A presentation on Ketchum's Downtown last week opened with a great new motto: Small Town, Big Life. Citizens crafted the phrase in a winter DesignFest.
The motto is inspired. It expresses exactly the mindset of people who live in all of the Wood River Valley's communities.
The real question before Ketchum is whether the motto will soon become "Small Town, No Life."
In his second major presentation to the public, consultant Tom Hudson talked about all the subjects that have provoked the most heated public debates in Ketchum. These include parking, building size, the disappearance of affordable workforce housing, and threats to historic buildings.
Said Hudson, "You have a place problem, not a parking problem."
He asked whether the city really owes every person who wishes to drive into the city a $40,000 parking space—all day, at no charge—when freeing them up with a better plan could increase retail business.
He proposed three-story buildings in the downtown, with businesses on the first floor. He also proposed protection of heritage buildings through a transfer of development rights to four-story buildings.
He demonstrated how buildings with more stories could be attractive and contribute to, not detract from, Ketchum's mountain-town character.
The strategy would bring the densities necessary to re-populate the place, create a more stable economy, and reduce the economic pressure that has left the city with shuttered storefronts in the middle of a residential development boom.
It could return life to a town where condos outnumber residents, and reverse the destruction and out-migration of the valley's middle class.
Hudson said the city could finance, build and sell 400 units of affordable workforce housing to workers in low-, middle- and high-income categories over the next 10 years. The city already owns land suitable for development of tiny retail spaces, housing and parking.
Given the major changes that could be ahead for Ketchum's downtown and the debate they may generate, attendance was sparse at last week's presentation by the city's consultant. Consequently, business owners and residents have some catching up to do. To make that easier, the Idaho Mountain Express has posted Hudson's Powerpoint presentation on its Web site www.sunvalleycentral.com.
Hudson said the city can't afford to dither. "You're in a crisis. You're going to turn the lights out at 5 p.m."
He's right.
Today, Ketchum needs three things: open minds, willingness to change, and action. Petty squabbling, pigheaded posturing and shortsighted development policies will get the city only what it already has: a ticket to becoming a small town with no life.
That won't be good for anyone.
