Everything about Aspen Colorado totally explained
The historic
City of Aspen is a
Home Rule Municipality that's the
county seat and the most populous city of
Pitkin County,
Colorado,
United States. Founded as a
mining camp in the
Colorado Silver Boom and named because of the abundance of
aspen trees in the area, the city is now a
ski resort and cultural center. In the late 20th century, the city developed as an off-beat haven for misfits, attracting such free spirits as
John Denver (who wrote several folk songs about the town, including
"Aspenglow", and
"Starwood in Aspen") and
Hunter S. Thompson, who was glorified by many locals for his embodiment of the "freak power" ethic of the community. The city was the site of the
U.S. Comedy Arts Festival.
Image
This historic character of the city has been challenged in recent decades by skyrocketing property values and the proliferation of second homes, increasingly shutting low- and middle-income workers out of the city and creating a large pool of commuters from nearby
bedroom communities such as
Basalt and
Carbondale. At the same time, in stark contrast to its historic character, the city has emerged into international fame as a glitzy playground of the wealthy and famous. The downtown has been largely transformed into an upscale shopping district that includes high-end restaurants, salons, and boutiques. The booming
real estate market has forced the city to struggle between permitting growth and restricting it. The city today remains a mix of high-end luxury homes and condos intermixed with legacy residences and
mobile home parks populated by an old guard of Aspen residents struggling to maintain the unique character of the city. Aspen has become a second and third home to many international jet setters.
Description and history
The city sits along the southeast (upper) end of the
Roaring Fork Valley, along the
Roaring Fork River, a tributary of the
Colorado River about 40 miles south of
Glenwood Springs, Colorado. It is surrounded by mountain and wilderness areas on three sides: Red Mountain to the north, Smuggler Mountain to the east, and
Aspen Mountain to the south.
The city has its roots in the winter of 1879, when a group of miners ignored pleas by Frederick Pitkin, governor of Colorado, to return across the Continental Divide due to an uprising of the Ute Indians. Originally named Ute City, the small community was renamed Aspen in 1880 and quickly surpassed Leadville as the nation's most productive mining district for silver. Despite the price of silver steadily declined during the silver boom in Colorado and the frequent Indian attacks, production expanded due to the passage of the
Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890, which doubled the government's purchase of silver. By 1893, Aspen's prosperity resulted in a population of 12,000 residents, with banks, a hospital, two theaters, an opera house and electric lights. Economic collapse came with the
Panic of 1893, when President Cleveland called a special session of Congress and repealed the act. Within weeks, many of the Aspen mines were closed and thousands of miners were put out of work. It was proposed that silver be recognized as legal tender and the
Populist Party adopted that as one of its main issues;
Davis H. Waite, an Aspen newspaperman and agitator was elected governor of Colorado on the Democratic Ticket; but in time the movement failed.
Eventually, after wage cuts, mining revived somewhat, but production declined and by the
1930 census only 705 residents remained. There was a fine stock of old business blocks and residences and excellent snow. Aspen's development as a ski resort first flickered in the 1930s when investors conceived of a ski area, but the project was interrupted by
World War II. Friedl Pfeifer, a member of the 10th Mountain Division who had trained in the area, returned to the area and linked up with industrialist Walter Paepcke and his wife Elizabeth. The Aspen Skiing Corporation was founded in 1946 and quickly became a well-known resort, hosting the FIS World Championships in 1950. Paepcke also played an important role in bringing the Goethe Bicentennial Convocation to Aspen in 1949, an event held in a newly designed tent by the architect
Eero Saarinen. Aspen was now on the path to becoming an internationally known
ski resort and cultural center, home of the
Aspen Music Festival and School. The area would continue to grow with the development of three additional ski areas,
Buttermilk (1958), Aspen Highlands (1958), and
Snowmass (1969).
In 1977, Aspen was thoroughly photographed for the
Aspen Movie Map project funded by the
U.S. Department of Defense. The Movie Map is one of the earliest examples of
virtual reality software.
