IDAHO SPRINGS, Colo. — Whatever you do, don’t call Idaho Springs a "pass-through town" — where people only make a pit stop for pizza.
The town has been working to further its brand as the “Gateway to the Rockies.”
From the shops on Miner Street to rafting Clear Creek, to world-class mountain biking and hiking trails, the town has a little bit for everyone. And, yes, it has Beau Jo’s, too.
The spring and summer months is when Idaho Springs really comes to life, though.
On a Saturday afternoon, you can see Miner Street packed with people,and the town’s brass is working to accommodate its growing reputation.
At the end of April, Idaho Springs kicked off updating its comprehensive plan in 2025, which it has coined “Planning for Gold.” It will address housing, sustainable growth, land use, transportation, tourism — the whole nine yards — and locals said they’re already feeling the impacts.
The impact of Floyd Hill construction
“It helps a lot of the people that have lived here or owned houses here for 75-plus years and stuff,” Christian Watts, a 21-year-old lifetime resident of Idaho Springs, said. “ They had these issues for years and years, but with the growing infrastructure it’s definitely adding time to be able to fix these things.”
Part of that growing infrastructure has come in the form of the Floyd Hill construction project on Interstate 70.
The project began last October to expand the highway and reduce bottlenecks, but it’s caused some major headaches and few people have felt them more than the people of this small town.
Denver7 visited here in November, and locals told us they saw sales tax revenue drop by 2% the month the project began as people started skipping the town because of traffic. The director of Business and Community Promotions said several shops had also reported a 20% decline in weekday business.
Now, some of those businesses say that slowdown is still apparent while others say the project has had the opposite effect.
“Sometimes when there’s traffic stops, business will be totally dead, and sometimes it’ll be super busy so it’s touch and go,” Local Adrienne Gurbindo said. “It is touch and go depending on when the traffic hits and when it doesn’t, and if people are in the mood to get off, or if they’re just mad that they’ve been waiting for 45 minutes and just want to get through because now they’re late to get to the airport or to go ski or raft or whatever it is.”
Businesses are taking action to help drive revenue in the face of the unpredictability. There’s a text alert system you can sign up for that sends road impacts alerts and some businesses in town will give you discounts and perks if you do.
Text “Floyd Hill” to 21000. All you need to do is show the business you’ve signed up and you could get a deal.
Locals feeling priced out
Another issue locals said needs attention is affordable housing.
Idaho Springs has seen a 19.6% increase in its median home sale price over the last year, according to Redfin. That increase statewide over the same time period is 7.4%.
With your average home in Idaho Springs selling for $625,000, some locals said they’re feeling priced out.
“Some of the change has not been for the better, I don’t think. But I’ve lived in the Idaho Springs, Clear Creek County area since I was 12, so I have seen quite a bit of change,” Allan Smith said.
Smith moved from Idaho Springs to Loveland last year, in part because of the pricing. He still works in town a few days a week, but he and others said the housing issue is quickly becoming a crisis.
Several locals said Airbnb’s are also frustrating. The town acted years ago, limiting the number of short term rentals permits to 15 permits at a time, to limit out-of-towners from scooping up property here and driving up prices further.
“You’ve got people that are living from paycheck to paycheck that make it really tough and it’ll be interesting to see if these new projects up here- and any others in this area- actually come down to be affordable housing,” Smith said.
Earlier this year, construction on one of the town’s biggest housing projects in history began. The project will bring 120 apartment units to the site of the old Golddigger Stadium.
It will add a little over 10% to the town’s housing inventory, according to the mayor.
