The people buying land–retirees who want to ski or golf, or mountain bikers looking to blaze through the great wide open–are fueling an “amenity migration” that’s helped make selling second homes a major component of Rocky states’ revenue streams. “In many resort towns, real estate has replaced tourism and even skiing as the main driver in the economy,” says Jonathan Staufer of Colorado Wild, an environmental group. Ah, for the good ole days of tacky T-shirt shops.