Aspen is notable as the smallest
radio market tracked by
Arbitron, ranked at #302.
Geography
Aspen is located at (39.192297, -106.824470), along
State Highway 82.
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.5
square miles (9.1
km²), all of it land.
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 5,914 people, 2,903 households, and 1,082 families residing in the city. The
population density was 1,675.4 people per square mile (646.9/km²). There were 4,354 housing units at an average density of 1,233.5/sq mi (476.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.94%
White, 0.44%
Black or
African American, 0.24%
Native American, 1.45%
Asian, 0.08%
Pacific Islander, 1.64% from
other races, and 1.20% from two or more races. 6.14% of the population were
Hispanic or
Latino of any race.
There were 2,903 households out of which 16.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 28.8% were
married couples living together, 5.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 62.7% were non-families. 43.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.94 and the average family size was 2.67.
In the city the population was spread out with 13.1% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 42.1% from 25 to 44, 27.6% from 45 to 64, and 7.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 115.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 117.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $53,750, and the median income for a family was $70,300. Males had a median income of $41,011 versus $32,023 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $40,680. About 3.6% of families and 8.2% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 4.4% of those under age 18 and 2.6% of those age 65 or over.
Transportation
- Roaring Fork Transportation Authority or RFTA, provides bus service in Aspen, and pay service to the surrounding communities of Snowmass Village, Basalt, Carbondale, Glenwood Springs and Rifle. Local RFTA bus service within Aspen and to the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport is free.
Aspen's only airport is Aspen-Pitkin County Airport also known as Sardy Field. The airport is an FAA Class 1 airport, and has one asphalt runway, 100 ft. wide and 7,006 ft long. Its hours of operation with FAA air traffic control is 7am to 10pm MST/MDT. Sardy Field is Colorado's third busiest airport. The airport has a large General Aviation section which can accommodate the many corporate airplanes and private jets which can crowd the airport during the busy holiday seasons. The F.B.O., which operates the General Aviation section, is Atlantic Aviation. The airport also has 4 regular commercial air carriers: United Airlines and Delta Airlines (operated by SkyWest Airlines),US Airways (operated by AmericaWest Airlines), and Frontier Airlines (service beginning May, 2008).
Famous part-time residents
Prince Bandar, former Saudi ambassador to the United States has recently listed his 56,000 sq ft Aspen compound for $135,000,000 USD.
Antonio Banderas & Melanie Griffith, maintain residence in Woody Creek
Gretchen Bleiler, snowboarder, Olympic silver medalist.
Mariah Carey has spent her Christmas holiday in Aspen for the last few years.
Kevin Costner maintains a residence near Aspen toward Independence Pass.
Michael Douglas, actor
Michael Eisner, former CEO of Disney
Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell have been part-time residents for years.
Felicity Huffman, actor
Gino Hollander, painter
Don Johnson, actor
Bill Joy has a house in Aspen, and is a frequenter of the city's Zélé Café.
Claudine Longet, former French actress, singer.
Andy Mill, former ski racer, current Gold Cup Tarpon Champion, grew up in Aspen.
Martina Navratilova had a home for years.
Jack Nicholson, actor
John Oates, musician has a home in the valley.
Harold Ross, the founder of The New Yorker, was born in Aspen and visited many times throughout his life to fish.
Hunter S. Thompson lived in Woody Creek, and once ran for Pitkin County Sheriff (his platform included renaming Aspen to "Fat City").
Victoria Beckham recently purchased a home in Starwood.
Clifford Irving, author
Annabelle Bond, the fastest woman to climb the Seven Summits
Warren Lichtenstein, activist hedge fund manager
Sister cities
Cities listed alphabetically (together with their respective regions/departments).
Aspen has seven sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI)
:
Canfranc, (Aragon) Spain
Chamonix, (Haute-Savoie) France
Davos, (Graubünden) Switzerland
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, (Bavaria) Germany
Queenstown, (Otago) New Zealand
San Carlos de Bariloche, (Río Negro) Argentina
Shimukappu, (Hokkaidō) JapanFurther Information
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