The Pandemic Made Living In Pitkin County More Expensive, And Part-Timers Stayed Longer aspenpublicradio.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from aspenpublicradio.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
If passed, the SHRED Act could generate substantial new revenues for the White River National Forest, which has 11 ski areas that pay fees for public lands. Those ski areas include Aspen Skiing Co.’s four ski areas as well as Vail, Beaver Creek and those in Summit County.
People enjoy an evening at Mountain Tap Brewery earlier this week. (Photo by John F. Russell)
Over the past several years, Steamboat Springs and Colorado’s other mountain towns have found themselves in a dilemma: relying on tourism to sustain their economies while also preserving community character, protecting natural resources and ensuring longtime locals and employees can still afford to live in town and do their jobs.
“It’s definitely a balancing act between preserving town character and the environment that attracts these people and a city’s tourism-based economy,” said Margaret Bowes, executive director of the Colorado Association of Ski Towns. “Our communities absolutely need to protect the things that have made them a destination in the first place.”
Steamboat Springs resident Ashley Otterness understands the challenges of finding long-term rental options in Steamboat Springs. The popularity of short-term rentals, like Airbnb, has increased the challenges for those looking for a place to live and work in mountain communities like ours.
After Ashley Otterness’ housing fell through at The Ponds at Steamboat, she had to scramble to find another living space so she could maintain her work at Steamboat Resort and Steamboat Whiskey Co.
For several days, it seemed the only housing Otterness could find was short-term rentals on Airbnb, VRBO or Vacasa.
“There are almost no options in town for people who actually work here,” Otterness said.
Northwest Colorado Council of Governments, special to the Daily
At first glance, a bunch of numbers jump out of a regional economic update published recently by the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments. Those numbers need a bit of explanation.
The council of governments does research about and provides services for five counties in northwest Colorado: Eagle, Grand, Jackson Pitkin and Summit. The latest report measures activity between the end of the third quarter in 2019 and the same period in 2020. That quarter ends at the end of September. As you’d expect, there are a lot of declines in the report, thanks primarily to the economic punch thrown by the COVID-19 pandemic.