Always Affected by Changes in My Hometown

That's me, in a tree, in the Pennsylvania of my youth. I'm heading to my hometown for Thanksgiving, and every time I go back, something is different. It's more noticeable to me now that I visit about once per year than it would be if I still lived there and saw the changes slowly take place.

The biggest changes I see are the tracts of forest that disappear and are replaced by housing developments. There are the businesses that change names, but still serve similar food. Then there are the revitalization projects that are all about improvement.

The city I grew up in, Pittsburgh, has been getting steadily nicer and nicer pretty much since I was born. The 70's weren't the best of times for the Steel City. Well, the football was pretty good at that time (4 Super Bowl Championships in the 70's), but the whole steel industry was about kaput, and it didn't help the city.

Then, the eyes of Pittsburgh looked to the future. Those old, abandoned riverfront plants were taking up real estate, so they replaced them with business parks, shopping and dining. The geography of Pittsburgh has always made it beautiful. The improvements they've made recently have just been icing on the cake.

I have been in Fort Collins for about 10 years. I have seen some changes take place, but I still hear stories about when Drake was the south side of town. I hear talk about when Windsor was inhabited by 5,000 people.

What have been the biggest changes you have seen in Fort Collins and Northern Colorado?