Reality Check (estate, houses, rent)

[mark6052]

Well slap me on the butt and call me a monkey! Good points JJM. WE agree after all. lol Kalispel is a great example of what some folks will do to change an area. Im with you and hope foe a bust in the area to drive some back to where ever.The good part of getting old is you can out think em. the bad part, is just gettin old.

[JoeJoeMan]

Mark Wrote:

Well slap me on the butt

Hey, get your wife to slap your butt.........

Cool, it seems we are both on the same page afterall, it's not always that easy to see where people are coming from on these forums, or easy to explain one's self.
I'm just wishing, hoping the best for ol Montana, I just hate to see everything we love about it get eroded away, not only for myself and those who live here, but for those that come to visit.
I understand that people need to make a living, which isn't always easy around here, but at the same time we should always be carefull not to do it to our own detriment, which sadly has been happening of late.
I'll continue to champion the cause in my on little way and hope for the best.

[mark6052]

Glad to hear we are on the same page. It is tuff to understand people with just afew written words. Now if I can just afford that 10,000 ac. ranch I'd be able to keep a small part of MT the way it used tobe.

[YOU-CANT-EAT-SCENERY]

I'll be trying for at least 20 acres myself. Hopefully not subdivided acres, for I would hate to be contributing to the cause.

[JoeJoeMan]

Speaking of buying acres, I was told of a young couple who back in the mid->late 80's bought about 30 acres, if I recall it was over by Helena, the fathter worked, mom stayed at home, couple kids, they put a trailor on it and eventually got a modest house built on it. Recently someone told me they were offered upwards of a million dollars for the property, I'm not sure if that was just the acreage or included the house, but either way...
But that is not all that un-typical anymore. Were it use to be that a plain ol working bubba had a chance to buy himself a little bit of land an make a place for himself, that way of life is pretty much a thing of the past, at least around here.
Oh and guess what the buyer wants to do with the land.........like you don't know....subdivision of McMansions. Last I heard they haven't sold yet, yet.

[mark6052]

Have you seen E. Helena latley? wait afew yrs, the'll get what they want! From Boulder on into helena its grown abit. I wonder what the 2010 census will be? There was an interesting shift from eastside to the west.

[JoeJoeMan]

Someone on this site recently stated the recent population census for Montana, and it really hasn't changed that much. Which seems odd in light of all the change one witnesses everyday.
I suspect the eastern part of the state is just clearing out while the west side is loading up. I also think the other factor at work is that households are becoming smaller, whereas there use to be 3,4,5,6 people in a house, parents and mulitple kids now many households are only 2 or 3 and alot of single people living in a house, so while the population of the state isn't increasing all the much the expansion of housing and sprawl is dramatically.
In short, only a slight increase in population but a vast increase in sprawl, McMansions, shopping centers, big box stores, lord knows we need our cheap chinese junk and golf courses to keep us happy these days and a freaking truck as big as Montana to haul are butts around in.
America these day... big trucks, big houses, big appetites, big egos and big a**es. And you wonder why the rest of the world looks on us like we're a bunch of idiots.

[mark6052]

The 2000 census showed an increase of 25% from east to west. recently billings has gone up 30,000plus. greatfalls went up 10,000. bozeman was on such agrowth the infrastructure could not keepup with sewer, water,etc. that was in the paper this last summer. Seems more than just the large families splitting up in all these newer homes.

[JoeJoeMan]

I was just going on the figures that someone sited on here, which didn't sound right to me. But what you say Mark seems alot closer to reality.
Yea it's bonkers over in the western part of the state.
It's literally killing people, route 93 use to be a quiet drive down the Bitterroot, now it's seem like you hear on the news every other day about a fatal accident somewhere on 93, but I guess we'll just have to get used to that as the price of growth, huh.
Think about it, growth, growth, wonderful growth has literally cost us the lose of human life, more crime, more man made caused forest fires, increased housing cost, increased proberty tax, congestion and smog, infustructure costs, should I go on...
And somehow everyone just wants to blow it off, "oh it's progress", "we have to change with the times",
You know for the life of me I can't figure out how any of this is any good for any of us. And if that ain't stupid enough. we have people and politicians promoting it, promoting growth. How stupid can one species be.
I guess in a way we could lay some of the blame for the increase traffic fatalites, or those actuall individual deaths, at the feet of those who helped promote and create that dangerous situation.
Yup there's your quaility of life for you, being shoved down the sewer. These mercinary 'growth' people have a bad habit of talking out of both sides of their mouth, promising to improve the quality of life while at the same time anything to make a buck and ruin it. "White man speak with forked tongue" and "graps where he lives"

[Kaptain Karl]

Originally Posted by JoeJoeMan

... Think about it, growth, growth, wonderful growth has literally cost us the lose of human life, more crime, more man made caused forest fires, increased housing cost, increased proberty tax, congestion and smog, infustructure costs, should I go on...

And more people who get to enjoy the fresh air and "spaces" some people are ... hoarding. More people with more expertise in Industry, Medicine, Resource Management, etc. More jobs servicing the needs of the other people. Families saved from the blight of (real; not your imagined and exaggerated) urban blight. Many more kids who actually get to *see* the stars; not just read about them or see them depicted in cinema. Whole groups of people who have a greater likelihood of learning something about living off the land ... and in concert with nature. I could go on....

And somehow everyone just wants to blow it off, "oh it's progress", "we have to change with the times" ...

"Everyone?" "Blow it off?" Am I the only one who notices (just a bit) of hyperbole in your posts...?

You know for the life of me I can't figure out how any of this is any good for any of us.

Maybe you should hang around more "Glass half-FULL" people...?

(Seriously, JJM, I live in THE county which has experienced the fastest growth in the nation for six of the last eight years. I *do* complain about the "Californication" of our area. But I've met and befriended some really nice people who are "part of our problem." They are not all ... evil, you know....)

- KK