|
Napa and “The Aspen Effect”
Share
Email
Print
CommentJuly 8th, 2008
June 27th, 2008
June 20th, 2008
June 4th, 2008
May 29th, 2008
A populist frustration increasingly finding voice in Napa County is that the wine and hospitality industries are pulling in services and attractions that cater principally to upscale vacationers and tourists, while neglecting any sense of a local living wage and inadvertently threatening the very Ag preserve that those industries depend on through, among other things, jumbo-sized developments and hotel mega-resorts in areas that were once only the purview of B&B’s.
Napa County has become a textbook example of what Cornell University Economics Professor Robert H. Frank calls “The Aspen Effect” — his term for traffic and other challenges resulting from that small Colorado resort towns’ transformation into a playground for the wealthy.
Napa County has become a textbook example of what Cornell University Economics Professor Robert H. Frank calls “The Aspen Effect” — his term for traffic and other challenges resulting from that small Colorado resort towns’ transformation into a playground for the wealthy.
The low-wage service workers needed by Aspen’s new spas, restaurants and hotels have little chance of buying or renting a home there and often must commute from distant and more affordable bedroom communities. As a result, Frank observed “all roads into Aspen are clogged morning and night with commuters.” Sound familiar?
An over-arching angst that I hear and read is that is that Napa County is undergoing a “Disney-fication,” becoming a simulacrum of a once-rural area that is quaint for tourists but not livable for locals or the people who work here.
An over-arching angst that I hear and read is that is that Napa County is undergoing a “Disney-fication,” becoming a simulacrum of a once-rural area that is quaint for tourists but not livable for locals or the people who work here.
On the other hand, different voices are saying that Napa could do worse than comparisons to upscale destinations such as Aspen. The rationale goes that most of the things that once made working-class life predominant in Napa are gone and not likely to return, and that the principle thing that we have to trade on — besides (or perhaps tangential to) wine grapes — is a bucolic setting and an iconic name.
I’m curious then what the blogosphere thinks. Can a middle-class economy be preserved in a region that is primarily dependent on upscale tourism?
I’m curious then what the blogosphere thinks. Can a middle-class economy be preserved in a region that is primarily dependent on upscale tourism?
Will our local jobs market continue to striate between low wage service workers and wealthy owners, with only a small professional and middle-wage class pinched in between? What, if any manufacturing and trades jobs could be promoted in Napa County to secure a viable working-class here?
Join the conversation
Comment guidelines
All comments will be screened and may take several hours to be posted.
• Keep comments clear, concise and focused on the topic in the story.
• Comments exceeding 300 words will not be posted.
• Refrain from personal attacks, degrading comments or remarks that do not add to a constructive dialogue.
• Comments implying suspects in crime-related stories are guilty before they have been proven so in a court of law will be deleted.
• Do not post e-mail addresses or links except for pages on Napavalleyregister.com or government Web sites.
• Comments will not be edited - they will be approved or declined.
• Comments may be used in the print edition of the newspaper.
• If you feel a posted comment has violated our guidelines, please contact dross@napanews.com or bkennedy@napanews.com
For further information on the comment guidelines, click here.
|
|
vocal-de-local wrote on Jun 28, 2008 11:09 AM:
It's human nature to fill a void to capacity as long as a void exists with an availability of resources. Napa has plenty of resources and humans are generally not self disciplined enough to stop filling a void, especially when the economic incentives to fill it outweigh the voices of those who already occupy a space within that void.
The solution at this point is to stop the uncontrolled growth of the hospitality industry. Such unbalanced planning has not given much thought to the future of our limited water resources nor the lack of infrastructure to support low wage hospitality workers. We cannot continue supporting an influx of migrant workers to fill the workforce void either because it increases population to an unhealthy level.
The answer is charging employers a transportation fee for every employee living beyond five miles of their workplace, or perhaps a fee should be applied to every employee hired. The fee will pay for public employee transportation to and from Fairfield and Vallejo. Employers will need to arrange transportation from drop off points. Those who benefit should pay. "
Lee wrote on Jun 28, 2008 12:17 PM:
musikluvr wrote on Jun 28, 2008 2:34 PM:
musikluvr wrote on Jun 28, 2008 6:56 PM:
boots wrote on Jun 29, 2008 6:56 AM:
This kind of development is the problem. Do the math:200 employees to mow the grass, ferch the cocktails and trim toe nails at Aetna Springs and the Planning Dept/BOS approved this with no thought to the impacts on rural charachter, traffic, safety???????
