Decaying Towns in the Eastern Plains

As cities and the surrounding suburban areas of Colorado are growing and evolving at a rapid pace, there are towns in Colorado that seem to be dying. The depopulated and decaying small towns in the Eastern Plains are overlooked by residents and tourists. The beautiful mountain ranges and majestic national parks are what most people visualize when they think of Colorado. The majority of Colorado's population resides up and down the Rocky Mountain Front Range. But to the East, there are sparse towns scattered across the vast open land, where few call home. The geography and lifestyle in the plains cast a stark contrast to the cities. There are no shopping malls, skyscrapers, or sports stadiums. Just flat land with modest homes built around train tracks and agricultural farmland. Many of the homes and businesses are worn down if not abandoned and left to rot. A sense of despair can be felt when walking down the dirt roads of the seemingly deserted neighborhoods. Often the only signs of life are a train passing through or the farm animals grazing. With very few businesses and jobs in the Eastern Plains, I don’t know how much longer the towns will survive in their current state. Will the depopulation and decaying continue until there is nothing left? Or will Colorado’s growing infrastructure continue to expand out from the cities and into the plains? Either way, these small towns will inevitably continue to change, for better or worse. This is why I decided to photograph the often unseen and unappreciated towns in their current conditions. A way of living that represents a part of Colorado’s history that could one day be lost and forgotten.