Steamboat Springs

The City of Steamboat Springs is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Routt County, Colorado, United States. It is located in the upper valley of the Yampa River, along U.S. Highway 40, just west of the Continental Divide and Rabbit Ears Pass. The city is a winter ski resort destination, including the Steamboat Ski Resort on Mount Werner in the Park Range just east of the town and the much smaller Howelsen Hill Ski Area. Steamboat has produced more athletes for the Winter Olympics than any other town in North America. The town is home to natural hot springs that are located throughout the area (see Geography). Early trappers believed that a steamboat was coming down the river, and that the sound was coming from a hot spring, so they decided to name the spring Steamboat Spring. In 1913, Carl Howelsen, a Norwegian, moved to town and introduced ski jumping. He also founded the annual Winter Carnival, a celebration still held each winter. The Industrial Company (TIC) was started in 1974, and has since grown into one of the largest industrial construction companies in the United States with revenues of approximately $2 billion in 2007. In 1993, the City Council of Colorado conducted a poll of its residents to choose a new name for the bridge that crosses the river. With 7,717 votes, the winning name was "James Brown the Soul of the Universe Bridge" The bridge was officially dedicated in September 1993 and appeared at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the event.

History

Steamboat Springs is the primary city name, but also Steamboat Spr are acceptable city names or spellings, Steamboat on the other hand no longer accepted or obsolete and are no longer used as a designation. The area surrounding Steamboat Springs was originally inhabited by the Yampatika band of the Utes, who hunted in the valley during the summer. Trappers began to move through the area during the first decades of the 19th century. James Harvey Crawford, the founder of Steamboat, first arrived in the spring of 1874. The economy of the region was originally based on ranching and mining, which still have a large presence in the county. In 1913, Carl Howelsen, a Norwegian, moved to town and introduced ski jumping. The oldest continually operating ski area in North America, Howelsen Hill, now bears his name. The festival includes ski racing and jumping, dog sledding, and chariot events down Lincoln Avenue, the city's main street. Steamboat Ski Resort was largely established by two local men, Jim Temple and John Fetcher. The resort opened on what was then called Storm Mountain in 1963. In 1974, The Industrial Company (TIC) was started in Steamboat and has since grown into one of the largest industrial construction companies in the United States with revenues of approximately $2 billion in 2007. With 7,717 votes, the winning name for the bridge that crossed the Yampa River on Shield Drive was "James Brown Soul Center of the Universe Bridge". The bridge was officially dedicated in September 1993, and James Brown appeared at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the event. It is one of just three complete ski jumping complexes in the U.S.

Geography and climate

The city is named after the Steamboat Spring, located near the present-day library and the old train depot. The spring itself was so named because its bubbling sounded like a steamboat to early settlers. Locals take pride in the name of their town, as evidenced by the humorously named Steamboat Yacht Club, a local restaurant formerly located on the Yampa River, but has since been closed. The hottest temperature recorded in Steamboat Springs was 100 °F (37.8 °C) on June 29, 1990, while the coldest temperature recorded was 54 °F on January 7, 1913. The area does offer two hot springs that are open to the public. Strawberry Park Hot Springs offers excellent stargazing opportunities due to the lack of ambient light. There is a fee to enter Strawberry Park, cash or check only. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system,Steamboat Springs has a warm-summer humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps. The city has a total area of 10.1 square miles (26 km²) according to the U.S. Census Bureau, all of it land except for theYampa River. The largest is at the Old Town Hot Springs, with multiple pools and two slides. Located in the hills a few miles out of town is Strawberry Park hot springs, with two pools, lodging (camping and cabins), spa and natural rock features. The Yampa river flows through the middle of town, with several tributary creeks joining in town Fish Creek, Spring Creek, Soda Creek and more.

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 12,088 people, 5,201 households, and 2,275 families residing in the city. By sex, the population was 54.2 percent male, 45.8 percent female. The median age of Steamboat's population was 36.5 years. The city's median income was $54,647, and the median income for a family was $65,685. The per capita income for the city was $31,695. About 2.7% of families and 7.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.4% of those under age 18 and 3.1% ofThose age 65 or over. The racial makeup of the city is 94% White, 0.6% Asian,0.8% African American, 0,4% Native American, 1% Pacific Islander and 2.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.5%. The city is home to the Steamboat Springs Yacht Club, which was founded in 1881. The Yacht club is located on the banks of the Colorado River. It is located at the base of the Rocky Mountains and was built in the early 1900s. It was the first Yacht Harbor in the U.S. to be built, and is the only one of its kind in the state. Steamboat is the location of the Steamboats National Park, which is on the eastern edge of the Red River.

Sports

The Yampa river is a popular conduit for water sports like fishing, rafting, tubing, and kayaking (playboating) The 4-mile (6.4 km) grade II-III whitewater run through town ends with two surfable holes. One is called D-Hole; the other onenear the library, close to the Steamboat Springis named Charlie's Hole. The defunct ski area Stagecoach is about twenty miles (32 km) south of Steamboat. It lasted two ski seasons, closing in 1974. The Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club has brought forth many successful skiers, and the Steamboats Ski Resort attracts a large number of visiting snow aficionados. The Yampa River Festival includes a kayak rodeo (i.e., a playboating competition) which attracts national and international world class playboaters. The Crazy River Dog Contest, in which dogs retrieve sticks from the river and may pass a whitewater section, is also held in the town. The town has been the locale of world-class skiing competitions, including competitions for the 1989 and 1990 Alpine Skiing World Cup. It is also home to the only upstream slalom race in the United States, which is Colorado's only upstream alpine ski event. The city is located on the banks of the Colorado River, which flows into the San Juan River. The Colorado River runs through the town, which runs into the Arkansas River. It flows through the city's downtown area.

Sister cities

Steamboat Springs has two sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International. The cities are Saas-Fee, Valais, Switzerland and San Martín de los Andes, Neuquén, Argentina. Steamboat Springs is home to the U.S. National Museum of Natural History, which is open to the public. It is also home to a museum of American history, the Steamboat Museum of American History, and the Colorado Museum of Art, among others. The town has a population of 2,000. It has a sister city with the city of Valais in Switzerland. It also has sister cities with the cities of San Martín de los Andes and San Mauricio de Lampedusa in Argentina, and with San Fee in Valais, Switzerland and with San Martín  de los andes in Argentina and Neuquen, South West of the Antarctica and South America. The city of Steamboat Springs has two sister cities with the same name: Sister Cities International (Sister Cities I) and S C I (Sister City I), as well as one with a different name, Sisters City I and S C I (S-I), S-C I, I, II, III.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Steamboat Springs, Routt County, Colorado = 90.3. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 100. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 99. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Steamboat Springs = 5.7 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 2,043 individuals with a median age of 36.6 age the population grows by 3.71% in Steamboat Springs, Routt County, Colorado population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 1,300 residents per square mile of area (520/km²). There are average 2.29 people per household in the 4,331 households with an average household income of $71,894 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 6.10% of the available work force and has dropped -10.18% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 13.54%. The number of physicians in Steamboat Springs per 100,000 population = 285.9.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Steamboat Springs = 23.8 inches and the annual snowfall = 165.6 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 119. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 242. 82 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 68, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Steamboat Springs, Routt County, Colorado which are owned by the occupant = 37.31%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 22 years with median home cost = $466,590 and home appreciation of -17.17%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $5.13 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $6,122 per student. There are 13.8 students for each teacher in the school, 286 students for each Librarian and 275 students for each Counselor. 8.47% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 36.39% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 14.85% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).