Aspen, Colorado  The City of Aspen is the county seat and the
most populous city of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States.
The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city
population was 5,804 in 2005. Founded as a mining camp in the
Colorado Silver Boom and named because of the abundance of aspen
trees in the area, the city is now a ski resort and a upscale
tourist center. In the late 20th century, the city developed as
an off-beat haven for misfits, attracting such celebrities as
John Denver (who wrote several folk songs about the town,
including "Aspenglow", and "Starwood in Aspen") and Hunter S.
Thompson. The city was the site of the U.S. Comedy Arts
Festival. Aspen has been declared "The Most Expensive Town in
America."   This historic character of the city has been
challenged in recent decades by skyrocketing property values and
the proliferation of second homes, increasingly shutting low-
and middle-income workers out of the city. At the same time, in
stark contrast to its historic character, t