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My community is a holding company.
It’s real estate designed rarely to be used that mimics Old
Faithful Inn in Yellowstone Park — parkitechture if you will,
which lays empty but gaudy upon our mountainscape.
These are not homes. In the West’s resort towns, these are
parking spots for the executive bonus. Since financial diversification
is prudent, take it a step further: don’t just buy real estate,
buy vistas, mountaintops and macro-landscape. Corporate homes are
the equivalent of $15-million mutual fund portfolios or offshored
bank accounts, with the perk of tax deductions or business expenses.
In recent research compiled by the Northwest Colorado
Council of Governments, 47 percent of second homeowners in Colorado’s
central mountains were primarily motivated to purchase the asset
as an investment.
As I analyze Pitkin County Assessor’s data of
homeowners, , the preponderance are LLCs, LLPs, and other tax-advantaged
non-person entities. There is little that points to the messy vitality
of authentic dwelling. In fact, “dwelling” couldn’t
be more of a misnomer.
Though freedom entitles each of us to buy as many homes as we can
afford, the locals of resort communities experience “externalities”
— the economic term for unintended consequence.Lack of local
housing, long commutes, inaffordable groceries, and loss of community.
Investment home purchases fuel irrational appreciation. Investment
property is more likely to be “flipped” than is a full-time
locally owned home. Flipping elbows out prospective, full-time residents
whose salaries can’t keep pace.
A friend who manages construction sites for a prominent local contractor
drives 47 miles, one way daily, often departing home at 5:30 a.m.
to beat the morning rush-hour into Aspen; upwards of 11,000 cars
commute in between 7:30 and 9:30 am. They don’t drive for
sake of scenery. They drive because they can’t afford to live
any closer.
Colorado College’s recently released State of
the Rockies Report Card identifies a 20 percent increase in median
home price in the Rockies ($185,200.) In Colorado, the median price
is $223, 300. That is laughably cheap for an Aspenite: median homes
here are valued at $4 million! These values are not uncommon (though
perhaps more appreciated) among Western resorts.
As well, consider the psychological impacts of living
in a town full of empty homes. Renowned psychologist Alfred Adler
theorized that humans have a proclivity toward cooperation. He identified
“communal feeling” as central to the psychological well-being
of each member of the community, and as that communal feeling is
eroded, all members of the community are harmed.
Mass absentee ownership slits the wrists of communal feeling.
But these absentee owners don’t domicile in modest condos.
That might be one thing. But 10,000 square feet is evidently a tight
fit. I marvel at the gumption necessary to build yourself a monolith
visible from nearly every part of town.
The term mansion is derived from Latin, meaning “to
remain or stay” and shares a root with “manor.”
Manors, large enough to be self-sustaining, historically housed
the parish priest. In the scale of nomenclature, “palace”
and then “castle” build up from “mansion.”
But the palaces looking down 1,000 feet above Aspen
are so large they render the term quaint. Bill McKibben visited
my boss, John McBride, in Aspen recently and remarked, gesturing
at Red Mountain, how many new high schools had gone up since he
was last here., mistaking new homes for educational institutions.
Indeed every home on Red Mountain merits castle classification,
yet without its historical accompaniment: no team of workers is
housed on property to maintain it. Instead laborers drive 40 miles
from Cheap Rent, Colo., in a 12-mpg pick-ups, laden with tools destined
to remodel, reinvent, or repair the glittering portico of the castle.
Yes, this is an economy, but one barren of community and one that
pillages our sense of place.
These owners may practice philanthropy and pay taxes in our community,
but that does not induct one into community membership. Instead
consider these perks of actual belonging:
1) Being a judge at science fair;
2) Freezing your toes off serving cocoa at the annual tree lighting;
3) Collecting your own mail daily;
4) Ushering at church;
5) Serving as a Big Sister or Brother;
6) Cultivating a plot in the community garden.
Locals: be defensive over the hallowed place genuine
participation holds. Part-time residents: I wish you the privilege
of true belonging in so magnificent a spot. A jet parking spot and
a heated driveway are shells, sadly deceptive, of real membership.
Locals: be defensive over the hallowed place genuine
participation holds. Part-time residents: I wish you the privilege
of true belonging in so magnificent a spot. A jet parking spot and
a heated driveway are shells, sadly deceptive, of real membership.
We all share the fantasy of blending in as a local
wherever we visit. A cup of coffee, seated at the favorite café,
reading the local paper — ah! “This look does us good,”
we say. But if you want to truly experience localism in resort towns,
buckle up for a long commute, adopt a harried expression, and resign
yourself to living in a a cramped apartment. Now you look the part!
Piper Foster received her B.A. in Politics
at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash. She served as a legislative
aide for Congressman George Nethercutt, Jr. in his Washington DC
office, and lived in Barcelona studying music and Arabic. She worked
in the Development office at Rocky Mountain Institute prior to joining
the Sopris Foundation in May 2005. She is a candidate for the November
boards to earn her Certified Financial Planning designation.
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