Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Mountain Town News


By ALLEN BEST - MTN TOWN NEWS SERVICE

Bend now poster child of another sort

BEND, Ore.—Bend has been a poster child of the amenity-based West for the last decade. A onetime timber town, it has a ski area on Mt. Bachelor, flyfishing in the Deschutes River, and famous rock climbing. Located just east of the Cascades, it also has sunshine and, of no small matter, a significant airport to allow lone ranger entrepreneurial types easy access to the outside world.

But the days of rapid growth have been upended. The New York Times notes that the unemployment rate, at almost 16 percent, is one of the highest of any metropolitan area in the nation. Luxury furniture stores are going out of business. San Francisco chefs have fled. And, of course "for sale" signs dot still-unfinished subdivisions.

"Economists say the city's sudden abundance of investment income and housing equity from newcomers made Bend seem more secure than it was," reports the Times. Much of that new wealth was derived from California.

Symbolic of the changed circumstances are two magazines. Bend Living, a now defunct magazine, was supported by advertisements for high-end homes and luxury furniture. The editor, Kevin Max, described the magazine as being "about Bend's emergence into 24-7, go-go-go, irresponsible construction and people living beyond their means." A magazine he is now planning he describes as something else. "It's about Oregon, so it's all about sustainability."

Crested Butte ski area submits new plans

CRESTED BUTTE, Colo.—After many years of talking about it, Crested Butte Mountain Resort has officially submitted formal notice of its wish to develop a new ski area adjacent to the existing one. The expansion onto Snodgrass Mountain, as is now being proposed, would include 262 acres of lift-served ski terrain, of which 118 acres would be of intermediate-level difficulty.

Operators of the ski area have long insisted that to enjoy efficiency of operations and hence profitability, they need to have 500,000 to 600,000 skier days annually, a sharp increase over current levels.

That increase, they say, needs to come primarily from destination skiers, who favor intermediate-level terrain. As it is, they may tire of Crested Butte's skiing after two or three days. Accordingly, they often don't return for a second year, and hence marketing costs for the resort are higher than at a Vail, Breckenridge or Snowmass.

Aspen considers hearth versus health

ASPEN, Colo.—Aspen has started to talk again about its open-pit hearth. Located on a downtown street near the ski slopes, the hearth was created in a response to the economic slowdown early this century.

But in 2005, the town went very public with its vows, encapsulated in the Canary Initiative, to knock back carbon emissions. How can a community that has vowed to take greenhouse gas emissions seriously condone burning of natural gas in the great outdoors, just so people can gather to see the flickering flames?

The Aspen Times explains that town officials tried to figure out a compromise, keeping the hearth but burning something other than a fossil fuel. Some suggested burning candles or, because Aspen has so much, dog poop. Other options examined were to create a solar source or deliver hydrogen fuel. None were satisfactory.

Kim Peterson, who now directs the Canary Initiative, sees the hearth as a non-issue.

"I honestly don't think the fire heater is our problem in Aspen," he said. "It's such a tiny part of our carbon output here."

During winter, the hearth undeniably adds a cheery ambiance to the downtown mall. Alas, reports the Times, some of those who congregate in the fading light of winter afternoons are not the cherubic faces of children toasting marshmallows. Instead, a "decidedly seedier element often congregates there," flinging profanity, drinking in public and several times allegedly engaging in unlawful sexual contact.

Aspen shows up in Sanford's mash notes

ASPEN, Colo.—Aspen showed up in the steamy love letters of philandering South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford. The Aspen Daily News notes that Sanford's letters to his mistress, published in a South Carolina newspaper, mentioned Aspen as he described his travel activities last August.

"The following weekend have been asked to spend it out in Aspen, Colo., with (presidential candidate) McCain—which has kicked up the whole VP talk all over again in the press back home," Sanford wrote to his sweetie.

McCain chose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate, of course. But it seems that a couple of other Republican politicians considered possible vice presidential material—Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and South Dakota Sen. John Thune—were in Aspen at the same time to meet with McCain.

Telluride looks past events

MOUNTAIN VILLAGE, Colo. -- Businesses owners and officials in Mountain Village, the joined-at-the-gondola slope-side town above Telluride, have been soberly questioning whether such things as evening concerts are a good way to spend money.

The problem, explains the Telluride Watch, is that revenues have dropped sharply, particularly from real estate assessments -- 69 percent below the average of the previous nine years.

The sponsorship of events, including concerts at sunset, costs $845,000 per year, but there were plenty of people to defend the cost as worthwhile.

But Dave Riley, the chief executive of Telluride Ski and Golf Co., the ski area operator, sees a broader problem. "I think we've gotten ourselves in this pickle here because for 20 years we've been riding a real estate development boom," he said.

"We can't 'event' ourselves out of this problem," he concluded.




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