1,000 People Can Make A Difference

State of the
Aspen Area

Speaker
Series

Aspen Economy
White Paper

Random
Survey

Small Group
Meetings

Survey
Results

Large Group
Meetings

Planning &
Zoning Review

City Council &
BOCC Review

State of the Aspen Area: 2000-2008
September 17

This report contains up to date information on a range of issues that have traditionally been important to the Aspen community, ranging from transportation to housing and growth. Did you know that the City has issued 9,886 building permits with a value of $2.4 billion since 2000? This is just one piece of information contained in this comprehensive report. Included are reader-friendly summaries
of each topic.

Speaker Series
September 17 - October

Staff visited various groups and organizations in the Aspen area to offer a PowerPoint presentation on the highlights of the State of the Aspen Area report, and the public process for generating a Community Vision for the Aspen Area.

'White Paper' on the
Aspen Economy
October 20

This is a rare opportunity to gain a new understanding of the unique and powerful resort economy that drives many important issues in the Aspen area. The City of Aspen hired an international resort consulting firm (Economics Research Associates) to draft this 'White Paper.' The report is reader-friendly and accessible to the general public.

Random Survey
November

A survey has been mailed to random households in the Aspen area, asking a wide range of questions about your vision for the future. This approach has been tested in mountain communities before, and will be a statistically accurate reflection of community values, likes and dislikes. Results will be available in January 2009.

Small Group Meetings
Oct 27 - Nov 14

More than 150 people recently participated in 11 small group meetings in October and November, offering their visions and goals for the future. These meetings were not intended to produce a consensus of any kind, but to express a range of goals and visions. A summary of notes from these meetings are available on the "Small Group Meetings" page.

Survey Results
2nd week January

The results of the random survey that was mailed to Aspen area residents in November will be available on the website. This is a values-based survey that can help form the Community Vision for the Aspen area.

Large Community Vision Meetings
January 27, January 31

Our goal is to have at least 350 people attend each of three public meetings, so more than 1,000 people can take part in drafting a Community Vision for the Aspen Area. We'll use a number of methods, including wireless voting keypads to explore the community's values. For more information and to RSVP and reserve your clicker, please see the homepage.

Planning and Zoning
Commission Review
March

This will be a more traditional and formalized process where the Planning and Zoning Commissions of both the City and the County will review a draft of the Community Vision for the Aspen Area. This will include legally noticed public hearings that anyone can attend to offer their comments.

City Council and Board of County Commissioners Review
April

This will be a more traditional and formalized process where the Aspen City Council and the Pitkin County Board of Commissioners will review a draft of the Community Vision for the Aspen Area, while also considering the input of both planning and zoning commissions. This will include legally noticed public hearings that anyone can attend to offer their comments.

Printable Version

Register for Updates

1,000 People Can Make A Difference

Public Meetings Use Clickers to Generate 10-Year Vision

ASPEN - The biggest public meetings of the year are scheduled for January 27 and 31, 2009.

City and county staff are aiming to attract a total of 1,000 people to a user-friendly session that is intended to generate a Community Vision for the Aspen Area, intended to guide the Aspen City Council and Pitkin County Commissioners for the next 10 years.

The gatherings at the St. Regis Ballroom and Aspen High School will feature instant voting using wireless keypads, a method that was first used on a sunny day in Aspen in July 2006, when more than 400 people attended two meetings on the subject of "Core Beliefs."

An overwhelming 89% of those who used the "clicker" technology at those 2006 meetings preferred the keypads as a method of expressing their opinions over traditional public hearings. When the clickers were used for these Core Beliefs sessions, it was typical to hear a buzz in the room as people reacted to the results on the big screen. It's truly a collective community experience.

Keypad voting is a relatively new form of democratic participation, but has been spreading widely - the "clickers" have been used to gain consensus on the redevelopment of the World Trade Center and to identify strategies to rebuild New Orleans.

The process of establishing a Community Vision for the Aspen Area is rooted in the idea of direct democracy -- that the widest possible community should generate a vision for the future rather than professional staff and 'experts.' The questions posed at these large public meetings come from the goals and visions expressed at a series of 11 small group meetings held last fall, when 174 people voiced their thoughts on the future of the Aspen area. They also come from sessions with almost 40 local students from Karen Green's high school civics classes.

When results from the keypad voting are in, they will be considered along with results from a statistically accurate, randomly-mailed survey to help generate a draft Community Vision for the Aspen Area. A total of 534 people have mailed in the lengthy survey, which is now being tabulated.

The City Council and County Commissioners - and both city and county P&Z commissions - will review and consider the Community Vision for adoption in March and April. That's another chance for the public to offer their comments and concerns.

Once a Community Vision is adopted, it will be the job of our city and county representative governments to implement the visions with more detailed initiatives. That could mean amending land use codes, changing work programs, adding or subtracting programs and initiatives - or new budgetary priorities. And the public will get to weigh in on those too.

Staff recognizes that time is precious, and spare time is rare. But we also believe that if 1,000 people invest a few hours now, it will result in a strong and coherent vision that could save hundreds of hours of exhausting debate later.

No homework is required to attend the upcoming community meetings and the questions will be crafted so that people can respond to them quickly and instinctively. But for those who want to study up, go to www.aspencommunityvision.com, where there is plenty of good information to look through.

The meetings are from 11:30 - 2:30 pm on Tuesday, Saturday 27 at the St. Regis; 5:30 - 8:30 pm (same day, same place) and from 2 - 5 pm on Saturday, January 31, at Aspen High School; food will be provided. Please RSVP and reserve your clicker for one of these meetings (one only!) at www.aspencommunityvision.com. Thank you for your time.