Victor is developing, has growing pains
Drive down Highway 33 or Highway 31 toward Jackson and you’ll find yourself in Victor, a small community of about 2,000 people. It’s just over the Teton Pass from Jackson, and most of the people who live in Victor make that commute every day.
“Eighty percent of our households that have somebody who is gainfully employed commute to Jackson,” said Victor Mayor Jeff Potter. “So, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., or even more when you factor in the commuting hours, a large majority of the folks who live here, who have discretionary income to spend on retail and services and restaurants and those kinds of things, are not here.”
Because wages are higher in Jackson, it’s become difficult for businesses in Victor to find employees. Construction in particular has been greatly affected by Jackson.
“There’s a lot of building activity taking place over there in the high-end second-home market,” Potter said. “So, contractors, you know, are building stuff over there for $600 to $800 a square foot. It’s hard for a developer in Victor to be able to find a contractor who can do work that is going to create an affordable product in the $200 to $250 price range.”
Victor saw a large period of growth in the early 2000s but then was hit hard by the recession. That allowed the city, along with the county, to update its planning and zoning code. Citizens said they want to see growth around the central parts of town and preserve more of the rural areas.
“So we really want to focus that growth in downtown, really keep it inside Victor and keep that vibrant core, support those businesses, prevent the kind of sprawling growth that we don’t want to see,” said Josh Wilson, Victor City Planner.
Victor is seeing another boom today. A new hotel is opening soon, there is a new pharmacy downtown and 80 residential units are going in. The city says the numbers it is seeing are similar to those in 2007. Because of the location to Jackson, the housing is not so affordable in Victor.
“We have an affordable housing advisory task force working through the county right now that is tasked with coming up with recommendations for what kinds of program the community might want to implement through a housing authority,” Potter said. “But, before we establish a housing authority, it’s been made very clear by our constituents that they want to see what is the plan for a housing authority so that they feel good about allocating tax dollars towards programs that are going to be effective.”
“We’ve seen some really good housing proposals come in town,” said Anna Trentaude with Valley Advocates for Responsible Development. “And I think the city’s about to see a huge boom in town homes and tiny homes. And whether that will flood the market in Victor remains to be seen.”
One Victor resident said he is ready to get involved in the community and make Victor the destination residents know it to be.
“Just the passion that these residents pour into Victor and to make Victor a better place and a great place to raise our children is spectacular,” said Borbay, a local artist and Victor resident. “And then of course, look at it. It’s gorgeous.”
The city is still working hard to make Victor a place where people want to live and work. It thinks the future for the small city is looking bright.
“We are a bedroom community for Jackson, but we can’t be just a bedroom community,” Wilson said. “That commercial, resident-serving commercial, is really important, that we have trip capture, that we have uses that serve the residents when they’re not at work in Jackson and they’re home for the evening, grocery stores. We have the pharmacy now. So I think we’ll continue to see that grow and you’ll see a mixture of residential and commercial continue.”
Part of the city’s plan to bring in people is to have community activities around its downtown area. The city hosts Music on Main every Thursday night in the city park from 6-10 p.m.
