About 60 miles north of Salt Lake City is the largest ski resort in America, called Summit Powder Mountain. It's some 10,000 acres. But beyond just being big, there is also a fascinating story and philosophy behind the mountain.
It was started by four partners -- Elliott Bisnow (of Bisnow events), Brett Leve, Jeff Rosenthal and Jeremy Schwartz -- who partnered up with Learn Capital in 2013 to buy the mountain from a distressed seller for $40 million.
The four guys were already running a successful invitation-only event series for entrepreneurs and creative types called the Summit Series, and big part of their vision for the mountain was to recreate this same ethos.
The idea was to create a community focused on relationship-building, entrepreneurship, innovation, environmental sustainability, and good design. Put differently: a kind of utopia for rich people.
So far, about 80% of the home buyers at Summit Powder Mountain are members of the Summit Series.
All of this has translated into some pretty cool mountain architecture (see above). In fact, people who buy vacant lots within the community are effectively banned from building the kind of faux chalet stuff that permeates a lot of (or most?) mountain towns.
Here is a taste of some of the homes that have already been built.
Across the 50 largest metro areas in the US, about 31.9% of millennials -- those aged 18 to 34 -- owned a home as of 2017. And according to recent census data (via the Redfin), only 5 of these cities had a millennial homeownership rate higher than 35%. They are as follows:
The top spot goes to Salt Lake City, which sits at just over 40%. It also has the highest share of businesses owned by millennials at 8.4%. Not surprisingly, the cities on this list all have relatively affordable home prices, with Detroit being the most affordable.
I think you could interpret this list as a bit of a leading indicator for US cities on the rise. Affordability, and walkability, may be the draws today, but as millennials lay down roots, start businesses and earn more money, I am sure we'll see these cities transform even further.
I like this comparison of street grids that Daniel Nairn prepared back in 2010:
There’s huge variation here. On the one end you have cities like Carson City, Portland, and Providence, which have small blocks (180′ x 180′ and 200′ x 200′). And on the other end you have cities like Salt Lake City, which have massive blocks (660′ x 660′).
About 60 miles north of Salt Lake City is the largest ski resort in America, called Summit Powder Mountain. It's some 10,000 acres. But beyond just being big, there is also a fascinating story and philosophy behind the mountain.
It was started by four partners -- Elliott Bisnow (of Bisnow events), Brett Leve, Jeff Rosenthal and Jeremy Schwartz -- who partnered up with Learn Capital in 2013 to buy the mountain from a distressed seller for $40 million.
The four guys were already running a successful invitation-only event series for entrepreneurs and creative types called the Summit Series, and big part of their vision for the mountain was to recreate this same ethos.
The idea was to create a community focused on relationship-building, entrepreneurship, innovation, environmental sustainability, and good design. Put differently: a kind of utopia for rich people.
So far, about 80% of the home buyers at Summit Powder Mountain are members of the Summit Series.
All of this has translated into some pretty cool mountain architecture (see above). In fact, people who buy vacant lots within the community are effectively banned from building the kind of faux chalet stuff that permeates a lot of (or most?) mountain towns.
Here is a taste of some of the homes that have already been built.
Across the 50 largest metro areas in the US, about 31.9% of millennials -- those aged 18 to 34 -- owned a home as of 2017. And according to recent census data (via the Redfin), only 5 of these cities had a millennial homeownership rate higher than 35%. They are as follows:
The top spot goes to Salt Lake City, which sits at just over 40%. It also has the highest share of businesses owned by millennials at 8.4%. Not surprisingly, the cities on this list all have relatively affordable home prices, with Detroit being the most affordable.
I think you could interpret this list as a bit of a leading indicator for US cities on the rise. Affordability, and walkability, may be the draws today, but as millennials lay down roots, start businesses and earn more money, I am sure we'll see these cities transform even further.
I like this comparison of street grids that Daniel Nairn prepared back in 2010:
There’s huge variation here. On the one end you have cities like Carson City, Portland, and Providence, which have small blocks (180′ x 180′ and 200′ x 200′). And on the other end you have cities like Salt Lake City, which have massive blocks (660′ x 660′).
This variation creates very different experiences for both pedestrians and drivers. It is widely understood that small blocks are better for walking, which is perhaps why Salt Lake City is known as a driving city. (I just learned that they have “crosswalk flags” to help pedestrians safely cross the street. What does that tell you?)
In the case of New York – with its irregular rectangular blocks – it is arguably one of the reasons why the avenues (short side of the rectangle) have such a different feel than the streets (long side of the rectangle). Walking north-south is more enjoyable than walking east-west.
All of this is even more interesting in the context of the point I made in this post: once these urban grids get laid out, they’re pretty sticky. That has far reaching implications.
This variation creates very different experiences for both pedestrians and drivers. It is widely understood that small blocks are better for walking, which is perhaps why Salt Lake City is known as a driving city. (I just learned that they have “crosswalk flags” to help pedestrians safely cross the street. What does that tell you?)
In the case of New York – with its irregular rectangular blocks – it is arguably one of the reasons why the avenues (short side of the rectangle) have such a different feel than the streets (long side of the rectangle). Walking north-south is more enjoyable than walking east-west.
All of this is even more interesting in the context of the point I made in this post: once these urban grids get laid out, they’re pretty sticky. That has far reaching implications.
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