Aspen is the largest city and county seat of Pitkin County, Colorado. Founded as a mining camp in the Colorado Silver Boom and named because of the abundance of aspen trees in the area, the city is now a ski resort and cultural center.

The city sits along the southeast (upper) end of the Roaring Fork Valley, along the Roaring Fork River, a tributary of the Colorado River about 40 miles south of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. It is surrounded by mountain and wilderness areas on three sides: Red Mountain to the north, Smuggler Mountain to the east, and Aspen Mountain to the south.

This historic character of the city has been challenged in recent decades by skyrocketing property values and the proliferation of second homes, increasingly shutting low- and middle-income workers out of the city and creating a large pool of commuters from nearby bedroom communities such as Basalt and Carbondale. At the same time, in stark contrast to its historic character, the city has emerged into international fame as a glitzy playground of the wealthy and famous, associated with such notable celebrities as Kevin Costner (who maintains a residence near the town) and Donald Trump. The downtown has been largely transformed into an upscale shopping district that includes high-end restaurants, salons, and boutiques. The booming real estate market has forced the city to struggle between permitting growth and restricting it. The city today remains a quirky mix of high-end luxury homes and condos intermixed with legacy residences and mobile home parks populated by an old guard of Aspen residents struggling to maintain the unique character of the city. A vote of city residents in April 2005 affirmed a previous commitment to annex the nearby Burlingame parcel in order to construct rental residences in attempt to retain a healthier mix of economic classes in the city. This annexation, while creating affordable housing, is encroaching on Paul Soldner's compound across from Buttermilk.

As of the census of 2000, there were 5,914 people, 2,903 households, and 1,082 families residing in the city. The median income for a household in the city was $53,750, and the median income for a family was $70,300. Males had a median income of $41,011 versus $32,023 for females.

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