Basin. The major oil embargos of the 1960’s and high gas prices resulted in major financial interest in the region. ExxonMobil was quickest on the draw in terms of purchasing rights and used Grand Junction as its seat of operations as it was (and still is) the largest city in the region.
Grand Junction and the region known as the Grand Valley was prosperous in the 1970s and early 1980s because of oil shale. The United States, western Colorado in particular, has the largest known concentration of oil shale in the world, (according to the Bureau of Land Management) and holds an estimated 800 gigabarrels of recoverable oil, enough to meet U.S. demand for oil at current levels for 110 years. Known as the "Rock That Burns" the oil in oil shale is economically inaccessible due to technological difficulties in harvesting the oil from the shale rock. ExxonMobil was forced to pull out of the region because of shifting oil prices which led to the economic destruction of the region.
The economic bust known as "Black Sunday" (May 2, 1982) to the locals started with a phone call from the President of Exxon to the then Governor of Colorado Richard Douglas Lamm stating that Exxon would cut its losses in the region while retaining harvest rights to the (then and currently) inaccessible oil. The economic bust was felt state wide as Exxon had invested more than 5 Billion USD in the state as a whole. Colorado historian Tom Noel observed "I think that was a definite turning point, and it was a reminder that we were a boom-and-bust state...There were parallels to the silver crash of 1893."
Others have drawn parallels to the dreams of the Nuclear Age in that Rocky Flats, located near Denver, Co, was thought in 1955 to be Colorado's financial "nest egg", projected to manufacture rods for nuclear power plants throughout the world. In reality the only thing Rocky Flats ever produced in marketable quantities were triggers for nuclear bombs. Much of the uranium that the U.S. used in its nuclear weapons program was harvested near Grand Junction and subsequently refined and machined into plutonium triggers or "pits" at Rocky Flats. From 1913 until 1925 Colorado was the largest producer of uranium in the US. Though larger deposits were discovered elsewhere before the 1950s, Colorado remained the largest contributor of fissile material to the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile throughout its height in the 1960s.
Today the economy of Grand Junction is more diverse and stable than it has been in the last 40 years. Currently, major contributors are health care, tourism, agriculture, livestock, and service. Major oil companies have once again invested large amounts of money recently (within the last two years), though more conservatively than in the 1960s. This has been a major boon to the area though only recently, and it can see its cause directly linked to the recent increase in oil prices and the volatility in the Mid East.

Travel

Grand Junction Regional Airport (formerly Walker Field Airport) serves as the major airport in the area. The airport is located in north Grand Junction on Horizon Drive. Two way flights to Denver, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and Phoenix are available for air travelers.
Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Grand Junction, operating its California Zephyr daily in both directions between Chicago and Emeryville, California across the bay from San Francisco.
Interstate 70, U.S. Route 50, & U.S. Route 6 all pass through Grand Junction.

Weather

Overall, the area has a semi-arid continental climate.

★ Spring & Fall: prolonged spring marked by much blossoming and the fall is very colorful.

★ Summer: Usually warm and dry. The all-time record high temperature, set on July 21, 2005 is 106 Degrees Fahrenheit (41°C), Unofficially the all-time record high temperature in 112°F (44°C) set in the downtown area of the same day. Average highs in the low 90s°F (near 33°C); average lows in the 60s (near 17°C), although average temperatures have been increasing recently. Precipitation events are uncommon.

★ Winter: Mostly mild. Frequent snows are light and usually melt away quickly. Even the rare heavy snows of 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 cm) disappear quickly. Temperatures vary between the 20s and 50s (-5 to 15°C) and can go as low as -5°F (-20°C).

Points of Interest

★ Colorado National Monument

★ Mesa State College

★ Western Colorado Botanical Gardens

★ Grand Mesa

References

External links

Grand Junction Area

★ The Daily Sentinel (daily newspaper)

★ City of Grand Junction (official website)

★ Grand Junction Free Press (free weekday newspaper)

★ Western Slope Anglers Fishing Club (Grand Junction Fishing)

★ KAFM Community Radio (Non-profit, volunteer radio station)

★ Grand Junction VCB (Visitor and Convention Information)