San Luis Valley Community Needs Assessment 2021 - 2023
San Luis Valley Community Needs Assessment 2021 - 2023 San Luis Valley Community Action Agency 2021 - 2023 Community Profile Data For the San Luis Valley1 Overview of the current community conditions for the following areas (see map below): • Alamosa County, Colorado • Conejos County, Colorado • Costilla County, Colorado • Mineral County, Colorado • Rio Grande County, Colorado • Saguache County, Colorado 1 http://www.communityactioncna.org/, ; community needs assessment online tool, prepared 8/05/20 San Luis Valley Comprehensive Economic Development Strategies, SLV Development Resources Group Page 1 of 89, report date: 9/23/2020 The San Luis Valley – our Story The San Luis Valley in south-central Colorado is located about midway between Denver and Albuquerque, the largest alpine valley in North America. The vast, flat surface of the valley floor at 7,500 feet is bordered on the east by the sharply rising Sangre de Cristo Mountains, which ascend to 14,000-foot peaks and to the west by the more gradually rising foothills and 12,000-foot peaks of the San Juans, which mark the Continental Divide. The Sangre de Cristos – Spanish for “blood of Christ” - are so-named for their rose hue at sunset. Both ranges join near Poncha Pass at the north end of this valley forming a ring of mountains, while the open end to the south slopes gradually downward after crossing the New Mexico state line. The great open space of the desert plain and the rugged snow-capped peaks of the Sangre de Cristos in spring resemble a veritable “altiplano” of the Rockies. This is also home to the Great Sand Dunes, which are the tallest dunes in North America and of the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.
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