Vacationland: Tourism and Environment in the Colorado High Country (Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books)
Product ID: 11644547
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Winner of the Western Writers of America 2014 Spur Award for Best Western Nonfiction, Contemporary Mention the Colorado high country today and vacation imagery springs immediately to mind: mountain scenery, camping, hiking, skiing, and world-renowned resorts like Aspen and Vail. But not so long ago, the high country was isolated and little visited. Vacationland tells the story of the region's dramatic transformation in the decades after World War II, when a loose coalition of tourist boosters fashioned alluring images of nature in the high country and a multitude of local, state, and federal actors built the infrastructure for high-volume tourism: ski mountains, stocked trout streams, motels, resort villages, and highway improvements that culminated in an entirely new corridor through the Rockies, Interstate 70. Vacationland is more than just the tale of one tourist region. It is a case study of how the consumerism of the postwar years rearranged landscapes and revolutionized American environmental attitudes. Postwar tourists pioneered new ways of relating to nature, forging surprisingly strong personal connections to their landscapes of leisure and in many cases reinventing their lifestyles and identities to make vacationland their permanent home. They sparked not just a population boom in popular tourist destinations like Colorado but also a new kind of environmental politics, as they demanded protection for the aesthetic and recreational qualities of place that promoters had sold them. Those demands energized the American environmental movement-but also gave it blind spots that still plague it today. Peopled with colorful characters, richly evocative of the Rocky Mountain landscape, Vacationland forces us to consider how profoundly tourism changed Colorado and America and to grapple with both the potential and the problems of our familiar ways of relating to environment, nature, and place. Review: Really good book! - This was an awesome read! Philpott does a great job tracing the history of tourism in Colorado. More broadly, I think he does an excellent job examining the transition of the Inter-Rocky Mountain Region from a region dependent on extractive industries, to a region with a more diversified economy but heavily dependent on tourism. It's a fascinating look into all the intentional decisions that went into developing Colorado's mountain ranges from challenging to access and even more challenging to explore areas, to easily accessible paradises. Also does an excellent job exploring the intricacies of that decision, and potential downsides economically, environmentally, and for some locals. Really awesome look at a unique aspect of Colorado's history. I highly recommend this book, particularly if you're interested in tourism, western history, or Colorado history. Review: An Interesting Read - An interesting read about the development of the high country in terms of Tourism and Enviromentalism in Colorado. Can get excessively detailed at parts, but overall, very interesting while I travel around the state and think about this information.
| Best Sellers Rank | #1,329,445 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #1,013 in Ecotourism Travel Guides #1,142 in Hospitality, Travel & Tourism (Books) #1,468 in Environmental Economics (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.4 out of 5 stars 14 Reviews |
M**C
Really good book!
This was an awesome read! Philpott does a great job tracing the history of tourism in Colorado. More broadly, I think he does an excellent job examining the transition of the Inter-Rocky Mountain Region from a region dependent on extractive industries, to a region with a more diversified economy but heavily dependent on tourism. It's a fascinating look into all the intentional decisions that went into developing Colorado's mountain ranges from challenging to access and even more challenging to explore areas, to easily accessible paradises. Also does an excellent job exploring the intricacies of that decision, and potential downsides economically, environmentally, and for some locals. Really awesome look at a unique aspect of Colorado's history. I highly recommend this book, particularly if you're interested in tourism, western history, or Colorado history.
C**S
An Interesting Read
An interesting read about the development of the high country in terms of Tourism and Enviromentalism in Colorado. Can get excessively detailed at parts, but overall, very interesting while I travel around the state and think about this information.
B**P
I loved this book!
Vacationland is a fascinating story wonderfully told. We know how the story ends, but Philpott manages to create suspense as he portrays the events that transformed the high country of Colorado, especially the development of the I-70 corridor. He makes clear that the outcome was not preordained, as federal technocrats literally designed the road map that profoundly affected localities, businesses, and the environment. He also convincingly describes the rise of lifestyles built around recreation, chronicles the spectacular success of Aspen and Vail, explains the alliance between vacationers and environmentalists in preserving scenery and recreational settings, and highlights the growing tension between economic and leisure interests. When I ordered this book, I feared it would be a tedious textbook by an academic historian. Instead, I found it to be a riveting read and immensely insightful.
S**A
A must read if you like Colorado or want to know more about it
I bought this book for my bachelor thesis and I have to say not only I enjoyed reading the book but it was also very helpful. The book is packed with a lot of interesting information, it is well written and it is really engaging. I learnt a lot about Colorado and there are also a lot starting points. The analysis is deep and touches a many important point. Very recommended
J**.
Illuminates Colorado and National History of Environmentalism
Fantastic history showing how the tourist/recreationist roots of Colorado's post-WWII environmental movement--based in consumerism, suburban ideals, and individuals tastes--ultimately undermined the movement's ability to push for large-scale environmental progress or ecologically based land planning. It shows clearly the paradox of trying to protect the environment through consumerism. This book has rich detail on the post-WWII history of environmentalism in Colorado but also illuminates the national history and helps explain the shortcomings in environmental advocacy and policy that we still see today. For a complementary history, see Adam Rome's Bulldozer in the Countryside.
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