Places like Aspen, Colorado, Whitefish, Montana, Ketchum, Idaho, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Park City, Utah … they may be different in their levels of affordability and character, but they all similarly continue to draw an increasing number of people seeking an exceptional quality of life. This of course creates the challenge of how to preserve the very reason people are attracted to these mountain towns in the first place.
Saving a Ski Town’s Soul, Smart Growth, Affordable Housing, Sustainability
You only need to spend a small amount of time checking out the local ski town newspapers and blogs in the Rocky Mountain West to clearly see that these issues are a major community focus.
New West Travel and Outdoors Editor Bill Schneider wraps up his series of articles about Whitefish, Montana with Stand Strong, Whitefish.
The blog entry today on Steamboat Springs, Colorado – Real Estate News, Vision 2030 group discuss Valley’s Future discusses the future of Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
One of the great things about the internet today is that we can easily learn about what is going on in other areas and participate in conversations online with people facing similar issues.
Modern boomtowns boom because they’re ‘nice places’ is an article that was published last month in the Idaho Mountain Express that I found very interesting.
Jonathan Schechter of the Charture Institute believes the economies of communities like Ketchum and other nice places to live are no longer primarily tourism-driven but, rather, fueled by their natural resources and because they are “nice places.”
Schechter gave his presentation titled, “Sustaining the Gold Goose: The Dynamics of Growth in Resort Communities, & What They Can Do About It,” to the Colorado Association of Ski Towns when it met in Jackson in late September.
How do you preserve a ski town’s character, protect its natural environment and maintain a thriving community of people that can afford to live and work there. Challenging it is … but communities working together to come up with creative solutions is surely a good place to start.