Some decades ago, several of Idaho’s lightly-populated places were tucked away in valleys out of sight, and often out of mind, of the state’s larger population centers. For a long time, on the eastern edge of Idaho, the Teton Valley - which is approximately the same thing as Teton County - was one of them.
It hasn’t been for a while. And before long, it may become one of Idaho’s better-known places.
Half a century ago, around the time I first saw it, the valley and its three small communities - Driggs, Victor and Tetonia - looked like they were on a downward slump. They were farming and ranching places almost cut off from the rest of the world, with little additional economic base. Their link to the rest of the state was an obscure state highway; a long-running passenger train that once provided a range of communication, transportation and economic advantages to the valley was long gone.
Part of the reason for the isolation was and is highly visible on the western skyline: The craggy Teton Mountains. They’re also the reason things have changed, and may be changing a lot more.
In 1970, after decades of stagnant or declining population, the county’s census figure stood at 2,351. Then it exploded, especially in this new century, and in 2020 was reported at 11,630, one of Idaho’s few small counties to see such large population gains.
The reason is clear enough, and its future prospects evident, on the other side of the Teton Mountains over in Teton County, Wyoming, home of Jackson. (The two counties now form a single micropolitan demographic district).
That Wyoming city’s population (not counting the areas around it) has tracked almost exactly with Teton County, Idaho, for the last half-century. (Jackon’s population in 2020 was 10,760). Jackson has become a major national resort and vacation center, home of a leading national ski resort at Grand Targhee (plus other local skiing opportunities), a place frequented by celebrities (one of the central national economic conferences each year is held there). It also has become an expensive place and strained by the growth.
And the growth - not just in the recent past but also in the near future - knows where it wants to go: 24 miles on Highways 22 and 33 over the mountains to Victor and Driggs, which have been growing fast.
What makes this pertinent now is new reports about expansions at Jackson and at Grand Targhee.
The website The Manual reports that “Grand Targhee resort’s expansion — just twelve miles from the town — intends to add an extra 30% to its current skiing and snowboarding terrain. Building work has already begun on Tributary, a luxury home community complete with a 1500-acre golf course, with 92 houses already built and another 20-30 planned each year. On top of this, there is talk of a three-year plan to open a 120-room Marriot Element hotel on Driggs’ main street.â€
The growth in Idaho’s Teton Valley does not seem to be over. Idaho’s side of the Tetons has for decades now been closely reflecting activity on the Wyoming side, and there’s no reason to expect that to stop.
If residents are sometimes concerned about how that may affect their small community, they have reason. The cost of living, and property, has shot through the roof.
A quick word about politics in this area: It is quite different from politics generally in Idaho or Wyoming. In Idaho’s Teton, Democrat Joe Biden won for president with 52.3 percent of the vote, and while Republican Donald Trump won there in 2016, he prevailed by only eight votes. (Biden and, in 2016, Hillary Clinton won by large margins on the Wyoming side.) In an ocean of political red, the two Tetons are an island of bluish purple.
It’s still a small slice of Idaho overall, of course. But as one of the fastest-growing, and maybe about to grow even faster, it merits some attention.
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