Eagle's rapid diversity spurs a leftward political tilt

by Dante Chinni | The Christian Science Monitor

EAGLE, COLO. - A tour of Eagle Ranch, an 1,800-acre parcel of land here, brings the dramatic changes of this Rocky Mountain city and county into full view.

Just 10 years ago, cattle roamed its rolling hills. On Broadway, Eagle's main drag, traffic sometimes slowed to a crawl as cows wandered through town from one grazing territory to the next.

Today that land is Eagle Ranch Development marked by 3,500-square-foot homes with million-dollar price tags. It has its own separate tony main street, with a theater and, of course, a Starbucks.

Eagle's population has doubled in the past eight years to roughly 6,000. That influx has brought a change in residents' lifestyles and talk about traffic jams, strained city resources, and affordable housing.

"We have to pick up our mail at the post office, and it used to be that when we went there we'd bump into six people we knew," says Kathy Heicher, editor of the Eagle Valley Enterprise, a weekly newspaper. "Now there's a line, and you don't know most people."

Development is a perennial issue, says Eagle Town Manager Willy Powell, who's lived here for decades. "We don't fill the hearing rooms any more now than we did 20 years ago," he says. "But we are starting to bump into issues of capacity."

More people means a need for places to shop. The nearest mall is still hours away from here, and people are divided on whether they want big box stores in a community where a herd of elk still often wanders down to graze on open fields.

The growth is forcing a change in the community's makeup of residents.

The wealthy are moving down this way from Vail, Colo., bringing along their fat bank accounts and a different perspective. The Subarus that once owned the streets here are now parked beside Hummers and Ranger Rovers. "Eagle used to be a cowboy-boot town," says County Commissioner Arn Menconi. "It's become a hiking-boot town." (Those would be top-of-the-line hiking boots.)

Like other diversifying communities, Eagle has become home to many Hispanic immigrants, many of whom are illegal and working on the construction and upkeep of bigger homes for the newcomers. Eagle County is now almost one-third Latino, and many are filling the growing number of service jobs. It's a population tucked into incongruous trailer parks on the side of the road or out-of-the-way low-income housing units.

Every mini-mansion needs more than two people to take care of the housekeeping, including cleaning the house, shoveling the walkways in winter, and caring for the grounds in summer, locals say. Add those workers to the ones in construction and the hotel and restaurant businesses, and the illegal immigrant boom is no surprise.

Residents have mixed views about the influx of immigrants. Many say the town and the county couldn't function without them. Others see resentment creeping into the dialogue in Eagle as the Hispanic population grows.

Some locals say Latinos have begun to strain resources in Eagle. Because the majority of immigrants here do not have health insurance, they end up going to the emergency room if they need medical care. One elementary school in nearby Edwards is more than 90 percent Hispanic and classrooms are now crowded. It's also leading some parents to pull their children out of the public schools, creating a self-segregated environment.

"At the beginning of the immigration arrival I think people here tended to say they would have done the same thing to get their families into a better environment," says Mr. Powell. "Now people have started to raise their eyebrows and say, 'is this really what we want?' "

The community is also contending with a lack of affordable housing. A recent study by the Urban Land Institute found the county was already short 3,500 affordable housing units – without accounting for the huge growth that is forecast.

That's housing not just for hotel workers, but for teachers, police officers, and firefighters, many of whom can't afford to live in the city where they work.

"I don't know how many deputies I have living in counties to the east and west of here," says Eagle County Sheriff Joe Hoy. "It affects teachers, too. We see a lot of young teachers coming here excited to work, but they end up living two or three to an apartment. They stay for a few years and leave."

In other words, working by day and skiing or hiking in the afternoon appeals to some just out of college. But eventually the novelty of group housing wears thin and people move on.

The politics in Eagle and Eagle County have changed, too. Most say political discussion is scarce around here – people would rather talk about or enjoy the outdoors – but the differences are apparent in the election results.

Once reliably Republican, Eagle County voted Democratic in both 2004 and in the 2006 midterm elections. That shift has filtered down to the county level, where GOP candidates suddenly find themselves losing to Democrats.

The number of registered Republicans has fallen here, from more than 35 percent in 2002 to just above 30 percent in 2007, while Democratic registration has stayed at 25 percent. At the same time, the number of "unaffiliateds," those who don't identify with either party, has increased from under 40 percent to nearly 45 percent. Those unaffiliateds, though, are mostly voting Democratic.

A few factors are driving the changes in the political landscape.

For one, the new wealthy residents in Eagle tend to lean a bit further to the left than the longer-term residents. The ranchers are mostly gone, and latte liberals have replaced rugged individualists.

Second, this city's and county's relationship with government has evolved. Now, the issues in Eagle – traffic flow, affordable housing, school construction – need bigger, governmental solutions, many say.

"We've come to a more regulatory phase in this county," says Powell, the town manager.

Similar to other diversifying communities, this regulation is focused on local issues. But the thought that government can be a valuable tool to solve problems has seeped into the consciousness here.

Most residents know that all the growth will lead to tax increases and some are open to the idea – though questions about the need for more taxes are far from resolved.

Then, there are some socially liberal, fiscally conservative Republicans who say the national party has left them behind.

"Some of the local folks focus on the national party and how much they push their philosophy around," Sheriff Hoy says. "And sometimes people get a little bit irritated and that Western independence comes out."

Whatever happens in the 2008 presidential campaign, the trends that have pushed this city and county to the left in the past few elections show little sign of abating.