The Wall Street Journal, July 23, 2024, Sky-High Housing Priced Workers Out of Jackson. Then A Landslide Cut Them Off
Cassie and Mark Vandeventer were used to commuting around 45 minutes each way from their home in worker-populated Driggs, Idaho, to their jobs across the state line in pricey Jackson, Wyo. It was an easy trade-off: Living in Driggs meant they could afford a house with a yard for their dog, Cooper.
Then, on June 8, a substantial section of the Teton Pass highway collapsed in a landslide, severing a crucial connection between Jackson and the towns of Victor and Driggs, Idaho. A subsequent detour added 60 miles each way, which added three hours to the Vardeventers’ round-trip commute to her job as a rehab nurse at St. John’s Health and his job at a construction services company.