The fish dies from the head down.....something is stinking in the Conservation, Development and Planning Dept! "
Lee wrote on Jun 29, 2008 8:00 AM:
musikluvr wrote on Jun 29, 2008 10:48 AM:
LMW wrote on Jun 29, 2008 11:16 AM:
musikluvr wrote on Jun 29, 2008 11:27 AM:
Bill wrote on Jun 29, 2008 2:50 PM:
Is there a compatible standard that defines middle class by both income and values? Or are we speaking of what is considered by some progenitors of economic theory of the petite bourgeois that part of society that are wana be capitalists but can’t quite make the leap? Just what and who is middle class?
I venture that most people are working class barely hanging on to their dreams of home ownership and stable family and work environments if in deed they truly have fulfilled such dreams. Like it or not this class now includes many who regard themselves as professional or management types. The inability to recognize that the so called middle class is very small and that the myth of American society being largely middle class is a fairy tale almost as ubiquitous as anything the failed theories of Marx could propagate.
The emphasis should be that if you do not have a viable working class you do not have a viable or sustainable society. Crying a river over “professionals” and “middle income” sandwiched between the wealthy and “Los de Abajo” is close to pure political jargon however it is draped in apparent reasonableness.
A society willing to substitute real wage earning working people for imported serfs from Fairfield or Michoacán is not sustainable. "
Lee wrote on Jun 29, 2008 3:37 PM:
matt@newspeak wrote on Jun 30, 2008 12:53 AM:
According to ML, all is well and that, apparently, once American Canyon's high school is built, all gridlock on Hwy 29 will cease and the traffic will flow like water; that the NCT&PA studies showing 85% of the traffic originating from outside the county is just false and made up; that there is plenty of affordable housing in Napa and there is no sign of a struggle for young families who grow up here to continue to live and work here; that there is no concern about tourist and residential development encroaching on Ag land or the incorporated county land such that, oh I don't know, almost 50% of voters voted for a ballot measure that would take such development decisions out of the hands of the BOS and out it to a vote of the people; and that the service sector-both locally and nationally- has perfectly replaced manufacturing and skilled trades jobs in this country with strong wages that keep up with cost of living, robust benefits and health insurance and a sound pension plan.
Whew, I thought we had concerns to address, but according to Muslkluvr world, all is just fine and whatever is wrong-from traffic, to the recession, to the disappearing Western Honeybees to the cost of oil, is somehow just American Canyon's fault. "
matt@newspeak wrote on Jun 30, 2008 1:13 AM:
To be candid, I am deeply worried about America- I fear we are in a bigger crisis than we realize as the middle/working- not quite rich, but not quite poor- class, (and I agree, defining that alone is several columns' worth) is unraveling.
Oil prices aren't likely to come back to what they were and- after the recent meltdowns, the illusion that we can float the gaps in our daily lives, from groceries to mortgages, on credit had exploded.
For the last 30 years those living in poverty in the US have flat-lined; the net-worth, savings, relative earnings, job security and economic muscle of the broad 'middle' class leveled off and is beginning a precipitous decline and the accumulated wealth of the top 5% is skyrocketing. A stable middle income class of working people is, in my opinion, the difference between- if you'll pardon the indelicate terms- a first world and a third world- standard of living.
Its funny, I don't know when I lost it, but at some point I edited out of this piece exactly the words you used- that a low-level service economy is non-sustainable- locally and nationally. We see it here everyday in the traffic and the questions about housing.
What I am genuinely interested in is how can America get back to having a sustainable working class? Maybe it doesn't mean turning wrenches in the traditional ways, but I have to believe we still have more options than the service sector. "
Lee wrote on Jun 30, 2008 12:54 PM:
sickothis wrote on Jun 30, 2008 1:04 PM:
matt@newspeak wrote on Jun 30, 2008 3:00 PM:
No I missed the hearings, but they sound interesting. 74% of oil costs is speculation on the price of crude. I wonder if we're going to see an oil bubble similar to dot.com and housing of overinflated costs and profits due to speculative and over-indulged markets?
I too would love to see a return to rail, especially with Mag Lev. Last February the Am Can chamber of commerce sponsored a trip to China where- among other things, they got to see the emissions-free Mag Lev high speed trains there. You're right in that the logistics of making that work here are steep to the point of being not realistic anytime soon, but- similar to our national oil crisis, we're at the point where tinkering in the margins and hoping to keep up our high-consuming lifestyle uniterrupted is no longer a vialble or realistic option, and all ideas need to be on the table.
