Last year, suffice to say, sucked. Just about the only good thing about it was that it closed the door on what was really a pretty lousy decade, too.

The Ohs started with the fanfare fitting of a new millennium. Yes, we partied like it was 1999. Then we woke up with the most awful of hangovers. The White House was seized by a cabal of thugs who short-circuited the Supreme Court and installed a puppet leader who interrupted his golf game only when terrorists attacked.

Then we attacked them. Then we inexplicably attacked swarthy Middle Easterners who were clearly not attacking us. Then we attacked the constitution and the Geneva Conventions.

Then, just as things seemed to start purring along again, the economy tanked. How bad did things get? Things got so bad Americans voted for a Democrat to be president. And get this. He was black. And the real kicker? His name sounded like he was one of those guys we were busy killing.

Things got so bad, even Hunter S. Thompson couldn't stand to loath it anymore.

So as I told a friend of mine who started the new decade in the hospital with a potentially life-threatening ailment, apart from the possibility of imminent death, the rest of the year has got to be better, no?

I'm optimistic. And so, here is my list of optimistic predictions for the year, an annual tradition I began way back at the beginning of this decade.

Aspen: Economic downturns come slower to the Roaring Fork Valley than the rest of the country. Unfortunately, so do recoveries. So even as the rest of the country begins to enjoy a rebound, real estate will continue to slide here for a while. That will create an unlikely situation. Due to the appreciation allowances in the affordable housing program, affordable housing units will actually be worth more than free market homes in Aspen. This will spur a land rush by Basaltines who have long resented the fact that they can't quite afford to live in Aspen.

Basaltines will arrive in droves with their carpetbags in hand, snatching up West End properties like they were Monopoly spaces. As one side of the roundabout fills with Aspen-bound SUVs towing U-Hauls, the other side will fill with a sad parade of cars leaving Aspen. The last vision will be a bumper sticker fading into the distance. “Bring back the Quiet Years.”

Snowmass Village: Despite Aspen's woes, the year will bring a boom to its next-door neighbor. Base Village will be reshuffled and end up in the hands of Prince Bandar. Bandar's interest in Base Village will be baffling at first, until he unveils his plans. Outraged by Dubai's new Burj Khalifa tower, Bandar will begin work on his plans to build the world's newest highest building in Snowmass.

Despite some concerns about its mass and scale, Snowmass Village residents will narrowly approve the project in a referendum, and by the end of 2010, work will begin on Bandar Peak. Bowing to concerns from locals, it will be one foot smaller than Mount Daly when completed. It will feature down-facing lights to reduce light pollution, ranch-style accouterments that blend in with Snowmass' architectural heritage and a clock tower.

Basalt: The mass exodus from Basalt will allow Pitkin County Open Space and Trails to declare much of the existing town as open space. Riverside Drive will be groomed for cross-country skiing in the winter.

Carbondale: A breakaway faction of Basaltines disenchanted with their neighbors moving to Aspen will move to Carbondale, causing Carbondalians, disenchanted with the influx of Basaltines, to move to Paonia. (That will, unexpectedly, cause Paonians, disenchanted with the influx of Carbondalians, to move to Bowie.) The changing demographics of the town will be good for the new Carbondale Sam's Club. Why would anybody drive to Costco anymore?

Lowe's, Target and Whole Foods will all move to Carbondale, a much more convenient shopping destination for all those people who just moved to Bowie.

Glenwood Springs: Glenwood begins a tree-planting project down the middle of Grand Avenue. With Basaltines moving to Aspen, Carbondalians moving to Paonia and everyone else shopping at the new Carbondale Sam's Club, nobody will come to Glenwood anymore, except for snow tires. That will solve Glenwood's Grand Avenue congestion problem. Tourism officials, however, wonder why nobody else is coming to Glenwood, either.

With all its big stores gone, Glenwood Meadows will reopen as a skate park. The editors of Thrasher magazine will name Glenwood “Gnarliest Town in the World.”

When these predictions come true, write to David Frey via his Web site, www.davidfrey.me.