From Mining Hub to Affluent Playground: Migration, Equity, and Housing Challenges in Crested Butte, CO
By Madeleine Gallop, Middlebury College, Colorado
Keywords: rural gentrification, linked migration, amenity migration, rural idyll
As Crested Butte transitioned away from the mining industry, the allure of the town's natural scenery and abundant year-round recreational opportunities began attracting a wave of upper-class homebuyers. As more affluent residents staked their claim, the demand for luxury amenities soared, giving rise to upscale boutiques, gourmet eateries, and high-end entertainment options.
In local magazines, the town projects itself as the image of the rural idyll: it markets a high-end lifestyle, emphasizes play over work, and touts a way of life accessible only to the rich.
These changes revitalized the local economy, but as the town's character evolved, so did its social fabric.
While the influx of upper-class, natural amenity-seeking migrants fueled economic growth, it also becomes important to acknowledge that the demand for Crested Butte relies on foreign laborers residing in the wider Gunnison Valley, especially Latinx workers and Cora migrants from the Sierra Madre Occidental Range in Mexico.
And the subsequent appreciation in property value has made it increasingly challenging for the workforce – the “invisible backbone” of the town – to afford homes within its limits.
This predicament has led to a spatial separation. Latinx and less affluent white workers who contribute to the town’s prosperity find themselves displaced from Crested Butte and are becoming more concentrated in peripheral areas in the Gunnison Valley.
At the same time, legislative and social initiatives in the Gunnison Valley seek to help predominantly Latinx migrants. Events aiming to bring different groups in the lower Valley together as well as resources in English and Spanish across several different websites, illustrate Gunnison’s efforts to integrate the Latinx community better, both socially and professionally. In contrast, the town of Crested Butte has fewer visible resources for migrant workers, and several initiatives in the town work to increase affordability. For example, a 2013 Crested Butte town ordinance ensures that residents in affordable housing developments spend no more than 30% of their gross income on housing costs.
While some locals are adapting to the increasing costs of living in Crested Butte by moving farther away from town, many of the most marginalized residents aren’t able to stay in the Valley.
Crested Butte News reporter Katherine Nettles writes about a manufactured housing community that changed hands in August 2022, where residents will now experience a $300 monthly rent increase (from $400 to $700).
One resident at risk of losing his home said that moving “down Valley'' would be cost-prohibitive due to the expense of gas, stating, “[a]fter being passed around so many times my best option at this point is probably not in the Valley.” And unlike other ski towns in Colorado, Crested Butte is geographically isolated, with only a sparse number of cheaper down-valley options. While the Gunnison Valley is trying to provide resources and local support for Crested Butte’s workers, not all its residents are able to stay.
As Crested Butte grapples with preserving its character, the call for equitable solutions to its emerging crises grows stronger. The ever-increasing numbers of “Help Wanted” signs point to the difficulties inherent in keeping enough workers in the town to support it.
The town must embrace strategies that celebrate diversity, bridge divides, and weave together the stories of its long-standing residents and newcomers. If it doesn’t, its sustainability, unique geography, and resilience of its social fabric will remain in question.
— Madeleine Gallop
Author’s Bio
Thanks Madeleine for your piece. As someone who lived in the Gunnison Valley for 10 years, who was forced to leave for many of the reasons you mention, and who now researches rural livelihoods, I really appreciated your focus on this piece. My masters research focuses on the Cora and their presence in the Gunnison Valley.