AARP: GJ top place on $100 a day

The AARP magazine has named the city of Grand Junction one of the top ten places to live on $100 a day.

"There are mountains in one direction, the desert in the other, and rivers that run through," Franklin Dagley said of the area's beauty. It is the views of western Colorado that have kept him here for the last 44 years.

"In 1968, I came to attend Mesa State College and have stayed here ever since."

In 2003, Dagley retired but he finds himself even busier than before. "I've been doing a lot more service type of things that I had planned to," the senior pastor, chaplain, and youth program volunteer said.

According to the American Association of Retired Persons, hundreds more people his age are settling right here in the Grand Valley as well.

The article describes living on $100 a day. If you factor in rent, groceries, utilities and other costs of living, business owners aren't so sure it's that much of a good thing.

"It's great for them that they can live on $100 a day, but that is not going to support a local economy," one business owner said.

"It makes me think about how much money is left over for me, my shop, and all the others in this city," another added.

Diane Schwenke, CEO of the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce, clarified the article's findings. "It made the distinction between living cheaply and also experiencing a great quality of life," she said.

Schwenke says while some may worry about more retired folks headed to the region, she thinks it's a great sign that the city could be climbing out of the recession.

"It's not a bad thing," she said. "It was actually a strategy after our last boom-bust cycle that we went after the active retiree. These folks have resources, could buy homes... and help generate jobs."

"They are people with money who don't necessarily need a job."

Schwenke also hopes the national attention from the AARP will only help attract more retirees to the area. "Getting the kind of national publicity that we can get is good for us overall," she said.

Those already settled in the community just hope the secret doesn't get too far out. "I just hope we don't get too many people taking advantage of it," Dagley said.