Working People Can No Longer Afford to Live in Marfa

Dear Editor,
    After reading Morphing Marfa I felt as deflated as I did after leaving on a recent trip this summer [“To Marfa, on a Tuesday in December,” Arts, Dec. 23]. I looked at real estate with the dream of possibly moving to Marfa and teaching nearby. I was shocked by the prices of these homes when I contacted agents. Sure, Marfa is on its way up thanks to the hipster scene, but I think it's unfortunate that people who want to come to Marfa to "play cowboy" for a weekend contribute nothing to the local economy. "They see the doctor, refill prescriptions, and dry-clean their clothes in Houston, Austin, Dallas, or New York." That's the problem. These visitors aren't helping the town build these services locally. You are keeping people out who love Marfa and want to build a life there. As it stands, there is no way someone like me, a schoolteacher, could move to Marfa and afford to live on the wages the town is capable of providing in relation to the cost of housing. Sadly, it looks as though Marfa won't continue to grow until the wealthy find their next hip getaway.