on life in aspen

Life in this place can be very interesting at times. First of all, the residents: There are about 5000-7000 year-round residents. Most of the people who live here, though, come for a few weeks in the summer, a few in the winter. That doesn't mean that they all just rent a condo (though some of them do, for somewhere around $200,000 a year for several weeks of time). Many of them have a home (or two) here that they occupy whenever it strikes their fancy. So by now you've guessed that the main requirement for living in Aspen (indeed, anywhere in the valley) is Affluence. The newspapers (free, as they are) are about 1/2 composed of Real Estate advertisements. Just to give you an idea of price range, a small (and by small I mean something like 2 BR, 1 and 1/2 B) house in downtown goes for well over $1 Million. Many are in the $4-6 Million range, especially if they have a bit of land to go on. I was appalled the other day when I saw an ad for "Wildcat Ridge Estate" sporting construction of "indigenous and imported rock," exquisitely furnished, great views, and some land, all for the low price of $37.5 Million. But no. My appallation was in vain. For soon on the front page of the Aspen Times was an article announcing FOR SALE: MOST EXPENSIVE HOME IN U.S. That's right, folks. For a cool $135 Million, you too can own the home of Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia. He's putting his 15 BR 16 B compound (with stables, tennis court, indoor swimming pool, a snowmelt driveway and 94 acres) up for sale because his job as chairman of Saudi Arabia's National Security Council doesn't allow him as much time as he would like to spend in his Aspen residence. Any buyers out there? more

The Town: Aspen is a beautiful place, by any standard. It has a very nice small-town feel, but offers lots of big-city amenities. Aspen's denizens have, in general, a very active lifestyle. There are lots of great bike and running trails, and gazillions of people that use them. You can hike up just about any mountain you like and get spectacular views. Or you could pay a couple hundred bucks and paraglide around them, if you don't mind risking your life. There are more restaurants in town than you can shake a stick at, but you can leave the stick at home if you're looking to eat cheaply, especially at dinner. There are probably 5 cheap places to eat in town, and only one (1) fast-food restaurant, McDonald's. The retail stores are even worse. I walked by one today that had 5 or 6 racks of jeans out on the sidewalk, with a big sign announcing: 40%-60% OFF! And they were still mostly over $100. ouch. Everything is overpriced, from paper towels to gas (somewhere around $3.70/gal, but they never advertise). Of course, there are the high-end specialty stores, selling ridiculous watches, ugly and/or bizarre art, mink coats by the truckload, handbags made out of who-knows-what, and makeovers promising to turn grandmothers into adolescents (I've seen the results. It's not pretty).

Here are a few views of downtown:


The Culture: Aspen, with all of its glitziness and wealth, is (huge surprise) extremely liberal. Tree-hugging is the norm. Totem-poles are not uncommon. The most Republican Republicans they could get to come to the Aspen Ideas Festival were Colin Powell and John McCain. The churches here, of course, are generally terrible. One of my Christian friends here just finished up her organ studies at Juilliard, and is here studying piano for the summer. She plays the organ for the services of the local Methodist church, because they let her use their instrument to practice. She says it's unspeakably blasphemous and liberal. One of the reverend's less harmful messages was delivered last weekend. It was on the dangers of global warming. There is one decent church in town (I hear). It used to be Baptist, but well, it's not anymore...I have had rehearsal every Sunday morning, so I haven't been able to go, but this Sunday I'm off, so I'll give it a try. Who knows, maybe it'll be good. Right now I'm staying alive on my devotions, our Bible studies on Mondays, and Pastor's sermons downloaded from sermonaudio.com.

The Climate:
The weather here is generally beautiful. Daytime temperatures range in the 70s and 80s, and the humidity is splendidly low. Sunscreen is very important if one is to be out long. The sun is extremely intense. You can feel the sun beating down upon you. Lately it’s been raining in the afternoons, and that really hampers transportation plans, because it’s really no fun to bike in the rain. Thankfully, there are free busses to just about anywhere in town. But you do have to be on-time for them.

So there’s a little glimpse into the very interesting life of Aspen, CO: a place great beauty, high culture, low people, and lots and lots of money.