Written by Jennifer J. Hammond, an Aspen Historical Society research intern in 1995, the paper provides insights into the history of growth management policies that shape Aspen today.

Introduction:

In 1950, Pitkin County, Colorado, home of the city of Aspen, possessed about 1600 residents. The 1960 census recorded an increase of 44% to 2300 citizens. By 1970, the population had risen by another 160% to around six thousand people, and the next five years witnessed the arrival of 2700 more new residents (a 44% rate of growth). But the 1980 census counted only 10,300 Pitkinites; the second half of the 1970s saw the Aspen area grow by a mere 19%. In the 1980s growth accelerated slightly to 22% but still fell far short of the astonishing expansion rates of
the boom years. 1 Even considering the distortions in census results caused by large numbers of part-time and temporary residents in the Roaring Fork Valley, clearly the currents of growth had shifted. Why did this dramatic change take place? Why did Pitkin County grow so quickly in the first place, and why did population increases suddenly slow after the mid-1970s?