STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
It was good news if you’re the Geritol distributor for Ketchum.
“Ketchum is Becoming Older,” said the headline on a signboard at the City of Ketchum’s Fair on the Square.
In 1990, the sign continued, the median age in Ketchum was 33.4 years. It rose to 39.0 in 2000 and had climbed to 50.6 years by 2016.
Ketchum is also “Emptier,” the sign said, with the population decreasing from 3,011 in 2000 to 2,753 in 2016. And it’s “Slower,” with fewer events and less late night entertainment, the sign added.
This was one of the issues confronting those attending the City of Ketchum’s Fair on the Square Friday night at Ketchum Town Square.
And City Council Member Courtney Hamilton was on hand to field suggestions for ways to attract and retain more young people.
“I’m starting a task force comprised of the next generation to build the Ketchum they want,” she said. The first project will be to survey those under 45 and get their imput on housing, jobs and entertainment and use it to inform policy. It matters because young people bring cultural vibrancy to the town and they’re the next generation of leaders.”
Informing policy was what the fair was all about, said Ketchum Mayor Neil Bradshaw.
“We have a variety of initiatives we’re dealing with and we want to know what people think,” he said.
Citizens were asked to weigh in on bicycle pedestrian improvements, among other things.
Many said there needs to be a better connection for bicyclist along Highway 75 between the Knob Hill Inn and Saddle Road. Others suggested creating more benches and other places to sit to create a more walkable and bikeable downtown.
Some suggested making all intersections four-way stops to cut down on confusion among tourists. A few suggested plowing the bikepath from Hemingway STEAM School to the YMCA during winter. And a number said the city should close 4th Street at Main to improve safety at that busy intersection.
Grant Gager answered questions about the proposed site for a new fire station at the Warm Springs and Saddle roads. A search committee had narrowed 21 possible sites to six, he told passersby.
But the owners of most of those properties, including that of the Red Barn along Sun Valley Road, did not seem motivated to sell.
Bradshaw said one of the initiatives exciting him most was the proposals for new housing units.
They include a private market-led development for 20 smaller, long-term rental apartments. Others on the agenda include the Blaine County School District’s proposal to create employee and workforce affordable housing in what is now the bicycle pump park across from Hemingway STEAM School .
Citizens were also asked their suggestions for the highest and best use for the light industrial zone.
Once the rail yard district and the last stop of Union Pacific’s Shortline, rising land values has left much of the district underdeveloped. And many believe housing should be integrated, allowing people to live in the same area they work.
While the adults wrestled with ways to make Ketchum a more attractive, livable town, youngsters wrestled with questions of their own. Danica Robrahn, an art teacher at Hemingway STEAM School, asked youngsters to define what the town meant to them and have them paint their answers on the pavers lining the town square.
Some youngsters colored painted mountains and snowflakes. Langley Bier wrote, “Sun is here.” And Maeve Coffelt wrote “Stay happy.”
“We get to write messages about the town we love and that’s the best I’ve got,” Coffelt said.
The paint, made with clay power, will eventually dry up and blow away or wash off in the rain, said Robrahn. But, until then, passersby will be able to learn from the mouths of babes.
Even as Ketchum leaders and townspeople looked to the future, they celebrated those that had brought them to where they are now with the help of Idaho Smart Growth, a statewide nonprofit organization that advocates for creating great places to live that make sense economically, environmentally and socially.
The organization honored Ketchum architect Dale Bates with its Charles Hummel Award for his involvement with several housing and public art projects, including the development of the Ketchum Town Square, which was once a parking lot.
Idaho Smart Growth also honored the Blaine County 2025 Master Plan; Sweetwater, which features a mix of homes and townhouses with a common square and community center, and the Blaine County Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan.
It also honored the City of Ketchum for its wayfaring signs, Hailey’s renovation of Woodside Boulevard and the Pine Ridge condos-townhouses featuring a mix of market rate units and affordable community housing that are designed with non-toxic materials, passive solar design and drought-tolerant landscaping.
SUN VALLEY’S GOT KETCHUM BEAT!
So now we know that the median age in Ketchum is 50.6. But how does that compare?
The median age of those nationwide is 37.4. Idaho’s median age is 35.7 and Hailey’s 36.3. But Sun Valley has everyone beat with a median age of 59.8.