The fact that most Coloradans reside along a narrow strip of terrain skirting the Front Range and straddling Interstate 25 speaks volumes about who we really are.

For all the pride we take in the unparalleled beauty of our state’s vast open spaces; despite all the miles we log recreating up in the Rockies – and the time we spend stalled in gridlock attempting to get there – we are overwhelmingly an urban and suburban lot. 

We all tip our hats in respect to the farmers and ranchers who work the land in Colorado’s mountain pastures and on its prairies. We sing the praises of the presumably “simple life” in the small towns that dot the state’s eastern plains.

We hold onto a vague sense that life there isn’t easy even if it’s also thought to be more wholesome and sensible than the congested, smog-smothered rat race of the metro areas we call home.

And occasionally, it dawns on us that city folks quite literally couldn’t survive without the daily toils of those out in the country who produce the state’s beef, pork, poultry, grains, fruits and veggies and, increasingly, its wind, solar and bio-fuels energy.

Yet, a whole lot of us, generations removed from our own rural forebears, have a limited understanding of what it’s really like to live the rural life.

This week at ColoradoPolitics.com, we attempt to shed some light on the day-to-day economic, social and, of course, political challenges that confront rural Colorado. We invited a range of rural voices to comment on those realities, and they weigh in with some enlightening insights.

Included are some frank profiles of perennial struggles like providing for public schools and accessing basic health care in the state’s remote, rural reaches – along with some proposed solutions.

There are also some detailed assessments of the state of the agriculture industry itself – rural Colorado’s lifeblood and still one of the largest sectors of the state’s economy.

In some ways, the authors paint a familiar picture: Those who make a living in the topsy-turvy ag economy are never more than a drought, a hail storm or a commodity-price crash away from financial ruin. Yet, there’s also hope amid new technology and advances in ag science that help farmers and ranchers work more productively.

Underlying it all is the tension of an urban-rural divide – not just economically and culturally, but also politically – that some say is deepening even as others see common ground. Is Colorado’s ever-more-metropolitan political culture growing tone-deaf to the concerns of our rural citizens?

Has the General Assembly become so skewed toward issues of interest to constituents in Colorado’s larger cities that there’s less bandwidth to address policies pertinent to rural life? Or, are lawmakers in fact taking on policy making that serves all the state’s citizens, rendering labels like urban and rural moot? Both views are presented here.

On this much all can agree: The next time you sit down to dinner – even if it was cooked in your own kitchen – it’s a safe bet that many, many hands helped prepare that meal before it ever made it to your table.

Here’s a chance to learn a little more about their lives.

Watch for nine essays on rural Colorado now through the end of the week at ColoradoPolitics.com.

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