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I moved to Colorado from California during the 90's. When I got there a lot of cities already had bike paths, city built and owned gyms, and covenant communities.

As a conservative I asked myself: why would Coloradans be so stupid as to create bike paths when a huge chunk of the time the roads were not fit to ride bikes on? Why would they spend taxpayer dollars on gyms when there were already plenty of choices in the private sector? Why would such independent-minded folks tolerate covenant communities with all of the bylaws and limitations on what a person could do with his property?

One by one the gun ranges were bought up and turned into cookie cutter housing communities. Quaint little towns like Erie with a dirt road for a main street were turned into suburban wastelands. Longmont got a freakish urban neighborhood with roads named '100 Year Party Ct' and 'Neon Forest Cir'.

And there was really not much push back from the Coloradans. They just shrugged their shoulders and kept to themselves.

Partly it was because I got there when the economy was just recovering from a long bad spell and people were focused on getting a job, staying employed, and keeping out of trouble.

But now look at the trouble they're in because they just kept to their independent selves.

Also, the quasi-conservative independents loathed the social conservatives almost as much as the nanny state liberals. So there really was no coming together between libertarians and conservatives. Colorado has its own GOPe that won't let any conservative principles get in the way of making a buck. So sports stadium subsidization was strongly supported by the likes of the so-called conservative radio host Mike Rosen.

The only real ray of hope is the Independence Institute that spawned Tom Tancredo.

What has happened to Colorado depresses me beyond words. I was born in Denver, raised in Littleton, attended Colorado State University, moved back to Denver for a spell and then left for the Navy in 2003.

I very rarely go home these days but when I do, it is just overwhelming how overgrown it has become. You mentioned Erie as suburbia now. I google-mapped it and can't believe it. The entire front range from Fountain to Fort Collins is one endless megalopolis.

The only real ray of hope is the Independence Institute that spawned Tom Tancredo.

Colorado's 6th congressional district, once the home of Tom Tancredo, will be sending a Democrat to DC next year.