A thoughtful plan for Telluride's future
Finish. Fix. Forward.
Telluride is a home and a destination, and each depends on the other. This is a plan to finish what we started, fix what's broken, and move forward on purpose.
We love this town. That's why we're here.
Everyone who lives here remembers the moment they decided to stay. A powder morning. A festival night on Main Street. A neighbor who showed up with dinner. Telluride gets into people, and it does not let go.
But staying has gotten harder. Teachers commute from an hour away. Line cooks share rooms. Couples who met here leave when the baby comes. Friends we thought would be here forever are gone, and every goodbye takes a little of the town with it.
Telluride has the money, the talent, and the will to solve its problems. What it has lacked is follow-through. Homes the public already owns sit empty. Beloved gathering places have been dark for years. Big projects move ahead before anyone shows what they cost. And a feud with the ski company has cost everyone.
We can do better, and we know how.
Where we stand
19%
of Town-owned rental homes were vacant on October 6, 2026, while about 240 households waited for one
30%
of residents rate the town's overall direction positively
$60M to $135M+
estimated cost to replace the gondola, 2024 to now
These are fixable. Every one of them is a decision someone can make.
A home and a destination
Telluride is a tourism economy, and we say so proudly. Visitors fill the restaurants and shops, fund the festivals, and pay most of the taxes that run the Town. Nearly every local paycheck traces back to them.
A stronger visitor economy, with more hotel rooms, a better mountain, and busier off-seasons, is how residents afford to stay. And a real community of residents is what makes Telluride worth visiting.
Our door stays open: a town that welcomes the world and has room for the people who host it.
The plan in three parts
01
Finish what we started
Reopen the Warehouse. Settle the medical facility and the gondola. No more projects left half done.
See what we'll finish02
Fix what's broken
Fill the empty homes and simplify the housing rules. Show where the money goes before the vote, not after. End the feud with the mountain.
See what we'll fix03
Move forward with a plan
Welcome more visitors with more hotel rooms. Build with partners, not on the Town's credit alone. Match homes for workers with homes for families, and new neighborhoods with transit.
See the way forwardA good day in Telluride, for everyone
For a teacher
a home she can afford, ten minutes from her classroom.
For a family
a house to own, a full school, and childcare that exists.
For a restaurant owner
a busy Tuesday in October, and staff who can live nearby.
For a longtime local
the Warehouse open on a summer night, and a town that still feels like itself.
For a part-time resident
a thriving community to come home to, and proof that giving here gets things built.
For a visitor
a real town, with real people in it, glad you came.
Part-time residents are neighbors and partners in this. Their generosity has helped save historic buildings and will help build the new medical facility. This plan penalizes no one.
Eight things we can do in the next six months
None of them needs a ballot measure.
- 1Town of Telluride: replace the housing waitlist with open applications and publish a monthly vacancy scorecard.
- 2Town of Telluride: publish the full financial picture for Carhenge before any further approvals.
- 3Town of Telluride and Telluride Arts: agree on the Transfer Warehouse's ownership and reopening plan by a public deadline.
- 4Town of Telluride and Mountain Village: partner on for-sale family homes down-valley.
- 5Hospital District: release the partnership terms and cost estimate for public comment before signing.
- 6Every taxing district: commit to the 5.25% revenue limit, with credits for any excess, before the May 2027 valuation notices.
- 7Transit authority: publish the gondola structural study and an upgrade-versus-replace comparison.
- 8Both towns, the county, and the ski company: open a standing public forum on hotel rooms, housing, and mountain investment.
Where the money goes
Your property tax bill is split among many districts, and most of it does not go to the Town. See every district's rate, revenue, and growth in one place.
$2.9M
Town of Telluride
$12.2M
Fire district
$14.8M
San Miguel County
Property tax levied for 2025, rounded. Sources: San Miguel County Abstract of Assessment and Levies, county budget brochure.
See your bill by districtHave your say
This plan is a starting point. Tell us where it is right, where it is wrong, and what you would do instead.
- 01
Confirm you're local.
Registered voters verify with a one-time code. Residents and local workers who are not on the voter roll can verify too. Every comment carries a real name.
- 02
Weigh in on each idea.
For every part of the plan, choose one: support it, support it with changes, or not yet. Add one comment to say why.
- 03
Propose something better.
Name the problem, your solution, and who pays. Neighbors can back it. Each month we answer the most-supported proposals and update the plan.
Picture a winter evening ten years from now
Every window at Shandoka is lit. Kids pour out of a school that is full again. There is a band at the Warehouse and a line outside the Nugget. The restaurants are busy on a Tuesday in October, and the people serving dinner live ten minutes away. A new clinic handles what used to mean a long drive in the dark. The mountain is investing, the town is building, and the arguments are about ideas, not about each other.
None of this is out of reach. Every piece of it is a decision someone can make. That is all this plan is: a list of decisions, and a town full of people ready to ask for them.
Tell us the moment you decided to stay
A powder morning. A festival night. A neighbor who showed up. Share yours, and read why others call this place home.
Share your storyThis town was built by people who showed up. Add your name, bring a neighbor, and help us finish, fix, and move forward.
Add your name