WHITNEY ROYSTER

Star-Tribune staff writer

JACKSON - When Geanie Young moved to Jackson, she didn't expect to end up living in Idaho.

But her Realtor suggested looking over Teton Pass, because the area was a better fit for Young's needs and budget. She bought a home on two acres three years ago.

"I like Victor," she said. "It's quiet. We don't get the tourist traffic they do in Jackson. I sit out my back door and I have views, I don't see other houses."

Young, a personal trainer, commutes to Jackson five days a week. But she said once Victor develops more, she will likely spend more time in Victor building her business.

She's not alone. More and more people are moving to outlying areas of Jackson Hole - especially Alpine and Teton County, Idaho - as Jackson home prices soar. A real estate analyst published a report last month saying the median sale price of a home in Jackson as of July 1 was nearly $1.18 million.

That's an increase of about 28 percent over last year's median price of $920,000.

David Viehman, author of the Jackson Hole Report and a Realtor with Jackson Hole Real Estate and Appraisal, said supply is being pinched as available land is being depleted.

"It's been coming," he said. "I watch it quarterly and as inventory keeps depleting, this is the kind of what happens. People are willing to pay more and more."

Viehman said people moving to Jackson are either existing homeowners who are using home equity to "trade up," or people coming from other places with high real estate values.

Baby boomers with money are helping their kids afford homes, and well-off baby boomers themselves are buying second, third and fourth homes in Jackson, he said.

Viehman said the concern he has is for people who have not yet purchased their first homes.

People who can't afford to live here, such as nurses, teachers and social service workers, will move out and commute. Eventually, those outlying communities will become self-sustaining, and people won't want to commute to Jackson anymore.

That could leave Jackson as a town of rich second-or-more homeowners, with no one providing social services or filling "middle class" jobs.

Stepping up to the task

It is precisely this problem that is being taken on by two local housing groups, one public and one private.

The Teton County Housing Authority works to provide affordable housing. It works primarily through the county commission to make sure any new development has an affordable component, and to buy and develop land for affordable homes.

Christine Walker, executive director, said the community is stepping up to the challenge of finding affordable solutions.

"Funding in such an expensive market is always an issue, but we believe this community is serious about solutions for funding," she said. "Our biggest challenge right now is to accurately communicate what our real vision is. The simplest way I can say it is that we want to make sure that future development and redevelopments represent value to the community. We hope to maintain our community's diversity and character by including housing for the people who invest their skills, volunteer hours, and dreams in Jackson."

Currently, the county requires new development to build affordable homes for 15 percent of the projected workforce. Aspen, another community where soaring real estate prices drives out local workers, has that number at 65 percent.

Teton County is revising its master plan and intends to revise its affordable component, though by what number is unclear.

"In actuality, we're doing a decent job holding the line, and expect that to be a constant challenge going forward," Walker said.

A long waiting list

Between the TCHA and the private Jackson Hole Community Housing Trust, Walker said thousands of families are waiting for affordable homes.

Anne Hayden Cresswell, executive director of the Housing Trust, agreed the community is aware of the problem, but perhaps not its severity.

"More community members are making the connection that affordable housing keeps essential members of our workforce in Jackson Hole, including first responders, law enforcement, teachers, health-care workers, and many more who are the foundation of our social and economic sustainability through the services they provide, which we all need and value," she said.

"That said, there seems to be a lack of appreciation for the urgency of the situation in spite of the latest 28 percent increases in the median price of a home. As the problem gets worse, everyone will feel the direct impact affordable housing has on the quality of life and availability of services for every resident."

Cresswell said rising prices are the biggest challenges for her organization, which is funded by donors.

Homes with the Housing Trust range from $94,000 to $188,000 for one to three bedrooms. At the TCHA, prices range from $100,000 t0 $220,000, and intend to target families making 80 to 120 percent of the median income in Teton County.

Employers get involved

Perhaps most pinched by home prices are business owners. Unable to hold onto employees, they continually train new ones.

Even the hospital is taking a hit. Karen Connelly, director of community relations at St. John's Medical Center, said the hospital has been working on finding homes for its workers for several years. At present, 50 units provide housing to 10 percent of the hospital staff. The hospital has a goal of being able to provide housing for 25 percent of its staff by 2012.

"Currently, the model that has the most energy behind it is developing deed-restricted units that can be homeownership opportunities for staff, targeting employees that fall into a gap between affordable/attainable and the market," she said. "It's anyone who's interested in purchasing a (home). Even physicians can be daunted by Jackson's real estate market.

"I'm aware there are doctors who have looked at Jackson and have been turned away by the housing situation here," Connelly said.

Still, for people such as Young and Julie Martin Stacey, commuting is the best option.

Stacey moved to Victor last year, realizing she couldn't afford land in Jackson for horses.

She drives the curvy and steep Teton Pass five days a week, about 65 miles a day round-trip. The pass itself is a harrowing experience, with crashes and fatalities every year. Young derides so-called "Passholes" who drive too fast and pass in dangerous stretches of the sinuous road.

Despite the challenges of commuting, however, Young and Stacey agree the Jackson lifestyle is worth the trouble.

"You move here," Stacey said, "for four walls and some space."

Reporter Whitney Royster can be reached at (307) 734-0260 or at royster@tribcsp.com.