Vail Daily columnist Tom Newmann dodges Edwards construction costs

Aspen —Tom Newmann stares at his computer screen. He sees too many topics and decides to write about nothing.

It’s a column about columns, published in the Vail Daily. Newmann, who splits his time between Edwards and Queenstown, New Zealand, lists every possible subject he could cover. He rejects them all. Current events are saturated with 24-hour reporting that rivals science fiction. The weather is obvious; you can look out the window. Sports are divisive — if you write baseball, football fans ignore you. The arts require expertise he doesn’t want to display. Motivation is circular: you need motivation to write about motivation.

Municipal issues are the real kicker for locals, but Newmann suggests holding off. He notes that folks are overwhelmed by new construction rocketing up around them. It’s unsettling, geared toward creating a "sanctuary for mountain souls." He suggests waiting until the construction finishes and maybe taking a water slide to soothe those souls before discussing anything that might rile them up.

On paper, this is a charming exercise in indecision. In practice, it’s a deflection.

Newmann isn’t just picking topics; he’s avoiding the things that actually impact property values and daily life. He mentions "new construction" but doesn’t mention the cost. He mentions "mountain souls" but not the mortgages required to house them. He writes about being "mundane," yet he lives in Edwards, one of the fastest-growing communities on the Western Slope.

Let’s do the math on his avoidance. The Vail Daily reports that municipal issues are "interesting reading for a flock of locals." That’s polite code for: this affects your taxes and your commute. Newmann says some folks are "overwhelmed by all the new construction." He doesn’t quantify it. Is it 10% growth? 50%? We don’t know from his column. But we know that when construction rockets up, it drives up demand for housing stock, which drives up rents and home prices.

He suggests writing about oneself is an option because "most folks are pretty interesting." That’s a nice sentiment. It’s also irrelevant to the person trying to figure out why their water bill went up or why Main Street is closed for three months.

Newmann signs off so we can read about "more exciting stuff." The excitement, however, is happening right here. It’s in the zoning meetings. It’s in the permits being pulled for those new multi-family units. It’s in the infrastructure upgrades needed to support them.

He doesn’t write about it now. He waits for the water slide to finish. That’s fine for a columnist. It’s less fine for residents who have to live with the dust and the noise until that slide is done.

The practical bottom line? Newmann’s column confirms what we see every day: there is plenty to talk about, but the people making decisions are busy deciding what not to say. The construction isn’t slowing down. The "sanctuary" is getting crowded. And the cost of that sanctuary is being passed on to those who stay, not just the mountain souls arriving.