SALIDA, Colo. — The last of the aspen and cottonwood leaves are falling in this former mining town, where a boom-to-bust economy was once a fact of life.
With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, more of a bust-to-boom scenario was created in Salida, a city of 6,000 that fell on hard times like communities across the U.S. as businesses closed under stay-at-home orders and once gainfully employed residents landed in the unemployment line.
But in mid-May, locals witnessed a sudden change: City dwellers started visiting Salida for a weekend — or even longer to ride out the pandemic and…