Particualry here in AC, we have a proud rail history and I'm excited that the new Kendall Jackson/Biagi warehouse calls for having 80% of wine shipments going out of AC on rail in the next five years. "
matt@newspeak wrote on Jun 30, 2008 3:08 PM:
You're also right that city councils and the BOS can work at establishing policies to stimulate businesses that bring things that are needed- in this case good jobs creation that make existing homes affordable and stabilize the economy. The service sector is characterized by low wages, piecemeal benefits and high turnover- it is, as Bill observes- non sustainable.
It is an example of public and private working together and it calls for a regional vision of what our valley needs beyond an economic monoculture. Can we build solar panels and fuel cells here? Are there infrastructures still in place- Napa Pipe- that can be used for high end manufacturing, precision items not relaibly outsourced? I don't pretend to have the answers, but I want to ask the questions before throwing up my hands and giving up. "
sickothis wrote on Jun 30, 2008 3:39 PM:
Lee wrote on Jun 30, 2008 4:22 PM:
Bill wrote on Jun 30, 2008 5:25 PM:
They began dismantling the place well before they left and turned down legitimate offers for pieces of the property insisting that the whole must be purchased. Oregon steel and the current owners had no intention of seeing any industrial site for any type of industrial production, which certainly served Oregon steels purposes quite well.
I do not understand how the present group purchased the current property without some understanding that they could easily convert industrial property into lucrative housing and strip mall projects. They are not just any dumb group of investors or developers they continued with the dismemberment of the facility almost with the complicit consent of the BOS. I have seen them tour the property hand in hand with Rogal and his chief overseer. Never did they contact any one who may have been interested in continuing business on the property even while there was a viable enterprise operating right under their noses.
Also light rail was not my suggestion. But a freight train runs through this property and owns the right of way, which everyone also overlooks, and it is not the wine train. "
sickothis wrote on Jun 30, 2008 6:16 PM:
Dhappel54 wrote on Jun 30, 2008 7:04 PM:
You pose a critical question. The problem is one with a huge number of interconnected parts--development, jobs, traffic, transportation, rural vs suburban visions for Napa and many more. At the heart, though, is how do Napans leverage these luxury developments to provide benefits for the people who live here? In many California cities they require agreements around local hiring, community access, living wages, transportation offsets, etc. before they'll approve them.
Lastly, it is no coincidence that wages for most Americans have stagnated as the number of people in unions has declined. Insuring that the people who work in these new enterprises have the right to choose whether they want a union without being threatened or coerced by management should be a part of any development agreement. "
daveposner wrote on Jun 30, 2008 11:53 PM:
matt@newspeak wrote on Jul 1, 2008 10:39 AM:
And yes, the NCT&PA studies show the majority of the trips are workers coming into the County, or passing through on their way some place else- meaning traffic is a regional problem that requires regional solutions, including not just the new sales tax-road repair measure being readied, but also conditioning employer vanpooling, boosting VINE ridership, being more consistent in requiring traffic mitigations in North County from new tourist, winery and hospitality developments, and looking at more innovative workforce housing options at remote locations such as onsite housing. "
matt@newspeak wrote on Jul 1, 2008 10:39 AM:
matt@newspeak wrote on Jul 1, 2008 10:51 AM:
And yes, we also have the under-used rail assets. Again, I was very pleased that the recently approved Biagi warehouse in American Canyon proposed to have 80% of wine shipped by rail in five years. They also, after hearing our feedback on the first study session for the project, came back with a number of energy efficient and ‘green’ design features and are contemplating LEED certification. "
matt@newspeak wrote on Jul 1, 2008 11:03 AM:
The Valley’s decision makers are whistling in the dark if they don’t fully comprehend already that the growth of our hospitality sector is for sure going to bring vast new organizing efforts from unions such as Unite Here. History shows that union jobs tend to be good jobs and most of our thornier challenges right now- such as workforce housing and traffic- stem from the fact that workers can’t afford to live and work in the Valley at the same time. "
matt@newspeak wrote on Jul 1, 2008 11:22 AM:
As far as newspapers- for sure there is a big migration from print to web right now, which could conceivably reduce the need for staff to be in a brick and mortar building. Although I’m not a member of the NVR staff, I can say that I write this column and respond to comments from my home office.
You do raise a good consideration as well- it would seem that, especially with the younger generations, there seems to be more interest in working with creativity and information technology. On the other hand, I also hear a call from some in the education sector that we need to get away from the paradigm that primary and secondary education should be almost universally predicated on the idea that all kids should be prepped for college- as opposed to trades and vocations. I’d be curious what data is available out there that suggests what the interests and aptitudes tend to be for future generations between working primarily with ‘mental’ activities, versus working primarily with the hands- or for that matter, where there are new jobs that require equal amounts of both. "
sickothis wrote on Jul 1, 2008 1:09 PM:
Lee wrote on Jul 1, 2008 2:16 PM:
matt@newspeak wrote on Jul 1, 2008 2:47 PM:
Naturally, as the economic base of the community shrinks people have less job and financial security and aren’t excited about the prospect of new taxes to modernize roads, schools, infrastructure and public services- which in turn keeps new industry from wanting to move in. Then a fast-sales tax and TOT revenue, but low-wage tourism, hospitality and vacation economy takes over which ends up driving up the cost of living (housing, real estate, nightlife and recreation, services), straining infrastructure and roads and not pumping sufficient revenue in property taxes back into the local system.
