Socio-Economics and Human Demographics

In 2020, TwispWorks commissioned a comprehensive economic study to better understand the economic, demographic, structural, and social changes occuring the the Methow Valley. The study addressed questions relating to tourism, vacation homes, residential building and other major industries, as well as economic disparity and resident attitudes on change and the future. A report summarizing the study results was produced in 2022 and is available below.

In 2019, the WA state Legislature passed HB 1923, which set requirements for Housing Action Plans (HAPs) and provided a grant program for local governments to develop them. Much of HB 1923 is focused on setting milestones and requirements for Growth Management Act (GMA) Fully Planning Counties. Because Okanogan County is only a “Partially Planning County,” Winthrop and Twisp are not required to create HAPs.

But both Winthrop and Twisp opted into the program, receiving grants from the Department of Commerce to hire a consultant to develop HAPs. The funding is structured in such a way that each town must produce an individual plan. Using this DOC grant funding, Winthrop, through RFP, hired a consulting firm (Beckwith Consulting) to develop a HAP in accordance with these HB 1923 guidelines.

As Winthrop reviewed early drafts of the HAP products, however, they identified several issues with the data and approach that reduced their satisfaction with the results. Given the need for better data and a locally grounded narrative, the Winthrop Planning Commission decided to develop their own Housing Action Plan. This Winthrop HAP is informed by the Beckwith product and recommendations, fact checked, supplemented with their own research, and grounded in the local context.

Page last updated January 2024.