Aspen’s Past Lives in Crested Butte
August 4, 2017
Greetings from Crested Butte!
I just read an interesting opinion piece from Aspen Times writer Tony Vagneur: Aspen’s Past Lives in Crested Butte. Tony visited our town recently – for the first time – and he drew many parallels between Crested Butte today and Aspen 50 years ago. Crested Butte is experiencing an incredible surge in tourism and real estate investment causing many year round locals and 2nd homeowners alike to pause and wonder what our future holds. Crested Butte has done a lot of no-growth policy making over the years but it seems to me the more we’ve tried to stop it the more attractive we’ve become. Exclusivity does this. People want a piece of something special and right now the world is catching on to what has been created here. In some ways, we’ve already become a “mini-Aspen”.
Tony writes: “Crested Butte, the original town, is like any other mountain locale in that it must somehow find a way to keep its identity in the midst of rising popularity and growth. For now, it’s a wonderful slice from the past, a brand that says, “This is how we want to be.” There is a palpable fear among many of the residents that the Butte may one day become like Aspen.”
