It’s not an easy thing deciding who gets subsidized housing. Who do we as a community deem worthy of a rent stabilized apartment or a price-reduced mortgage? Who should be housed locally? If you have twin 8-year-olds, a second grade teacher might be important. Then again, if your house is on fire or you’ve just been in a car wreck, […]
As town crafts new zoning for Districts 3 to 6, questions remain unanswered and concerns unheeded. Is any neighborhood stable? Zoning updates for Jackson’s downtown core were fairly contentious. It took signature collection, a petition, and eventually a referendum vote to force the council to follow the will of the people. Now, with mostly residential Districts 3-6 under the microscope, […]
Snow King has a place in our hearts. It’s the ski area Wyoming grew up with—the first in the state and the hill many locals learned to ski on. But we can’t be over emotional. Too often, the new and very wealthy billionaire owners have ‘cried-poor’ and demanded new entitlements. At times, they’ve threatened to shut down the lifts if […]
Creating new roads is no more a solution to traffic congestion than building new homes is a fix for the housing crisis. It’s simply not so. In communities like ours, new roads invite new traffic. And new housing invites more outside people to move in instead of providing opportunity for those already here and struggling. In Jackson Hole: If you […]
Town Council deserves credit. They’re finally dealing with runaway commercial growth, the root cause of our housing problem, the real cause of local overcrowding and discontent. It has been a year since town and county elected officials discussed raising our low and ineffectual commercial mitigation rates up to 100%. So instead of housing just a few of the seasonal jobs […]
A local business owner recently set us straight. “I’m not pro-growth,” he insisted. “I don’t want any more second homes. I just want workforce housing.” As if that didn’t count. But population growth is mostly due to workforce housing, which is a product of job creation due to commercial expansion. Here is the Other Side of the Story for April […]
Nationwide, politicians have lively discussions; disagreements are normal. But it’s more subdued in Jackson Hole, where measures can pass on 5 to 0 votes with little debate. Local residents have a variety of opinions, but our electeds tend to be of one mind. Here is the Other Side of the Story for March 27:
Making a case against affordable housing is not popular. Certainly, no politician would dare do it. An affordable place for everyone that wants one has a generous, if naive, ring to it. And election results indicate voters don’t want more public housing; they see an emperor with no clothes. Most of us are not convinced government-provided workforce housing is a […]
Funny how START is only now exploring funding options. They’ve been pursuing a utopian dream with little thought for efficiency. Actually, it’s more pitiful than funny. After decades of operation, they’re just now worrying about future sustainably. Most businesses, public or private, learn the importance of a funding model. They don’t have the luxury of ignoring their customers Here is […]
It was learned at press time that the proposed concert for South Park was called off due to scheduling issues with the band. Still, the reasoning behind the decision to allow the event in the first place is questionable. Noise, traffic and massive crowds were headed to South Park after our county commissioners approved what could have been the biggest […]
