In Eagle, tough times enter into the question of a community's identity
by Dante Chinni | The Christian Science Monitor
EAGLE, COLO. - Eagle County in Colorado is not a place used to struggling.
It has a median household income of about $64,000 - well above the national average. Some of the biggest concerns here in recent years have been about how the area wants to manage its growth.
That has been especially true in the town of Eagle, where elk-grazing territory has given way to McMansions and the arrival of big-box stores is a hot topic of conversation.
But like other "Boom Towns" that have witnessed great growth, this Rocky Mountain community has seen a shift since January 2008. The bottom hasn't fallen out of the economy, but the times have gotten tougher.
Foreclosures are still relatively low in Eagle County, whose population is 49,450. There were only 96 filings for the first 10 months of 2008, but that was up more than 200 percent from the year before.
"Our valley, often considered 'recession-proof,' is getting hit this time," writes Patchwork Nation blogger and local reporter Kathy Heicher in an e-mail. "Lots of layoffs (including the newspapers). People are worried, but also optimistic about Obama."
Eagle went big-time for Barack Obama in 2008. He won almost 61 percent of the county's vote, which was an eight-percentage-point increase from the roughly 53 percent that Sen. John Kerry garnered in the 2004 presidential race.
That said, America's "Boom Town" counties went strong for Mr. Obama overall, giving him more than 58 percent of their votes.
In Eagle, where the town's population is about 6,000, immigration remains a big issue - and it probably will be for the foreseeable future as many Latino immigrants fill trailer parks as well as schools.
In fact, much of the debate in Eagle and places like it revolves around the question: What kind of place do we want our growing community to become?
The slumping economy could affect that debate and lead to other questions: Does it become more crucial to woo new businesses to the area? Does the idea of government intervention gain appeal as people struggle?
Because Eagle and places like it are in flux, America's economic situation and political shifts may play a large role in the evolution of these communities.
