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Mostly cloudy early, then thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High 64F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..
Scattered thunderstorms this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. Low near 45F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Updated: June 4, 2023 @ 6:38 am
Both Park City, Utah, and Ketchum-Sun Valley are short of workers and affordable housing.
Last week, Park City’s Economic and Business Development Manager Jason Glidden brought a small Ketchum audience some eye-opening facts about the impact of the shortages on his town.
Although the Utah ski town is bigger than Ketchum-Sun Valley, to dismiss what has happened there as irrelevant to the situation here would be a mistake.
Just 14% of the Park City workforce lives in Park City compared to Ketchum’s even lower 7%.
Every day, nearly 8,800 out-of-county workers commute to Park City on Interstate Highway 80 and often slow traffic to a crawl. Traffic congestion has become so bad that bus-only lanes were created just to keep buses moving.
Not surprisingly given those numbers, Park City also has a parking problem.
Housing in Park City is unaffordable for those who work in city-based jobs. Residential prices increased by 35% in 2021 and 17% in 2022, rates far higher than inflation. The gap between what local workers can afford and the median price of a home or condo is now an insurmountable $500,000.
A mix of rising numbers of short-term rentals, development of large market-rate second homes and a sudden increase in demand produced its housing shortage and sky-high prices.
Glidden noted that large market-rate homes and short-term rentals also have contributed to a rising need for service employees, and thus for more affordable housing.
If this sounds familiar, it is. Park City differs from Ketchum-Sun Valley only in its scale.
It became clear as Glidden spoke that without aggressive intervention that Park City eventually will become a glittering shell of what was once a vibrant small community of people who pursued lives enriched by outdoor activities but were limited by what resort-based jobs generated in earnings.
Why should anyone, especially second homeowners in mountain towns, care that working residents have been priced out?
Glidden answered the question with a question: Do you care that your favorite restaurant closed?
His question raises others.
Do you care that the people who know you, welcome you to their shops and eateries year after year and instantly make you part of mountain life are disappearing as housing prices force them out?
Do you care that the locally owned places you fell in love with, the places that made you feel at home, are being replaced by faceless corporate chains whose sole focus is not you but your wallet?
The situation in Park City shows that parking isn’t a zero sum game in which refusing to develop workforce housing will keep mountain towns quaint and uncongested. They will become parking lots instead. The taller buildings will be parking towers, not workforce housing.
There are lots of small towns in Idaho that have plenty of parking at any hour of any day. However, they don’t possess a world-famous ski mountain, access to glorious hiking, biking and boating on public lands. Their culinary attractions end at a juicy steak or burger. None are centers for world-class visual and performing arts.
If Park City is not to be prologue to the future of the Ketchum-Sun Valley area, voters must throw their support behind measures on the ballot in the May 16 election that would re-direct portions of existing local-option sales tax revenues to development of workforce housing.
“Our View” represents the opinion of the newspaper editorial board, which is made up of members of its board of directors. Remarks may be directed to editorialboard@mtexpress.com.
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(11) comments
Park City is 20 from a major metropolis, Salt Lake. Its not the work force its the parking thats the problem. Park City has build a 4 story high parking lot parallel Main Street which is sweet. and now the surrounding areas will just have to do the same, simple. Ketchum is completely different demographic.
Isn’t “Park City” something to be avoided, not emulated? Voting “for’ in the referendum is a vote to accelerate the Aspenization of the WRV. Those who don’t see that have not been paying attention to what is going on in Ketchum City Hall, the SVASB, FSVA and VSV, all with the support of the major beneficiary.
the "market" has already elevated wages in Blaine County. The average retail or food service worker makes $20-$25/hr. As a result, prices are commensurately higher here. You can get the same haircut in Twin Falls for $25 that costs you $50 locally. But even those wages that are lofty compared to what similar jobs pay in the rest of the state aren't enough to rent a home, much less buy one. The market hasn't adjusted wages and prices enough to find an equilibrium at which housing becomes affordable. This is a classic situation where gov't intervention is warranted. But we have to be more careful about how we allocate our tax $. We have to stop building affordable places that are then rented or sold to part-time residents.
"A living wage is the income required to cover basic family needs without reliance on outside assistance."
"A living wage is defined as the minimum income necessary for a worker to meet their basic needs."
This exact rationale has been printed in the IME the past 20 years (at least). Yet our valley thrives. The WRV housing challenges mirror those in the broader US. Its not just resort towns. If we truly care about our locals and our built environment, then approach the problem from the living wage side of the demand imbalance. Implement minimum living wage standards so workers are paid enough to live closer. Building affordable housing (only) will never solve the problem. There is a limitless demand for below-market living in pretty places like ours. Stop subsidizing private businesses with cheap housing - force them to pay living wages (or perish).
When it comes to this issue, I beg to differ that 'our valley thrives...' I think you fail to recognize that if you mandate a 'living wage' (whatever that means) that prices will increase for the consumer. That's just the nature of capitalism regardless of the type of community. So some of the same people that demand employers to 'pay a living wage', will be the same folks who will take their business to Amazon, Twin Falls or Boise for their shopping because "prices are so expensive here." Subsidizing private business - as you call it, trickles down to the consumer to keep prices competitive here in the valley. This is the nature of a small-town resort economy...you can't and won't have both your 'living wage' and competitive prices. Employers will raise prices to cover increased wages, will experience a reduction in business, will need to layoff people, experience labor shortages, reduced hours, etc. in order to survive. Sound familiar? It should because it is already happening.
Are you advocating that the Valley`s labor force should sacrifice their wages to support (failing) Valley businesses for the benefit of the consumer (tourists)?
Don't put words in my mouth. I'm just stating the obvious...no one is in business for charity, and mandating a 'living wage' (which is a ridiculous term in and of itself because it cannot be clearly defined or measured) will have consequences to the consumer (made up of community members AND tourists - but tourists usually don't leave their vacations to travel to Twin Falls or Boise to do their shopping), and eventually will come back to hurt the business because locals aren't purchasing there. It's already happening with many businesses.
It`s illegal for counties to set a minimum wage, in Idaho.
"Do you care" that your LOT tax for housing would only act to further suppress wages for workers and benefit employers with tax revenue for their inadequacies in providing a Real Living Wage to their help?
This is an important insight.
Welcome to the discussion.
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