Good Old Urbanism - Aspen CO - All in One Place

Of course, no place is perfect, though several come achingly close to being ideal, if only . . .

And many downtowns are quite functional, though too many are tired and lack a contemporary spark, which robs them of their potential as stimulating gathering places. There's a huge difference between going downtown to cross off chores on a list and finding downtown warm, inviting, and socially engaging enough to want to hang around for awhile, watch the scene or chat with acquaintances and friends.


So let's get down to specifics and visit some examples of successful "old urbanism," by which I mean existing communities that already manifest many of the principles of the New Urbanism . None of them is perfect, and each of them has limitations that can frustrate a determined seeker like myself. If you can suggest additional places of interest, please let me know. This is a work in progress.
First stop is Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley, in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Functioning alongside the Aspen CO you've heard about -- famous stomping-ground of the rich and famous -- is the everyday Aspen of locals -- people who work and live there. It's really a less obvious, parallel universe to the glitzy destination resort experience.

It's interesting to live in a place that attracts visitors and residents from all over the country and the world and offers world-level culture, such as the Aspen Music Festival, Jazz Aspen Snowmass, dance festivals, Food and Wine Classic, filmfests, writers' festival, Physics Institute, and the Aspen Ideas Festival. At the same time, it's a daunting challenge to find affordable housing and meaningful or at least good-paying work in a town that's geared primarily towards mulitmillionaires and billionaires.


And, while most locals head downvalley to Wal-mart for the bulk of their necessities, I've found that Aspen provides me with everything I need for my daily living. As a native New Yorker, accustomed to doing my shopping on foot or via public transportation, I'll pay slightly more for the advantage of local convenience and quality.

While I briefly lived in Aspen at one time, I soon moved to the "midvalley." Once a day, I took the bus upvalley to Aspen, a twenty-five minute ride through breathtaking sky and mountain scenery.


Aspen's downtown is supremely walkable and mostly level. With the exception of a few landmarks such as the Wheeler Opera House, Jerome Hotel, Pitkin County Library, and St. Mary's Church, most of its buildings are only one or two stories high, so that wherever you walk or sit, you can admire the enormous mountains that ring the town. In summer they're carpeted with lush greenery and topped by a bright blue sky with cottony puffs of cloud. Aspen's uniquely sweet-sour fresh mountain air is intoxicating, making one feel like it's truly heaven on earth.
Even without errands to do, it's a wonderful place to simply sit and look, or walk and gawk. And since I'm a walker, that suits me just fine. However, for those who use a car (or, more likely, an SUV) to do their errands, parking can be a big annoyance.


Most of the shops and hotels within the downtown core, especially within easy walking distance of the ski lift and gondola, are extremely expensive, offering luxury goods rather than practical everyday items. Years ago, Aspen was famous for uniquely quirky one-of-a-kind shops. In recent years, due to skyrocketing retail rents, those stores have been replaced by national chains such as Prada, Fendi, Baccarat, The Gap, Banana Republic, ad-upscale-mall-nauseum. There are also furriers, art galleries, jewelers, tres chic restaurants, and high end purveyors of interior furnishings for second-mansion-owners. If you're not part of this world, it's easy to feel like you're always on the outside looking in.


What I've discovered, though, is that there's still a "basic Aspen" that provides me with a fulsome array of goods, services, and experiences. It's just not always obvious to the vacationer who arrives here in a busy social whirl.


For instance, there's a spacious, modern, post office, filled with natural light and powered by solar panels, with 24 hour access to mailboxes and friendly interaction with one's neighbors when waiting on line to send packages or get stamps. In the same shopping complex there's a hardware store, locksmith, Mailboxes Etc. (for copies and shipping), supermarket, video store (with lots of interesting foreign films and unusual movies), flower and gift shop, and two casual eateries. Also, a central plaza with picnic tables for eating, chatting, reading the paper, or staring at the mountains.


A block away is a beautiful linear walking path along the banks of the Roaring Fork River, so within a couple of minutes one can leave urbanity and enjoy nature. Two blocks the other way is a large park with soccer fields and a skateboard park.

Across the street is Pitkin County Library, one of the most comfortable, quiet, and well-stocked libraries I've found anywhere. A large video collection, free Internet access, and an extensive music collection round out its offerings. And the free local phone in the lobby is handy for checking back home about things to add to the shopping list.

Within several blocks are other staples, including a large pharmacy with a funky general store upstairs; a wonderful independent bookstore with a vegetarian cafe; an athletic club with a lap pool, steam room, whirlpool, exercise equipment, climbing wall, and physical therapy services, tucked unobtrusively in the basement of an office building.

On my way to the downtown bus station, I could shop at another supermarket and treat myself to pizza, unusual sub sandwiches at a funky sixties' style deli, or fresh made crepes at the legendary Popcorn Wagon across from the Wheeler Opera House, home of Aspen's various film fests. And there's the fun of looking for clothes at the Aspen Thrift Shop and at Susie's, a fashionable consignment shop, where one can discover brand new ski jackets, sweaters, and all kinds of fancy finds the rich discard, for a pittance of their original cost.


These are just a few highlights, and I'm leaving out hair salons, restaurants, shoe repair, photo finishing, dry cleaners, musical instruments, and pet supplies, among other things. The point is that, once I'm in town, I can take care of everything I need to do on foot. And if for some reason I'm too tired to walk, I can take the free buses that ply the downtown and go as far out of town as the airport five miles away.


So for walkability, view quality, fresh air, access to urbanity and nature, errands and exercise, and potential for what I call "bumpintas" -- bumping into aquaintances and friends and saying hello -- Aspen scores quite high.


The negatives start to creep in when the astronomical cost of real estate in Aspen requires that most people live "downvalley," in one of the towns anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 1/2 hours away by bus or car. It wasn't always thus, when both locals and tourists mixed in Aspen's famous "messy vitality" of years past. But with only a limited amount of affordable employee housing available in Aspen proper, and with entire neighborhoods, like the picturebook Victorian West End, empty most of the year, except for several weeks when billionaire second homeowners spend a little time in their Aspen houses, it's a sad lesson in the downside of urban sprawl.


It also means that Aspen's pretty quiet in the evening, despite its busy party scene late at night. With everyone leaving town to go home after work, the downtown core feels emptier than it should, given how built up it is. It's like walking through a Hollywood stage set, after the cast has gone home for the day.


Fortunately or unfortunately, the four-laning of Highway 82, which forms the spine of the Roaring Fork Valley, spanning between Aspen and Glenwood Springs, is a consequence of the relentless stretching out of the Aspen experience. It makes for safer travel than the old two-lane highway, but it also enables more traffic both into and out of town. It has inspired more downvalley housing developments than the area can really support, given the heavily tourist-based service economy. Especially during an economic downturn, one wonders where all the new homeowners will work, once they migrate to this beautiful yet fickle place.


So, in order to do all my errands, and get the inspiration and exercise I need every day, I, too, take the bus upvalley for a thirty minute ride each way. The bus service, called RFTA (Roaring Fork Transit Authority, pronounced "rafta" by the locals), is excellent and frequent and not too expensive, but it's not my first choice of how I want to live. To be a truly complete Best Urbanism experience, living here should allow me to step outside my door and walk directly to everything I need, and on that note, living downvalley fails the test.


Oh, yes, and sitting next to me as I type is my dog Snowy, who reminds me that my other frustration is not being able to take frequent walks around Aspen with her. Since I can't take her on the bus, she gets far fewer adventures outside the confines of our housing development, and that's disappointing for both of us.