Aspen has not quite caught up with its larger cosmopolitan peers in terms of the sharing economy—particularly when considering the explosion of coworking spaces across the country over the past several years. Multiple attempts to launch shared desk offerings in town (including murmurs of coworking giant WeWork) have struggled to get off the ground. While entrepreneurs continue to tinker with the model in terms of location, amenities and memberships, visiting and local professionals alike are waiting with baited laptops. Below, see where industrious Aspenites are dialing in.
PLACE: Local Coffee House
MOTTO: See and be seen
AMENITIES: Locally roasted coffee served in high-design ceramics, featuring all the milks
WHO: The under-50 crowd
PLACE: Pitkin County Library
MOTTO: Quiet, please
AMENITIES: Access to conference rooms, a 3D printer and sewing machine
WHO: Anyone who needs to concentrate quietly
PLACE: So Cafe at the Aspen Art Museum
MOTTO: Power Lunch
AMENITIES: Natural light, a rotating menu of locally sourced lunch bites, $1 coffee if you sign up for its e-newsletter
WHO: Town’s power brokers in media, culture and politics
PLACE: Sundeck
MOTTO: Wi-Fi with a view
AMENITIES: Free Wi-Fi courtesy of the Aspen Skiing Company, a roaring fireplace, #views, a LaVazza cafe and the option to combine your morning hike with work productivity
WHO: Multitaskers
PLACE: ALT Aspen
MOTTO: A place for
real work
AMENITIES: A private business club with executive office spaces, conference rooms and ski lockers
WHO: Part-time Aspenites with full-time jobs
ALT Aspen (520 E. Cooper Ave.) launched this year with seasonal and annual office membership plans.
Photography by: Office worker photo by Lara Far on Unsplash; Alt Aspen photo by Brandon Huttenlocher courtesy of Alt Aspen
