BIG SKY — Ground was broken Tuesday on the new Meadow View Workforce Housing Initiative, a 42-unit development billed as “attainable homes for the people who keep this town running.” The ceremony drew both populations of Big Sky: the pre-boom boomers in faded Patagonia fleece, and the post-boom buyers in new Patagonia fleece. They stood on opposite sides of the excavated lot and did not speak.

“We’ve needed this for thirty years,” said Dale Hargrove, 68, who bought his cabin near Spanish Peaks in 1994 for what is now the price of a used Subaru. “Back when I was lifting at Lone Mountain, we just slept in the break room. Called it employee housing. Nobody wrote a grant.”

The two-bedroom units are listed at “market-adjusted attainable pricing,” which the developer, Summit Ridge Partners, declined to specify at the ceremony. A call to their 406-555-0192 number reached a voicemailbox that was full. The project’s income qualification ceiling is 140% of area median income, or roughly $142,000 for a family of four. The median home price in Big Sky crossed $3.2 million last month.

“It’s a start,” said Tiffany Ortega, a lift operations supervisor at Big Sky Resort who commutes from Belgrade. “My rent in town is $2,800 for a room in a house with five other people. If these are under two grand, I’ll apply. If they’re three, I’ll stay in Belgrade. The drive is just part of the job.”

The Yellowstone Club, visible on the ridgeline above the construction site, was not represented at the groundbreaking. Several attendees noted the private club’s new workforce shuttle idling near the entrance, its tinted windows reflecting the excavators. A Club spokesperson, reached at 406-555-0118, said the organization “supports all housing solutions that strengthen the greater community fabric.”

The boomers stayed for coffee after. The new money left for a 10 a.m. tee time. The excavators kept digging.