Do you mind if I ask where this previous place was, sounds like some good case-study/cautionary tale material for Napa County to learn from? "
matt@newspeak wrote on Jul 1, 2008 3:08 PM:
Also, just a hint on the image verification- it updates every few minutes, so if you’re logged in for a long time while writing your comments, the image code will change without you seeing it- thus it will reject the code that you still see on your screen. What I do is write my comments out in Word and then cut and paste them. I learned that the hard-way too, when many of my longer comments disappeared forever! Thanks for your comments. "
daveposner wrote on Jul 1, 2008 3:49 PM:
you missed my point. I have no idea whether my mechanic went to college or not -- it's irrelevant. A significant and growing part of his job is carried out on a computer. Whether or not reporters are reporting on the web their stories are written on computers and sent to the editors who edit them on a computer and send them to whoever lays out the paper who uses typesetting software to generate type for the presses which are probably operated from a console. The paper and ink may have to be moved by humans but it must be a very small part of what goes on at a paper. It's true that people still need to hammer nails and turn wrenches but most of the design and planning of construction and manufacturing is done in a virtual environment.
And remember the internet is not just the web. It allows virtual connections to any computer anywhere. So all the accounting data processing and other back office functions canbe done from home.
It may be that I'm overestimating the amount of work done electronically but suppose we invested in making broadband availiable to everyone and created economic incentives for companies to let their workers work part of their jobs at home doesn't it seem likely that a larger number of people could reduce their commutes by one or two days a week and wouldn't that have an enormous impact on transportation and energy. One thing we probably need to figure out is how local communities derive business taxes when workers are working at home. These taxes should go in part to supporting the virtual infrastructure. "
Bill wrote on Jul 1, 2008 4:41 PM:
If you think you can not live with out the jerk with the wrench or spade hold on tight to those laptops becuse some one has to run the machines you program some place in real space. "
Lee wrote on Jul 1, 2008 4:46 PM:
daveposner wrote on Jul 1, 2008 9:14 PM:
(You really *are* a curmudgeon aren't you!) To state the obvious, I never called anybody a jerk. I have infinite respect for people that can work with their hands and build real stuff and I never said that we can do without manual labor and craftsman. There will always be that need. But a lot of us can do our work virtually. As for off-shoring, that's true whether or not we like it and allow people to work at home. Making them come to offices isn't going to save their jobs. And of course the same is true with respect to physical manufacturing. Unfortunately whatever we do we're going to have to compete and we can only do that by increasing productivity and one way to do that is to eliminate unnecessary commuting. When I was commuting I needed a good hour to decompress before I could do anything. My productivity has increased vastly since I stopped commuting and moved to this beautiful valley. "
NVGal wrote on Jul 1, 2008 9:51 PM:
Jobs that would be helpful here would be design/computer related jobs (Marketing, etc) that could easily have clients in Napa Valley as well as Dubai. We just have to get smarter as to how we are going to be adding value to a global world where anyone can compete now. This a great opportunity for all of us. We can do jobs now that were only available to us if we lived near them. Napa has a huge opportunity to attract jobs that are related to the wine industry but not necessarily dependent on the wine industry for survival. "
NVGal wrote on Jul 1, 2008 9:58 PM:
PS – Don’t stop voting. But can you pick up the pace a bit? :) "
Bill wrote on Jul 1, 2008 10:12 PM:
If people will not come here and work cheap, the easily exported jobs will go there. Nothing travels faster than intellect and people work with their minds in all environments. skill command and a key board are not all that difficult to master many computer skills are picked by youngsters just like mechanical skills building a hot rod. those who feel comfortable because they master a complicated program should realize that there is more to production than a paper trail for management tracking and bar coding. It still takes more than a robot to move goods and provide services.
Decompress a little and see that there is more than just you or my life style that must or is changing but what type of society we are building and just who we are leaving behind. It is still the men and women who do the physical work that make society function. You can move bits and bites about cyberspace but you still need a delivery boy to get your groceries and some one to grow and package them even if all this can be tracked and implemented by a data entry operator/manager. "
matt@newspeak wrote on Jul 2, 2008 1:11 AM:
According to the draft County general plan, housing affordability in Napa County saw the steepest decline earlier this decade of all nine Bay Area counties, and the combination of wage levels and median house prices makes housing “affordable” to only 22% of Napa County households.
