NEDERLAND, Colo. — High in elevation and surrounded by Mother Nature sits the town of Nederland, with a walkable downtown and locals who take great pride in calling this area home.
Denver7's Maggy Wolanske made the drive up as part of Denver7 | Your Voice to hear about the perks and challenges of living in this mountain town.
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Given the proximity to Eldora, one would think winter is the busiest season, but locals told Denver7 the summer brings more of a crowd. Mason Lupe, who was born and raised in Nederland, said it has gotten a lot busier over the years, and there is a clear indication when tourists are in town.
"It's just the driving," Lupe said. "We'll see people driving like crazy. That's how you know they're out. They're out and about."
While visitors come to see the beauty of Eldora, those who call this place home know that's just part of the reason why Nederland is so special.
"My favorite part is definitely the locals, just the people," Lupe explained. "I love all the colorful characters up here and just all the beautiful sights."
Ben Parzich moved from Massachusetts five years ago and is the manager at The Deli at 8236. The business opened 18 years ago and is known as "a community staple," selling East Coast deli specialties from chicken parmesan sandwiches to calzones and more.
"I like making good food that reminds me of home, that people love," Parzich said. "I think that's what I love about it."
Though the increase in traffic is an annoyance for drivers, it's a good sign for businesses.
"I think it's great. I mean, we wouldn't have any businesses without them," Parzich said. "I understand it can be strenuous on the town in certain ways, but it brings people through, and we wouldn't be able to make any money, as you know, and keep businesses open if we didn't have tourists."
Jesse Fox, owner of Train Cars Coffee and Kava, sees both new and old faces stop in for their famous mini-donuts.
"It's kind of a double-edged sword. Ned got extremely popular during COVID because of all the hiking up here, and it has stayed popular ever since," Fox explained. "It has stayed a prime tourist destination, which is great. I mean, we definitely are able to do some of the things we do because of the financial assistance brought by the tourism. On the flip side, of course, as the place becomes more popular and everything goes up, rent goes up and everything else."
The train cars are hard to miss, especially since it is located next to the Carousel of Happiness. Fox shared how this mountain cafe is "kind of an institution in this town," as the cars have been there since the late 70s and early 80s.
"I think our restaurant is pretty well-rounded in that sense. We have a very even mix of locals and tourists," Fox said. "Now, on the weekends, when you see the line like that, almost out to this door here, there's not going to be as many locals coming in. But when it's a little more mellow, a little earlier in the day, during the weekdays, we'll just have local after local after local."
As great as it is to have a busy business, it can also be a challenge to live close by. Fox explained that Nederland needs more public housing to help with the popularity of the town.
"A lot of it has to do with the economy and housing and people shuffling around. The people who are blessed enough to have the money to live up in a beautiful place like this, they do, and there's nothing wrong with that," Fox told Denver7. "But it has changed the character of the town a little bit as people of a kind of lower economic status are pushed out, that gentrification thing."
Denver7 stopped local Betty Bass on her walk to ask her a couple of questions about living in Nederland. She also spoke about the challenges surrounding housing and the high prices in the area. Back in 2012, she was able to move to town with her five kids.
"We just ended up here just because somebody happened to be renting a place, and she agreed to show it to us," said Bass. "Then we liked her and she liked us, and we rented it, and that was the answer to the housing situation."
After moving to Nederland, Bass was able to get a part-time job teaching skiing at Eldora. While her love for skiing is evident, she voiced her hope for others to take the trip up and check out the resort.
"I hope everybody's learning about Eldora, how much fun that is to ski at, and because it's so much fun," Bass said. "Yes, it's really fun to ski at Winter Park, but you have to go over a couple of passes, and to get up here, it's not really as hard."
Walking through the heart of downtown, Laurence Delaunay was spotted hard at work inside her gallery, bringing canvases to life with bright colors of wildlife and landscapes. Delaunay and her husband have been living in Nederland for 21 years after they "fell in love with this place."
"I'm French, so the culture is quite different, but I feel at home here because of the community, and people love nature, music, good food, and good beer," Delaunay said. "In France, I'm from a small community and I found it really [homey], even though it was new to me."
She quit her other job of teaching French at a high school in Boulder three years ago and opened LoLo's Atelier. Working this "dream job," she sees very few challenges in the area besides the flow of business.
"It's very uneven for businesses up here," explained Delaunay. "We have a tough winter with snow and wind, and so, there's definitely less people. Some weeks, I don't see anyone here, but the good side of this is I can really focus on my painting, and then paint for hours straight."
Robin Svenson said the sunshine and the community are why she loves living in the area.
"Just the freedom to be up here, and it's like just to be able to walk outside and just be in nature," Svenson said. "Sometimes people ask me for a good place to go hiking, and I just feel so challenged because my favorite places are right outside my front door, and I just love that part of being here in the community."
Svenson moved to the area in 2004 and chose Nederland for the affordability. She hopes there will be more affordable housing options to bring more people into town, as she knows how special this local community is.
"I just think we're a really resilient community," Svenson said. "We face challenges. We face long winters and booming tourist seasons, and so I really think we're a resilient community."
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