These are the good old days
The valley is growing, the highway is busy, commuters are coming
from as far as an hour away, finding workers is like looking for a snowflake in the
desert, affordable housing is scarce, NIMBYism is rampant, Louie’s is history and it
still hasn’t snowed.
This is the beginning of the holiday season in the Wood River
Valley—and what’s to like? A lot.
In the middle of the multitude of local squabbles, it’s
important not to lose sight of what’s unique and right about this special valley.
It’s important to be aware of what is happening in other ski towns, particularly in
Colorado and Utah.
A group of local planners and residents recently traveled to Aspen
to study the town and the Roaring Fork Valley. Trips like this one are a must for
residents interested in the future of their own valley.
Skiing is an Industry—with a capital I—in both states.
The Industry and amenities-seeking homeowners have irrevocably changed the landscape from
wild lands to cities in the mountains. One-time villages have been replaced by urban
complexes—complete with suburban sprawl.
The ski complexes that lie along the Interstate 70 route between
Denver and Aspen are enormous. When they’re full, they count hundreds of thousands of
visitors and residents. Six-story condo-hotels and commercial strips snaking along access
roads are the norm. Houses blanket the hillsides. So-called "affordable towns"
like Avon (at the base of Beaver Creek) and Edwards are growing together as part of the
expanding urban web.
The 2002 Olympics venues are changing the face of Park City, Utah.
The eyes of the world are focused on the place—and so are the wallets. Park City now
boasts 103 restaurants—about twice the number here—and their numbers are
increasing 10 percent to 15 percent a year.
American Skiing Corp. is betting the world will like Park City and
is investing $137 million in a new resort development there called The Canyons. It’s
no condo complex. It is a village on the order of Whistler, B.C., complete with retail
operations.
Compared to all this, the Wood River Valley is a sleepy little
backwater. Our towns look quaint and small, and have a wild feel that similar towns in
Colorado lost long ago.
That’s the good news and the bad news. Given that Baldy is a
serious skier’s mountain with limited terrain for beginning skiers and given that Sun
Valley is not next door to an international airport, it’s unlikely the valley will
change as quickly as Colorado and Utah.
Yet, contrary to a prevailing valley myth, the continuing
challenge here will be to have a viable resort economy in the face of enormous
competition. Colorado sucks up skiers like a kid with a straw in his favorite soda. Cruise
ship companies, desert resorts and amusement parks work feverishly for their share of the
travel market.
The Wood River Valley’s challenge is to remain economically
viable without destroying the things that make the valley special. It has the incredible
benefit of being able to adopt strategies that worked in mountain towns that faced growth
first, and to avoid the strategies that didn’t.
The valley has time to do it better. In the meantime, we should
enjoy the good old days because they are here, now.
