⛰️ The Value of a Pass

Good Morning (and Happy Father’s Day!)

Friday was my last day of work, as my fiancée and I have just begun a summer sabbatical (meaning, I get to write more).

Today I wrote in-depth about the impact of a recent highway collapse, and its implications for one of the most stunning locations in the US.

First time reader? Consider subscribing by clicking the button below (its free) 👇

Have a topic or story you’d like to see me write about and react to? Drop me a suggestion at [email protected] 

The Value of a Pass

For the first time in the early 1880s, wagon trains ascended Teton Pass, an 8,800+ foot divide separating northwest Wyoming from Idaho. Nowadays this pass is bridged by Highway 22: a critical connection point between Idaho and the town of Jackson Hole, Wyoming in Teton County: The wealthiest county by household income in the entire country.

On Friday, June 7, Highway 22 experienced a catastrophic collapse, indefinitely severing the fastest route from Jackson Hole to Idaho, and adding a literal landslide of strain on the daily function of the town during its peak season.

This catastrophic collapse of Teton Pass creates a myriad of logistical issues for Jackson, while also placing a spotlight on the accelerating housing and income inequality afflicting one of the most beautiful regions in our country.

The jagged peaks of the Tetons, world class skiing, and unparalleled serenity of the area draws in over 3 million tourists each year, making it one of the ten most trafficked parks in the US.

Jackson Hole and the Tetons beauty has made buying real estate in the area nearly a right of passage for the very wealthy. Its a place where the billionaires are actually pushing out the millionaires, and boasts a wild $2.8 million median house listing as of May 2024.

Yet Teton County Wyoming and Idaho altogether hardly surpasses 36,000 residents, many of which staff the airport, work the park, and support the businesses millions of tourists visit in town each year.

More than 2,500 people commute daily from Idaho to Jackson, and the collapse of Teton Pass will now mean a nearly two hour roundabout commute for workers, at a time when the park will draw over 80,000 daily visitors during its peak.

As the summer season ramps up, airport lines at the small Jackson Hole airport are reportedly growing in length, following years of million dollar renovations to support the high number of private jets that hang out on the runway.

The Bigger Picture

Wealth really is a fickle thing. In Jackson, wealth has been used to buy up large swathes of land for luxury ranches and mansions, many of which are used incredibly sparingly by the hedge fund managers, celebrities, politicians and other rich and famous who have opted to purchase homes here over the prior decade.

Meanwhile, the people who essentially allow this town to function and call Teton County home, are being pushed further and further away from the heart of the Tetons.

Like the growing seismic waves of an earthquake, a quick search on Zillow showcases climbing real estate prices flooding ever more distant from Jackson itself. You can see the influx of wealth’s impact on housing in the region, with Jackson at the epicenter of the quake.

So the unfolding impact of Highway 22’s collapse really is a microcosm of what happens when wealth inequality runs rampant. And spoiler alert: its not sustainable long term.

As the permanent residents’ supporting the town get pushed out, Jackson will likely grapple with ongoing staffing shortages. This recent highway collapse is just a cherry on top of the growing inequity that has been silently unfolding in Teton County.

In response to the pass collapse, Wyoming governor Mark Gordon has acted quickly, stating that Highway 22 will see a short term alternative route built around the collapse, slowly allowing cars to skirt the landslide. After all, Jackson Hole and Teton County are critical revenue machines for Wyoming, generating over $1.7 billion annually, while supplying nearly 8,000 tourism jobs in the area.

So let this story be a reminder: often those who stand the most to lose are the ones who end up being impacted the worst. Demand from tourists is not going to slow down, and it will be the permanent residents of the area who will be asked to either commute long distance, or carefully crawl their vehicles around the new cliff face that suddenly sprouted up on this economically critical pass in Wyoming.