The new land rush in Wyoming

here's a lovely line about averages take a  man and put one of his feet in a bucket of   ice and the other in a bucket of boiling  water and on average he's comfortable   on average Jackson Hole Wyoming is  a really comfortable place to live   but as Ben Tracy found it does  help if you have a lot of money Jackson Wyoming is often called the last of the  old west its Cowboy culture runs so deep it even   rides along on the morning cup of coffee and while  some of the best things in life here may be free   you pay a steep price to live in this Valley known  as Jackson Hole I love this community and I love   the place where I live but there is always that  question in the back your mind of are you going   to be able to survive here Elizabeth Hutchings  moved here from Massachusetts in 2018. for the   first seven months the only place she could afford  to live was in her van between living in your van   your car in various Apartments how many places  have you lived here in four years let's see pan eight or nine eight or nine and in a lot of places  there's been that question of oh this is home but   for for how long Teton County is now home to a  divide bigger than those mountains for which it's   named it is the wealthiest and most unequal in  America the average income here is three hundred   eighteen thousand dollars and the average single  family home price is now more than 5.5 million   dollars that's left a food pantry overwhelmed by  demand staring at six million dollar Town Homes   Rising across the street the level of wealth you  see in the level of disparity that you see I mean   some people have more money you could spend in  10 lifetimes there's a saying in town that you   either have three homes or three jobs many workers  have been forced to cheaper towns nearly 40 miles   away over sometimes treacherous roads Hutchings  works at a local restaurant and when we met last   summer she shared this basement apartment with  a roommate since then she's had to move again   if you're spending so much of your time driving  or so much your time working just trying to   survive I think everybody has that question of  is it worth it this area here is actually one   of the holdovers in town that I imagine in five  years even will look very different Yale School   of the environment Professor Justin Farrell  grew up in Wyoming and is author of the book   billionaire Wilderness he says the middle  class here has been completely hollowed out   inequality is an issue playing out across  the country is it uniquely bad here it is   uniquely bad actually it's nation-leading bad if  you're making forty fifty sixty thousand dollars   you're likely living in your car or you're only  leaving 45 minutes away for most people it's   becoming unlivable the reason he says is that the  ultra wealthy find Teton County very livable their   arrival here accelerated during covid the desire  for multi-million dollar Mountain escapes has   created a new land rush Americans have always  looked West it's always been the load star of   American identity and probably Jackson Hole with  the cowboy image and the Tetons it's I think what   makes it so special for so many people on top  of that it's functionally a tax Haven so Wyoming   does not have a state income tax it doesn't have a  corporate tax so it's a really great place to park   your money legally all that wealth is cleverly  disguised behind a facade of pickup trucks and   jeans it's almost as if the landmark Watering Hole  The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar knew what was coming   this place is really unique because it allows  people to engage in this personal transformation   to become a normal person they rely on the  Western stereotypes to do that and so you have   these millionaires even billionaires dressing in  Wrangler jeans dressing down trying to avoid any   sort of class indicators that might make them look  wealthy and I think it's really well intentioned   Phil hartl is a private wealth advisor who  moved here from high tax California good girl   he and his wife Monica relocated to Jackson  in late 2020. it was really about living in   a different kind of place and really being  closer to Nature and so it's tremendous to   be a part of that I get a sense that you really  do have a respect for the place and I don't want   this to sound rude but I assume you're aware that  some people here think you're part of the problem   oh of course absolutely how does that feel it's  my responsibility to show them that you know I   understand that we came here more recently we're  covered babies right but at the same time if you   approach it with a regard and a respect and a  listening and at the end of the day like anywhere   they judge you as an individual what kind of  person you are hurdle says he's planning to donate   a third of his tax savings to local non-profits  and Charities Teton County is one of the most   philanthropic communities in America am I part  of the problem sure I am you know I'm one of the   people that came in who was able to buy a house at  a marked up price and I'm very grateful for that   but again I also see that I have an obligation as  a result for Elizabeth Hutchings she says she just   wants to make sure people like her the horsepower  that keeps this Cowboy town running can also call   it home if we don't find a way to create a  more Equitable society and to support people   with housing and Human Services you won't have an  economy you won't have dozens of nice restaurants   to eat at do you look down the road and do you  see yourself here in 10 years I don't care if   I'm here in 10 years but I want other people  to have a better quality of life in 10 years