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PARKER, Colo. -- The places that used to be an escape from the city life in Colorado are bursting at the seams with new residents. That's especially the case in Douglas County. Castle Rock is booming and now the population surge seems to have made it to the Town of Parker.
"Just about every home builder, every developer wants to be here," said Mitch Trevey with Trevey Land and Commercial. "I think that's driven by the quality of life that we have to offer."
Trevey's latest job is a mixed-use development off west Main Street in Parker. It's under construction right now. A boutique hotel will be the first to go up. The rest of the development will house restaurants, offices and possibly condominiums.
Everywhere else you turn in Parker you will either see a piece of land being prepped for a new neighborhood, or a new neighborhood already taking shape. Long-time residents are noticing, for better or for worse.
"Sometimes ya I like it," said Steve Lake, who lives on five acres of land. "You've got better shopping and better access for everybody, but at the same time you're losing out. There's more people, more traffic."
"I definitely like our area and our community," said Laura Cahill, who has lived in the Clarke Farms subdivision for 15 years. "It’s just frustrating seeing all this new build, this new growth."
There's no hiding the reality that people keep flooding into Colorado.
"Our community has gone from roughly 45-50,000 in the town limits to over 80-85,000 within the town limits as well as the surrounding areas," said Trevey.
Now it's up to the town to try and balance growth with sensible living.
"You can’t stop growth. You can only manage it," said Trevey. "It’s a question of just doing a good job of that and bringing to the community all of those goods and services that a well-rounded community has."