Outskirts of Bozeman?

[JoeJoeMan]

Jollygirl wrote:

Worse things can happen to a community than having it grow.

Yea and also a lot better things...........like staying beautifull, uncrowded and peacefull, to name just a few.

I've never heard anyone say that they were moving to Montana to enjoy the growth. It's ironic that some people are in favor of doing the same thing in this state to supposedly make it better and attract people which is the very thing people moving here want to leave behind
They want to move here for the beauty, peace and quite, and uncluttered nature of our state..........so why does any things it's a good thing to degrade those qualities with more and more growth, beats the hell outta' me

And jimj, I wouldn't worry about montanans becoming under educated.....we could certainly afford a little lose in that department.......every other person in Missoula banging nails and making coffee at the corner latte' hut has an advanced degree.... What does that tell you ? They got dupped by the educational system, we are just a bunch of overly educated chumps, education and common sense have little in common, or people going to college are so busy trying to get a degree they never stop to think about if it's good for anything or not, or maybe it's that 'education' is just completely over-rated, another phenomena I've noticed in Missoula, when people start running out of options(money) they start taking out student loans and going to back to school, alot of that going on, most of them knowing or unknowingly a milking the system as they ususally get another worthless degree only to find themselves back in the same position a few years later. Eventually it's "Time to leave missoula"...............alot of that going on

[Zeeburt]

JollyGirl and JoeJoeMan are good examples of someone who "gets it" and "doesn't get it", respectively. By "get it", I mean Econ 101 that affects not only Bozeman, not only real estate, but the entire world for prices on all goods and services and assets.

Prices are driven by supply and demand - nothing more. Always have been. When you have more demand, ceteris paribus, you have higher prices. Less demand leads to lower prices. Higher supply leads, again certeris paribus, leads to lower prices, and vice versa.

Now - what types of things influence supply and demand? Well, when a city is desirable to live in, demand goes up. Prices go up. When people move away, prices go down. Prices in Bozeman have gone up... that is, in part, because people want to live here. If you go looking for towns where prices are cheap and/or declining, it is usually because people do not want to live there. This is a huge factor in why JollyGirl said growth is good. It is, and contrary to what JoeJoeMan said, I am one of many people who moved here in part because Bozeman is a rapidly growing town. I had lived elsewhere, in another part of the country that had a lot to offer, but not as much as Bozeman and was even more expensive. I didn't complain that I was barely making ends meet... prices there are they way they are because people loved what the town had to offer and wanted to live there... a good thing. I started a small company that was growing and I looked for a place to move and grow it that would provide a beautiful, safe, fun place to live and a good business environment. Bozeman was it. I moved here, I grew my company, and I now employ 20 people. Most (but not all) are in their 20s and grew up within 100 miles of here. I am causing Bozeman to be more desirable and pricey, I am causing the people to work for me to stay here, contribute to the economy, and live well. Bad thing? If they lose their jobs and can't find another, they will have to move to another town with less demand, in a lot of cases... exactly like I did.

I am really giving a boring account of the world... such situations are normal and are exactly what drive prices, the economy, etc. Everyone competes to produce, and if you produce at a certain level, you have more options. If you produce less, you have fewer options. Don't get hung up by all the people who say "you cant afford a damn thing here"! If you make enough to afford the prices resulting from supply/demand - and trust me, there are *plenty* of jobs here to do so (I'm having trouble hiring people because of all of the other companies vying for the same people) - then you should try it. If your skills are outdated or otherwise in an area where you would have trouble competing, do what I did and move elsewhere. If you lived here for a long time, when you sell, you'll likely realize a huge gain on your home because of people like me who are driving up the demand and price for it. That is a good thing too.

On the topic of the weather... it is unbelievable to listen to people whine and complain about something they should understand since childhood. Cold feels cold. Really cold feels really cold. Some places you can live are warm. Some are hot. Some are really hot. Some have climates that change a lot and have a whole range of conditions. I have lived in several climates. Before I came to Bozeman, I looked to see what they average temperature is. Despite the ridiculous claims made on this forum, it is not -40F most of the year. Precipitation (remember, snow is precipitiation) is actually quite modest... it is a very dry and sunny climate. Winter temps *do* get down to the -20s on the coldest nights of the year, but generally the weather is quite bearable if you understand how to dress properly. The sun strength here (govt solar charts show yearly solar radiation being roughly the equivilent to that in North Carolina) makes even 35 degree days feel quite nice. If you like to do outdoor winter activities, it is a dreamland in Bozeman. If you don't, you can always learn to ski. If you arent an outdoors person and you don't desire to become one, then there is little difference between living in Bozeman with its 30-degree highs in the middle of winter versus somewhere with 50-degree highs most of the winter, because either way you'll be cold outside if you dont dress properly and are just sitting around! In Bozeman, you dont shovel snow all that often nor drive in it. There is snow on the ground most of the winter, but that is becasue the average temp is cold enough to keep the few inches that fall each month around. It is beautiful, in my opinion. If you are a true warm-weather person, than Bozeman certainly isn't the place for you, but you should have already known that, right?

[jimj]

And to expand on what zee said, if you're a warm or semi warm weather person there is NO bannana belt here in the true sense of the word, in the vicinity of the flathead while it gets warm-hot for about 45 days total a year it is cool to cold to down right frigid for the rest of the year. I also would say if you don't like or can't do outside activities year round than this is NOT the place to be, it gets real old just sitting in the house looking out the window for months on end.
If you love the outdoors in winter,fall and construction seasons then you won't find a nicer place to live...