Modern Migrants

Brent Smith commutes to his job as a firefighter from Park City. But Smith's commute isn't to Salt Lake City, Layton or Provo. Smith commutes to San Francisco's Bay Area.

Smith is part of a growing trend of urban migrants moving from California and the East Coast to mostly resort locales sprinkled throughout the Rockies, while keeping their businesses and jobs in their former towns.

Technology and transportation allow many people the convenience of living where they want, whether it's next door to their workplace or 3,000 miles away. Physically commuting and telecommuting have become more common.

"One of the things that has happened over the course of the last 20 or 30 years is that the umbilical cord that ties where we live and where we work has become slowly severed," said Jonathan Schechter, executive director of the Charture Institute, a nonprofit research organization based in Jackson, Wyo. Charture studies economic, demographic, social and environmental effects on small resort-town communities.

"Thanks to changes in technology and lifestyle and transportation and the economy and a bunch of other reasons, it's increasingly easier to live where you love and still do work that you find rewarding and meaningful."

After falling in love with Park City, Smith and his family moved from the Bay Area six years ago.

"The main reason (we moved) was the exorbitant cost of living," Smith said. "The cost of living was good (in Utah), the schools were good and it's an easy commute."

Smith flies from Salt Lake International into the Oakland airport the night before his firefighting shift, stays in the San Mateo County firehouse for several days while on duty and then flies back to Utah when he's done.

The migration trend toward resort towns, such as Smith's, has steadily increased for nearly 20 years, and Park City is evidence of that trend.

"There's a huge contingency moving to Park City full-time, telecommuting or physically commuting to Southern California or on the East Coast," said Matt Green, president of the Park City Board of Realtors. "Over the past two to three years it's becoming a stronger and stronger trend."

Not all this trend brings is good, however, as well-heeled newcomers tend to drive real estate prices higher.

Schechter said this can especially impact a town's existing middle class. A few years ago, a teacher might have competed with a T-shirt salesman when buying a house or land. Now both the teacher and the salesman are in danger of being "outcompeted."