Workforce Housing Initiatives Give A Lift To Nation’s Top Ski Towns

The nation faces a critical shortage of not only affordable housing, but workforce housing. Nowhere is that shortfall more pronounced than in America’s top ski towns. Playgrounds of the ultra-rich, these hamlets have endured an ever-worsening dearth of housing for the people who work in the hotels and restaurants, as well as the folks who staff police, fire and EMT departments, hospitals, schools, and libraries.

Ski capital and year-round tourist draw Park City, Utah has recently served as a poster child for the housing mismatch. In Park City, the lack of workforce housing has become so dire in recent years that according to reports, only 15 percent of the city’s workforce reside within the city limits. One report found a dozen seasonal workers forked out $1,000 a month each to share a one-bedroom Park City apartment. A local real estate development firm has stepped up to address the situation with an innovative solution. But first, let’s look at housing initiatives in a couple other great American ski meccas.