CHANGES

The part of Cottonwood, Arizona known as Old Town Cottonwood could probably better be known as New Cottonwood these days.

When we lived in a tiny apartment just a short distance out of town, it was a decaying old area full of empty buildings with a few arty types and some locals who had grown up in the area.

Now?

It's been gentrified.

I drove the 50 miles over the mountains, through a tourist-clogged Jerome, and visited it the other day.

These pictures show just a tiny part of the former village.

That big art store used to house the smaller place on the right, selling military supplies.

A building that housed a small cafe where we used to have breakfast is gone, replaced by a huge boutique hotel.

The old movie theatre is now a trendy restaurant.

There are restaurants and bars and outlets for tasting and buying products of the nearby burgeoning Verde Valley wineries.

There are art galleries and a bookstore and stores selling tourist kitsch and others selling antiques.

And what could better display the gentrification than this:

I also visited a state park that used to have some RV'ers living in it and a small stream that hosted bird watching events.

Now, it's a humongous area that stretches for miles and houses not only several RV areas but also some cabins and a big well-tended lagoon for fishing, bird-watching and just idling.

There's also a business where you can rent a horse for rides through the park.

I was amazed by the size of it and how it has grown so rapidly until I searched my memory for when we lived in the area.

I startled myself when I realized we had moved away 24 years ago!

I guess nearly a quarter of a century can make some big changes.