In recognition of their outstanding contributions to community housing in Vail, Steve Lindstrom and George Ruther have been named as joint recipients of the 2025 Trailblazer Award presented by the Vail Town Council.

The annual Vail Trailblazer Award honors those who contribute their time and talent to make Vail an extraordinary community. Lindstrom and Ruther will be formally recognized at the Town of Vail Annual Community Meeting which will be held on March 25 at Donovan Pavilion.  

Lindstrom and Ruther have been tireless advocates for local’s housing in their respective roles on the Vail Local Housing Authority (VLHA) and as the first director of the Vail Housing Department. They have been instrumental in shifting the political and popular narrative from the creation of housing being a sign of political overreach to resident-occupied, deed-restricted homes being an essential pillar of Vail’s long-term prosperity. 

“Steve and George really are trailblazers, and they have put us on the map nationwide with the innovations that they have brought to housing,” said Vail Mayor Travis Coggin. “They’ve worked tirelessly to advance community housing and have supported multiple councils in achieving their housing goals.”

Lindstrom was first appointed to the VLHA in 2001 and is currently serving his fifth consecutive five-year term as a volunteer. He has been appointed as chairperson by his fellow board members for the last 20 years, a sign of the respect his peers have for his leadership, expertise and approach. 

Ruther was first hired as a town planner in 1994 and distinguished himself as an astute observer of Vail’s political and social landscape. In 2011 he succeeded current Town Manager Russel Forrest as the Director of the Community Development Department and, along with Lindstrom, was instrumental in making the case for the creation of the Town of Vail’s Housing Department. Ruther was tapped as its first director in 2018 and held the role until his retirement in 2024.

Throughout their tenures, they have forged partnerships with the private sector, non-profits, neighboring municipalities, and the State of Colorado to develop creative pathways to house Vail’s workforce. Working alongside the Vail Town Council, their tenacious advocacy for creating a continuum of housing for residents has resulted in projects ranging from Middle Creek Village and the redevelopment of the eastern portion of Timber Ridge to Lions Ridge Village Apartments; to the Chamonix Vail Community and Residences at Main Vail. 

Lindstrom and Ruther pioneered Vail’s adoption of the innovative and award-winning Vail InDEED program in 2018, which has created housing opportunities for over 360 qualifying residents in over 175 Vail homes and has inspired similar programs across the country. The program was conceptualized based on an audacious goal to grow the number of deed restricted homes in Vail by another 1,000 by the year 2027.  The Vail InDEED program, in concert with new homes constructed, have resulted in the creation of an additional 332  deed-restricted homes for full-time community members in Vail, bringing the total number to 1,030. 

Even with these successes, Lindstrom and Ruther recognized there is still work to be done to meet Vail’s housing needs. To fund the work of the future, they advocated for the passage of Town of Vail Ballot Initiative 2A, in which voters approved the first-ever increase in local sales tax dedicated to fund housing initiatives, housing developments, and housing programs for the town. The current redevelopment of Timber Ridge Village and the concept for West Middle Creek are legacy projects of Ruther still actively supported by Lindstrom.

The Vail Trailblazer Award was established during the town’s 50th birthday celebration in 2016. Ruther and Lindstrom are the tenth recipients to be honored and were selected by a Town Council committee from a number of other commendable nominations.

For more information about the Vail Trailblazer Award and the nomination process, visit vail.gov/trailblazer.