KOTO Radio Show: Voices & Visions with Bill Carstens

Description

A KOTO Radio Show, called Voices & Visions, in which Barry Cook and Rita Robinson interview Bill Carstens. Bill is from San Diego and moved to Telluride because he fell in love with the land. How does Bill describe himself? Not as a developer, but as an environmental enhancer. He's also a father, a pilot, and an attorney. Bill has been a developer for 15 years. He also practiced law for 15 years, mostly business law, in San Diego, but he did serve as a legal officer in the Marines for 4 years. While in law, he had many real estate clients. This is where Bill started dabbling in real estate, and it grew into a 17 year career. The conversation then returns to why Bill came to Telluride. He was visiting a friend in 1980, saw the falls on Society turn, and fell in love with Telluride. After the airport was built, he started landing his plane in Telluride and spent more time there. Carstens ended up buying the T&T ranch (previously the Snider ranch). Bill really likes working with land and describes Telluride as a magical place. Bill says he always feels welcome in Telluride, enjoys the history here, and the people. Carstens also likes the changes he has seen in the town real estate--the fixing up of the homes in town. He states that people feel like they belong here. Bill doesn't miss San Diego and spends about 75% of his time there. Bill really enjoys his career developing land as he says he likes to share the land with people. He helps future residents to secure power, wells, roads, etc.. so that they can have a turn key home in the woods. Bill believes there is plenty of land for both recreation (undeveloped land) and for developed land. His first project was buying a place called "the Bluffs" which is on Iron Springs Mesa, near Placerville. He then worked on the Peninsula, another area near Placerville, off the highway, on the way to Norwood. What are Bill's personal interests? He enjoys hiking, the scenery, tennis, racket ball, and swimming. Bill sees the growth that is occurring in Telluride as "normal", manageable growth. Because of Telluride's geography, the town cannot grow too much. He doesn't want the town to loose its character. To attract more residents, Bill believes we need to sell Telluride, first and then the real estate will sell. He states that the Telluride residents do not need to be concerned about Bill's land development, since most of it is outside of Telluride. In fact, it helps to increase the town's revenue, as these residents will shop in town. Bill states that developers are good people and not just trying to make a buck. Bill loves that there is such a mixture of people in Telluride--everyone from the uneducated to the people that have PHD's. People are not judged based on their levels of education, but rather, their characters. What's next for Bill? He plans on staying here. Telluride is a piece of heaven and being here is a God send. Rasta Stevie then calls in to thank Bill for stating that people are not judged in Telluride on their race, looks or trust funds. This interview ends at about 35 minutes and then a couple of news shows air about the AIDS epidemic and the right to die debate. Supported in part by an award from the Colorado Historical Records Advisory Board, through funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), National Archives Records Administration