A few weeks ago, my 6-year-old son asked me to play the 2017 Monopoly Aspen Special Edition game. During setup, I marveled at how the game’s landmarks still stood in a city that wealth has obliterated. My son caught onto the game swiftly, and I soon found myself in a position of being land-rich and cash-poor, mortgaged to the hilt. I could feel the familiar anxiety blooming inside me as I started to think of my actual mortgage. I picked up the dice, reminding myself that I am one of the lucky ones to have a roof over my head. As the dice tumbled across the board, I was relieved to land on Free Parking and a pile of cash. With that roll, I transformed from a struggling single mother into a powerhouse developer.
I bought the Little Nell and the Limelight, first building cabins, then lodges. My properties’ rents started spiraling out of control. My son then landed in jail. I suggested being confined to prison may be the safest place for him, so as not to risk owing me rent. Soon, the city was mine, and I was flush with cash. In the next game, my son won, identifying my ruthless strategy and amassing a wealth of fake property and muted multicolored bills.
Eerily, Monopoly, a game of chance and strategy, mirrored the demise of my hometown of Aspen.
Greed has bankrupted the American dream. No longer does education, hard work and perseverance guarantee a living. The working class is slipping into the working poor due to the elite siphoning off wages, loopholing taxes and buying up property. The starter home no longer exists, and many locals are resorting to van life despite working full-time jobs. Often, the most brutally hit is a class I am intimately familiar with: the single mother. Like myself, Beth Grieser is a single mother bound to the Valley by the custody agreement of her 6-year-old son. Grieser was my son’s kindergarten teacher at Ross Montessori. She has been an educational professional in the Valley for 10 years. She has a master’s degree in special education, a bachelor’s degree in music education and Montessori teacher certification.Grieser has been housing insecure her entire time in the Valley, moving yearly. Twice, her units have been sold out from under her, and she has had to move from apartments infested with mice and roaches. Now, she rents a basement-level, one-bedroom apartment with no windows for $2,200 a month in Carbondale. Her income from the school is $2,800 net. She works two additional jobs, as director of Access After School and as a music tutor to financially compensate.
Grieser told me, “I am trying to provide a service that is not providing for me,” speaking of her profession as an educator. She said, “I am always in fear of housing scarcity. I feel like I am in constant competition with couples who have double incomes.” Grieser originally came to the Valley to enjoy the outdoor lifestyle of fishing, skiing and rafting. She recently had to sell all her gear to make first, last and security deposit. Working 60 hours a week, Grieser said she no longer has time or money to do anything for herself. She is not alone in her situation; the rent-burdened working class in the Valley scrambles to survive.
I grew up in the West End with brothers Colter and Bridger Smith, partners in the Black Mountain development. Their residential sketch plan recently received a nod of approval from the Basalt Town Council. As locals, they have witnessed how the housing shortage has affected workers and businesses across the Valley.
“People can’t keep managers, can’t find managers because they don’t have anywhere to live,” Bridger said. “Or they are losing them because the rent is going up too high, and they have to move out of the Valley.”
Intending to address the housing shortage, the brothers identified a 9.3-acre parcel within the urban growth boundary of Basalt. They believe it is a model location for local housing and an appropriate place to add density from an urban planning perspective. Bridger said, “This property is ideally situated as a transit-oriented property within .5 miles of a bus stop. It is sandwiched between the highway and the river, so it has the amenities of a river and the access to downtown.”
Utilizing the 2020 Basalt Master Plan, the brothers comprised the project of 64 units, a mix of studio to three-bedroom apartments, 50% of which will be deed-restricted. Additionally, there will be 12 short-term rental river cabins. The project targets multiple income levels and will offer 32 free-market units specifically to locals for the first 90 days.
”The goal is to sell 100% of this project to people who live and work in this valley,” Colter said, mentioning the school district, fire department, Aspen Valley Ski Club, Aspen Valley Hospital and Colorado Mountain College.
The brothers have been in talks with all of these organizations, and some of them have expressed interest in buying free market units to provide worker housing. Aspen Valley Hospital especially needs its workers to live within a certain proximity from the hospital. In this valley, the elite play Monopoly with a weighted dice, amassing property and pushing out the locals. Unlike the board game, the Valley cannot function without a local working class. When developers, businesses and local governments collaborate to enhance affordable housing offerings, we can have a healthy economy. Let’s throw out the dice and develop our valley with the intention that everyone can not just survive but thrive.