Marfa’s boom a bust for some residents
MARFA — When “60 Minutes” did a flattering piece last year on this old West Texas cow town turned hip cultural mecca, it was following a path already taken by Vanity Fair, the New Yorker and the New York Times.
Marveling at oddities like the “Food Shark” and “El Cosmico,” and noting the harmony among cowboys and artists, reporter Morley Safer pronounced Marfa “a capital of quirkiness.” In closing, he bid a “fond farewell to the magic kingdom of Marfa.”
Butwhile few doubt that arts and tourism have rescued Marfa from decline, some see a price to be paid for being the darling getaway spot for well-heeled visitors from Houston, New York and California.
“We’re all sick and tired of these little fluff pieces about Marfa. There are other things to talk about,” said Emily Hocker, 72, a painter, who first came to Marfa in 1993. “This is a wonderful place, but just like other wonderful places suffering from gentrification, the poor people always get shoved aside. A lot of people who grew up here are suddenly on the fringe.”
Some of Marfa’s problems are tangible: The city struggles to provide basic services; school enrollment is in long-term decline; property values are soaring and affordable housing is scarce, because for years, out-of-towners have been taking the cream of it for second homes.
This summer, the housing crisis hit home hard when a reappraisal of all
Presidio County properties instantly doubled the county tax base from $563 million to $1.14 billion.
Shock and panic roiled Marfa homeowners, many of whom saw their property values soar, bringing worries about higher taxes and about families being priced out of the home market.
“My house was appraised at $22,000 in the year 2000 when I moved in. Last year its market value was $60,850, and this year it’s $ 120,290,” said Marge Hughes, 70, a retired county employee. “A couple of the rich types moved in and paid an arm and a leg for a lot, and then resold it for more, so now the people who live out here find themselves sad- dled with these escalating valuations.” ‘Hard to find anything’
A review of Marfa properties listed for sale by Livingston Real Estate shows more than a halfdozen houses priced above $350,000. The most expensive, at $735,000, is a fivebedroom, 2,700-squarefoot home once owned by minimalist artist Donald Judd. Among those on the lower end was a small metal building with the bed in a kitchen loft — asking price $74,000.
“It’s hard to find anything livable in Marfa for under $100,000, and what you get for that is a small one-bedroom. We still have a lot of out-of-state people looking. Locals not so much,” said Valda Livingston, 71. “The young people who grew up in Marfa for the most part can’t stay. It’s the job market. All three of my children are in San Antonio. They couldn’t make a living in Marfa.”
The changing demographics are most clearly seen at the school district.
“We have 350 kids. In the ’ 90s, we had 500. All we’ve done is lose kids. There are no jobs, there is no affordable housing and families cannot move to Marfa,” school Superintendent Andrew Peters said. “My teachers commute 30 miles from Fort Davis and Alpine. Sixty percent of my staff does not live in Marfa.”
Named, according to legend, for a character in a Dostoyevsky novel, Marfa was founded in 1883 as a water and freight stop for the railroad. Surrounded by thousands of square miles of billowing grassland, it soon became a ranching hub.
By 1900, the population had reached 900, and according to the “Handbook of Texas,” Marfa had literary clubs, fraternal organizations, telephone service, a newspaper and a bank.
During the Mexican Revolution, a military camp was established south of town. It later grew to become Fort Russell, which in World War II housed German prisoners.
Marfa reached its peak population of about 5,000 in 1945 just before Fort Russell closed. Only the 1956 filming of “Giant” starring Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean and Rock Hudson, broke up the long postwar slide. Population dips
By 1990, the population had dipped to 2,424. It’s now estimated at less than 1,900. And but for the improbable intervention of Judd, Marfa could easily have withered away.
At Mando’s Café on the west end, the parking lot is jammed with pickups each morning as old-timers gather to trade stories over coffee. Some remember “Giant,” and most have seen the full arc of Marfa’s decline and rebirth.
“Before the art community moved in, Marfa was just a dying, little West Texas cow town. They bought up a bunch of those old buildings that were cheap, cleaned ’emup and painted them,” said Johnny Williamson, 77, a retired U.S. Border Patrol agent.
Among its charms are the stately Paisano Hotel, a first-rate bookstore, its own public radio station, art galleries and studios, poetry readings and film festivals, and residency programs for artists and writers.
Foundations abound, some the legacy of Judd, who in 1971 came to Marfa from New York. Before Judd died in 1994, he acquired a lot of Marfa real estate and created large permanent art displays.
Last year, almost 14,000 visitors came from as far away as Europe and Japan to ponder the exhibits at the Chinati Foundation, including 100 boxy aluminum sculptures by Judd.
Equally inscrutable are the large concrete forms aligned in a nearby field. Years ago, local wags tagged them as storm shelters for antelope.
Once bereft of eateries on weekends, Marfa also boasts restaurants where coastal urbanites can feel at home.
At the Cochineal, one can order a “pan-seared Loch Ative Trout with ginger cream,” and chase it down with a shot of aged Grappa Barolo. The table bread is made with “all natural Marfa yeasts” according to the menu. Sizable underclass
But Marfa, with a percapita income of $23,801, slightly higher than San Antonio’s, also has a sizable underclass. A few blocks off the postcardperfect Highland Avenue are beaten-down mobile homes, old adobes, junk cars from the 1950s and unpaved streets. While weekend rentals go for $300 to $450 a night, 31 residents are on a wait list for housing assistance.
“As a city, we struggle. It’s very difficult to keepup with the infrastructure,” said Dave Lanman, 62, a designer and builder who was mayor a decade ago. “There are winners and losers in this deal, andwhat you see depends on what day you wake up. You can look at the remarkable cultural assets bestowed on us by Donald Judd or you can look at the poverty here, and the people who have not benefited from Marfa becoming an art mecca.”