The general plan estimates that the median wage in the county is $13.76 per hour, but that for a two bedroom apartment at the local fair market rent of $1,112 a month, a worker would need to make $21.38 per hour on a fulltime, 40 hour/week job.
Since 1995 there has been a ‘living wage movement’- that is regional wage minimums in excess of the Fed. Minimum Wage standard that more accurately account for what a worker needs to cover life basics (often adjusted for both with and without health benefits) by local cost of living standards.
Given the lack of affordable housing and traffic caused by the service sector, and the apparent gap between median wages in the county and estimated needs just for rent- would the County do well to have a living wage ordinance- and/or other creative options such as local Earned Income Tax Credits? "
matt@newspeak wrote on Jul 2, 2008 1:15 AM:
matt@newspeak wrote on Jul 2, 2008 1:26 AM:
Interestingly, in a lot of rural legislation lately- here in California and in the most recent monstrosity of a Federal Farm Bill, there has been a big push for rural broadband access to improve Internet connectivity in more outlying spaces. For sure the virtual workplace will be an increasing part of our landscape and I would hope that that would have a beneficial effect on reducing commute time and traffic.
To Bill's point, the flip side of this is once these types of jobs start moving about, they can go anywhere- even offshore. "
missmarvelous wrote on Jul 2, 2008 6:29 AM:
sickothis wrote on Jul 2, 2008 10:20 AM:
Bill wrote on Jul 2, 2008 9:33 PM:
This is where unionism has fallen down, it is one thing to organize for collective bargaining power but to ask that an across the board wage be established appears to stifle all notion of incentive. The biggest union problem from my point of view is that they stopped being organizers and started being mere business agents and never promoted active internal participation by their memberships as it threatened their hierarchy. They copted the attitude that I got mine to heck with the rest, for union organizing and restructuring to have a real voice in the board room needs to be rethought, not the focus of a standardized wage that echoes the sound bite of one big union.
Someone has a lot of convincing to do on this one. I’m certainly not there. "
Bill wrote on Jul 2, 2008 10:15 PM:
Improved public transportation is better than trying to force another community to cluster about a winery or any enterprise, a credit for reimbursement for using such transportation might be a better approach. There is a mixed market system at work no matter how much some would like to deny it and use the rubric of free enterprise but there is a point where the benefit must fit the need and fairness is necessary to all parties. "
misfit wrote on Jul 3, 2008 8:14 AM:
Lee wrote on Jul 3, 2008 9:46 AM:
steph wrote on Jul 3, 2008 3:49 PM:
steph wrote on Jul 3, 2008 3:52 PM:
Bill wrote on Jul 3, 2008 5:51 PM:
Especially those that assume they know what the other person thinks or believes and uses assumptions to frame their comments. Not feelin' too well your self Steph? Excuse me I don't want the ladies offended by some one who may actually think about problems. Too chauvinistic, I know. "
steph wrote on Jul 3, 2008 10:00 PM:
109823 wrote on Jul 3, 2008 11:52 PM:
kevin wrote on Jul 4, 2008 12:33 PM:
Bill wrote on Jul 5, 2008 2:16 PM:
Ideas must be a very scary place to go especially if they don't match your current perception. "
NVGal wrote on Jul 6, 2008 10:22 AM:
So when adding or replacing an employee, all of these costs/taxes are considered together. If the cost is too high and they can shuffle the work load around, they won't hire or replace an employee.
It is best for government to work with businesses rather tnan force a company to pay more. If the cost of doing business in one area is too great, a business will relocate, sell or close it's doors. "
NapaNative times five wrote on Jul 6, 2008 4:33 PM:
I terribly miss the Napa of my youth, or any resemblance of it. "
abouttime wrote on Jul 6, 2008 11:36 PM:
Let's face the reality. The Aspen effect is here. You can fight against it, but it's here to stay. Not every town can have affordable housing. Not everyone can live here. That is an inconvenient truth, but a truth none the less. We can talk about these things and we can try our best to deal with while liberal guilt. The reality is we will do what we can and life will go on. Changes will happen and by an large they are changes for the better. We will make some mistakes, but we are on our way to a world class city in a world class Valley. Many of us have waited a long time for this and grateful we are on the verge. "
jeepracer10 wrote on Jul 8, 2008 10:29 AM:
essare wrote on Jul 8, 2008 10:59 PM: