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The Weekender Effect: Hyperdevelopment in Mountain Towns – Updated Edition
A passionate plea for considered development in mountain towns and for the preservation of local values, cultures and landscapes.
As cities continue to grow at unprecedented rates, more and more people are looking for peaceful weekend retreats in mountain or rural communities. More often than not, these retreats are found in and around resorts or places of natural beauty. As a result, what once were small towns are fast becoming mini-cities, complete with expensive housing, fast food, traffic snarls and environmental damage, all with little or no thought for the importance of local history, local people, and local culture.
This updated edition of The Weekender Effect looks at how things have changed, grown, and morphed in numerous mountain communities in North America. Offering suggestions for residents, tourists, and planners who love mountain places, Robert Sandford tackles some of the issues facing small communities on the edge of the Anthropocene and looks forward to a future when the “commodification of place” is no longer the driving factor in human geography.
As cities continue to grow at unprecedented rates, more and more people are looking for peaceful weekend retreats in mountain or rural communities. More often than not, these retreats are found in and around resorts or places of natural beauty. As a result, what once were small towns are fast becoming mini-cities, complete with expensive housing, fast food, traffic snarls and environmental damage, all with little or no thought for the importance of local history, local people, and local culture.
This updated edition of The Weekender Effect looks at how things have changed, grown, and morphed in numerous mountain communities in North America. Offering suggestions for residents, tourists, and planners who love mountain places, Robert Sandford tackles some of the issues facing small communities on the edge of the Anthropocene and looks forward to a future when the “commodification of place” is no longer the driving factor in human geography.
136 pages, Paperback
Published June 6, 2023
About the author
Robert William Sandford
29 books6 followersBob Sandford is the author or editor of over 35 books on the history and heritage of the Canadian West. He began his work with UN-linked initiatives as chair of the United Nations International Year of Mountains in 2002. He also chaired the United Nations International Year of Fresh Water and Wonder of Water Initiative in Canada in 2003–04. These celebrations focused on the growing importance of water to ecological and cultural heritage in Canada.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 3, 2025
This book paints a beautiful picture of mountain life and the people that are drawn to it. It also makes some good points about the need to protect small communities from mass tourism, a debate that is now mainstream in Europe.
But it was so annoying how vague the author is about everything he writes. He talks about his small mountain community but doesn't mention which one it is, he calls for action but doesn't specify what, besides that people need to "realize what is happening" and learn to "love their way of life more".
This book could have been so much more.
But it was so annoying how vague the author is about everything he writes. He talks about his small mountain community but doesn't mention which one it is, he calls for action but doesn't specify what, besides that people need to "realize what is happening" and learn to "love their way of life more".
This book could have been so much more.
June 20, 2026
I agree with the four star guy. I read it from a perspective of just visiting the Banff/ Jasper area as well as the struggles we have in my suburb as a planning commissioner.I wasn’t in our town when it was just a gas station and a giant nursery store surrounded by hills and farms. It is not a mountain town, but we’ve tried to identify our values as we attempt to meet GMA requirements.
But loads of people come in saying they hate the new apartments, don’t like the developers… but most of those people don’t really explain what values they want to be retained. So it was interesting and relateable, and I’ll work harder to ask people what it is they’d like to retain about what they lived before the growth.
But loads of people come in saying they hate the new apartments, don’t like the developers… but most of those people don’t really explain what values they want to be retained. So it was interesting and relateable, and I’ll work harder to ask people what it is they’d like to retain about what they lived before the growth.
July 18, 2023
Found this is a gift shop in Banff and thought I would give it a go. It’s very short and reads like a manifesto. I blew through it on my flight home.
Throughout the book I felt myself wondering if this was a NIMBY argument or an angry boomer manifesto. But I think the author addresses these ideas/positions enough that I was satisfied. I really liked the chapter where he got into the community consultation process and speaks about the need to have clearly defined values about community. I think these ideas are valuable for all rural places, whether they are experienced rapid development and/or gentrification pressures or not. As others have noted in their reviews, these issues aren’t only experienced in mountain towns.
The book could have gone further into details and examples, but I don’t think that was the point. I think the brevity and writing style was intentional and did what it intended to. I also liked how the introduction prefaced “what he got wrong” in the first edition.
Briefly, this was a quick read and interesting. Might not be great for a general audience but if you’re interested in rural development or you have ties to the Rocky Mountains, it might strike up a chord. Certainly might work for some consciousness-raising for random tourists perusing Banff Ave.
Throughout the book I felt myself wondering if this was a NIMBY argument or an angry boomer manifesto. But I think the author addresses these ideas/positions enough that I was satisfied. I really liked the chapter where he got into the community consultation process and speaks about the need to have clearly defined values about community. I think these ideas are valuable for all rural places, whether they are experienced rapid development and/or gentrification pressures or not. As others have noted in their reviews, these issues aren’t only experienced in mountain towns.
The book could have gone further into details and examples, but I don’t think that was the point. I think the brevity and writing style was intentional and did what it intended to. I also liked how the introduction prefaced “what he got wrong” in the first edition.
Briefly, this was a quick read and interesting. Might not be great for a general audience but if you’re interested in rural development or you have ties to the Rocky Mountains, it might strike up a chord. Certainly might work for some consciousness-raising for random tourists perusing Banff Ave.
June 13, 2024
Please - you only have so many weekends left on this earth. I beg you not to waste a moment of it on this NIMBY -
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews