The end of an era on Big Mountain Rd.

As I’m riding my bicycle down Big Mountain Road this summer, dodging developer vehicles and construction debris left by the endless stream of trucks making their way from one development to the next, when I reach the bottom of the mountain I can’t help but wonder… as we clearly exit out of the humble past of our sleepy ski town roots and into an urbanized playground for the ultra-rich, how did it get so different this time around? Is it that those moving in have a completely different objective than those who originally came here?

Gone is the beloved, 15-year-plus standing Mom and Pop owned Cowgirl Coffee Roasters drive-thru coffee stand and replaced by a Starbucks-owning outsider with no sense of what’s good for community, what the culture is, and seemingly with the stroke of a pen from someone who has more zeros in their bank account, change has occurred. Not for the better, but just because. ...