"We were so lucky," said Yeomans, who has a 2-year-old son and is expecting his second child this month. "Affordable housing has basically allowed us to have a family here. Because I can guarantee you that the minute we had a kid, if we couldn't find a place to live, we would have probably moved somewhere where we could."
Towns like Jackson are increasingly relying on affordable-housing programs to stay vibrant while the wealthy snap up million-dollar vacation properties with sprawling views of the craggy, snowcapped mountains. In one ski town, the city manager - who earns $125,000 a year - lives in subsidized housing.
Christine Walker, director of Teton County Housing Authority in Jackson, said the goal is to prevent people from having to commute from more affordable towns. Since the wealthy are using the homes as vacation destinations, they aren't living there full time, so the communities would wilt in the off season without a steady population.
"This place will turn into Disneyland if we don't have anybody that actually lives here," Walker said. "It's like, 'OK, lights on,' and the whole workforce will just commute in, work here during the day. And then, 'Lights out,' and travel back."
School officials credit the program with helping recruit and retain teachers like Yeomans. The starting salary for a teacher in the Jackson area is about $50,000 a year.
"We see what we call a 'churn' after about six to eight years," said Pam Shea, superintendent of Teton County School District. "Once people who've been here for a while, if they are not able to obtain housing, they will move away or to our neighboring communities."
Home prices nationwide may be in a downward slump, but prices in Rocky Mountain ski towns have steadily increased. Prices in Jackson and in the Colorado communities of Aspen, Telluride, and Vail are still on the rise. In 2003, the median home price in Jackson was $542,000. The figure crested $1 million for the first time in April and reached $1.2 million at year's end.
