Magazine picks Crested Butte as 9th 'greatest town' in U.S.

By Beverly Corbell, The Daily Sentinel

Published July 7, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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When Outside Magazine started looking at the greatest towns in America, its writers picked places that had overcome adversity and were "riding on a wave of civic reinvention and fresh ideas."

Crested Butte came in at No. 9, Outside Magazine senior editor Jeremy Spencer said.

Washington, D.C., was first on the list, followed by Chattanooga, Tenn.; Ogden, Utah; Portsmouth, N.H.; Tacoma, Wash.; Ithaca, N.Y.; Louisville, Ky.; and Eureka, Calif. Columbia, Mo., was 10th.

The 300-word article on Crested Butte in the August edition of the magazine mentions the town's early days as a coal town and its evolution to a ski town that faced hard times in the 1980s.

"The energy returned when the town's eponymous ski resort changed hands in 2004," the article reads. "News of its imminent modernization triggered a real estate feeding frenzy with dilapidated Victorians and miners' shacks sharing bidding wars."

That's pretty much what happened after Tim and Diane Mueller bought the ski resort, said Stacey Davey, a manager at Crested Butte Mountain Resort.

"It's great people and a great atmosphere," Davey said. "There have been a lot of changes in the last five years. There's more real estate and more money coming into our community."

Spencer said Outside's staff spent more than two months selecting the best revival towns, and the article on Crested Butte tells a story of a changing town.

"Once the holdout of elite athletes, former hippies and powder dropouts, down-to-earth CB is attracting a new crop of young families and telecommuters looking for a laid-back and affordable alternative to glitzier counterparts like Telluride and Aspen," the article says.

"Now, with long-awaited upgrades under way at the ski area - including a totally revamped base area, swank lodges and the possible, controversial expansion to adjacent Snodgrass Mountain - Colorado's greatest ski town is all abuzz."

There will be even more to do this winter, Davey said.

"We're opening up a new extreme terrain next year. It's awesome for expert skiers, and that's what we're known for," she said.

"We'll also have free skiing, if you purchase lodging, from opening day on Nov. 26 through Dec. 17."

Town facts

* Incorporated 1880

* Elevation: 8,885 feet

* Population: 1,150

* Location: 28 miles north of Gunnison

* Median sale price of single-family home in 2006: $870,000

* Ski resort: Three miles from town

* 2008 snowfall: 418 inches

* 2008-09 adult ski pass price through Aug. 1: $899