Economics

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

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Economics

Over the past 10-15 years, the real estate and construction sectors have become the dominant industry in the Aspen area economy, surpassing the original drivers of the resort economy - skiing, lodging and retail/restaurants.

Real Estate. From 2003 - 2006, the total volume of real estate sales in Pitkin County more than doubled from $1.13 billion to $2.64 billion, and real estate employment jumped 32% between 2001 and 2006.

Construction. In 2001, there were 379 building permit applications to the City of Aspen, with a total building permit value of $108.7 million. In 2007, there were 863 applications for a total value of $255.3 million.

Economics

Skiing. From 2000 to 2006/7, Aspen's four ski mountains have roughly maintained their 11-12 percent share of Colorado resort skier visits. From 2001/2 to 2006/7, skier visits have climbed 14% at the four mountains.

Lodging. Since 1994/5, the total pillow count has dropped 27%, with the biggest decrease in "economy lodge" (-79%) and "moderate condos" (-47%). By contrast, the decrease was smaller for "deluxe condos" (-9%) and "deluxe lodge" (-7%). Despite this decrease, taxable lodging sales jumped 49% from 2003 to 2007, indicating a shift upwards in prices.

Retail/Restaurants. While taxable retail sales were up 9% between 2000 and 2007, including a 5% increase in restaurants/bars (adjusted for inflation). At the same time, employment in the retail sector dropped 9% -- with a job decline of 5% for restaurants/bars. It's no surprise that the total number of restaurants/bars/coffeehouses in the Aspen downtown slipped from 90 in 2000 to 76 in 2008. Of note: The biggest drop in taxable retail sales was -21%, and came in specialty (tourist-oriented) retail.

Linkage to other issues

There are precious few issues in the Aspen area that exist in a vacuum. Here are a few topics that are directly related to the local economy.

Housing. As more jobs are created in the Aspen area during economic booms, there is additional pressure placed on the community's goal of housing a healthy portion of its workforce. At the same time, economic booms result in a spike in land prices, driving up subsidies for affordable housing. At the same time, a spike in revenues from the Real Estate Transfer Tax helps pay for future affordable housing.

Transportation. Successful air travel remains a critical piece of a destination resort economy, and while enplanements have risen, the airport is undergoing a master planning process to handle modern-day pressures.

Sustaining the Aspen Idea. While a never-ending debate could be held on what the legacy of the Aspen Idea should be, there appears to be a correlation between a wave of philanthropic giving to non-profi ts (arts and others) during local real estate booms. In a non-philanthropic sense, increased revenues from the Real Estate Transfer Tax in recent years are building an endowment for the Wheeler Opera House.