Three intermountain communities in Colorado and Utah were studied to determine the impact of rapid development on residents of rural communities, especially on their views of the world and their personal well-being, and to assess the degree to which energy boomtowns experience the social disruption suggested in the classical boomtown studies. Two models of boomtown development were employed: the disruption model, which predicts that changes in the "lifeworld" (a concept borrowed from Gadamer--1975, and Habermas--1981) will be accompanied by a decline in well-being; and the systemic model, which predicts that the system-structure of a community will preserve lifeworld and well-being. Data were collected via questionnaires completed by 443 residents of the three communities, two with boomtown conditions and one a control. The results indicated that the two models under consideration were not very adequate in understanding the content of residents' lifeworld, but were highly successful in assessing well-being. The boomtown variables increased rural ambivalance, caution in accepting new ideas, and modernity, therefore indicating that boomtowns introduce a slight change in lifeworld, however, none of the lifeworld change variables hinted at disruption. More extensive time series analysis of the boom phenomenon and its impact on the lifeworld is needed. References, tables and figures are appended. (JHZ)