Aspen and the American Dream

How is it possible for a town to exist where the median household income is about $73,000, but the median home price is about $4,000,000? Boring into the impossiblemath of Aspen, Colorado,Stuberexplores how middle-class people have found a way to live in thissupergentrified town. Interviewing a range of residents, policymakers, and officials,Stubershows that what resolves the math equation between incomes and home values in Aspen, Coloradothe X-factorthat makes middle-class life possibleis the careful orchestration of diverse class interests within local politics and the community. She explores how this is achieved through a highly regulatory and extractive land use code that provides symbolic and material value to highly affluent investors and part-year residents, as well as less-affluent locals, many of whom benefit from an array of subsidiesincluding an extensive affordable housing programthat redistribute economic resources in ways that make it possible for middle-class residents to live there.Stuberfurther examines how Latinos, who provide much of the service work in Aspen and who tend to live outside the town, fit into the social geography of one of the most unequal places in the country. Overall,Stuberargues that the Aspens ability to balance the interests of its diverse class constituencies is not a foregone conclusion; rather, it is the result of efforts by local stakeholderscitizens, government, developers, and vacationersto preserve the town's unique feel and value, and keep Aspen, Aspen in all its complex dynamics.