Browning (Cut Bank, Valier: fit in, for rent, home)

[MontanaGuy]

I think you are living in a fantasy...

Well, if I'm living in a fantasy I have plenty of company including every well known economist in the nation including such names as Alan Greenspan and the man who took his place. What I'm suggesting is happening in Montana is that the state is doing a pathetic job of economic development and planning for the future. There are many places where state and local governments are doing it right and the people who live there are getting the benefits. I was fortunate to spend an entire career working at Qwest Communications until I retired in December. I had a very good paying job and spent my years in Seattle, Denver and Phoenix. The reason I had this job was due to growth. I also wasn't born yesterday. In fact today is my birthday and I just turned 58 so I've been around awhile myself. Let me ask you a simple question. What specifically would you do in the state of Montana that would help young people to get good paying jobs so they don't move away? You sound very pessimistic and have a very gloom and doom attitude but you haven't stated any solutions that you might have in mind that would improve things. I'm asking this in a friendly way because I'm not the kind of person who insults people or gets into name calling. I'm just honestly wondering what you think would improve the economic conditions in Montana.

[JoeJoeMan]

Montanaguy.....
Taking issue with you in the spirit of debat, A lot of business people and economsit take serious issue with Mr Greenspan, he is widely accussed of creating one giant economical bubble after another to keep a false economy going, his laters bubble......the house bubble...
But aside from that, Quest's growth and it's job creation is fine, I have no problem or find fault with that, great - wonderfull, but that is not the 'growth' I am refering to. You know of what I speak, it's the senseless growth for growths sake, the sprawl, the eating up of our country side just for the sake of it, that is a false economy, it's like eating your young to stay alive, it get's the job done but at what cost.......

[MontanaGuy]

You know of what I speak, it's the senseless growth for growths sake, the sprawl, the eating up of our country side just for the sake of it, that is a false economy

Just a couple of points. We've had a few topics on the forums when we've discussed building in forests and encroaching on wilderness areas. That's one area that we completely agree on and people should be pressuring public officials to zone these areas so they can't be used for residential housing. It's a safety hazard due to fires and it truly does ruin the outdoors for everyone. Where I would take issue with you is building in an existing city. You talked about sprawl so I think your biggest complaint is the fact that Missoula in particular is getting bigger. Missoula still seems small to me but I guess that's because I live in a metro area of over four million people so I really know what sprawl is. However, it's true that Missoula has expanded from what I remember in the seventies compared to how it looked a few months ago when I was there. Here's the problem. If there is a market for new housing then developers are going to build it and people need houses in a growing town. That sprawl is people's homes that they're paying a mortgage on just like everybody else. They're not doing anything illegal, they're just moving to a new place which they have every right to do as Americans. We've passed the 300 million mark in our population and a few of them are ending up in Montana as you would expect. It's happening all across the nation and much more so in other states than Montana. The Boise metro area now has four times the population of Missoula at about 400,000 people, now that's growth and sprawl! And to be honest, I don't think Montana is somehow being destroyed by newcomers, it's just changing like everyplace else.

[JoeJoeMan]

Motanaguy.........I got disagree with you on that last post of your's, for all the reasons I"ve stated many times in the past on other post/threads here.
One simple point, if you don't think Montana is being destroyed by new comers.......take a ride down the bitterroot on 93 any day of the week, and keep that seat belt tight, less you'll become another daily statistic on that road. And as you're driving, take a look around, that is if you dare take your eyes off the road, and just tell yourself ......"Yup the ol' place never looked or felt better".............No I doubt you'll be saying that............and I don't think the words "Peace in Valley" ... will be getting much use in that valley anymore. Once again growth and prosperity fix everything- right, I think not !

[GiftShoppeGuy]

Originally Posted by MontanaGuy

....I was fortunate to spend an entire career working at Qwest Communications until I retired in December. I had a very good paying job and spent my years in Seattle, Denver and Phoenix. The reason I had this job was due to growth.....

Qwest.....

I can successfully take issue with Qwest.
They spend too much time trying to make their stockholders rich. They and PPL Montana, EnergyWest, NorthWestern Energy.

Qwest has "not" and will "not" upgrade equipment that has been in place here for over 20 years.... They say they can't afford it.... "They Say".
In the mean time, the service lines become more degraded.

Sure, Qwest is making money, but they are far from being successful.
Successful companies will re-invest... Qwest hasn't re-invested in anything in Montana for well over 12 years.

The land lines that exist now, were put on by AT&T.... and have not been maintained since Pacific Northwest Bell had control. (the only time something is replaced, is when it's run over by a car or blown over in the wind)
Even the phone lines in downtown Great Falls still have "fabric insulation" and when they get wet, they don't work.
The squirrels have somehow got it into their heads that the "fabric insulation" makes for great nesting materials, so they chew it out of the lines and haul it off to their nests.

When Pacific Northwest Bell handed services over to Qwest, things were in fairly good working order (not great, but better than now)... but now, well, lets just say.... Qwest dropped the ball... they only replace what's broke, and will not upgrade the very dated technology that exists here.

Qwest is not at all successful by any stretch.

[MontanaGuy]

Qwest is not at all successful by any stretch.

The problem with telecommunications and states like Montana and the Dakotas is that there is such a low population and it covers such a huge area that the phone company has a hard time making any profit and often loses money. What you're saying is true but it's such a cutthroat industry that in order to maximize profit the company concentrates it's investment in the high growth big cities like Denver and Phoenix. I've worked in engineering and I've done alot of jobs in Montana, mainly Missoula, Bozeman and Billings seem to have the most activity but overall my whole Montana file just took up two thirds of a file cabinet drawer while Arizona had a couple of huge file cabinets jam packed with jobs. We have done alot of upgrading in the Missoula Main central office to keep up with growth and there is some high quality equipment there and elsewhere but it costs millions of dollars to put in a state of the art electronic switching machine and you've got to be able to make a profit. I worked for the company for 28 and a half years and I do think it's a good company that's trying it's best to provide affordable service to it's customers. It's just not always easy these days with the competition we're facing.

[sternman]

Originally Posted by mcdoerr

Does anyone live in or near Browning?? Can you tell me more about the town? What stores are there? What is there for entertainment?

I suggest you read an article in Sunday 4/15 Great Falls Tribune concerning
crime situation on the reservation at Browning. (Sternman).

[RideLikeTheWind]

Hi everyone,

My husband and I are seriously considering buying a small home in MT this year as a vacation get-away with the possibility of moving there full time. We have looked at ID, WY, CO and MT. We certainly are not the "image driven" CA type. My husband is from New England and I a native San Diegan. I have ALWAYS wanted to live in an area that has room to roam. We are not "shoppers", the "artsy type" or want a 4000 sq foot home to impress people with. We bought our home in the rural area of San Diego so I could ride my horses from my house. 9 yrs ago I had several trails to do that ranging from 1/2hour to 4 hours. Today I have 2. All the suburban folk are moving here and putting up No Tresspassing signs everywhere. Every month a new 4000 plus sq foot home goes up and more and more roads are cut into the hills scarring our former secluded home. We want to be in a place where I can still ride and my husband can fly fish ( since SD has No water anywhere ) I understand the anger and frustration I see with this forum. We are experiencing it here. We want to just buy an established place and respect MT and the people who live there. Not all want to bring the CA lifestyle with them. Believe or not, there are some that just want a better quality of life than is here in San Diego. Thank you.

[JoeJoeMan]

rideliketheWind: wrote:

We bought our home in the rural area of San Diego so I could ride my horses from my house. 9 yrs ago I had several trails to do that ranging from 1/2hour to 4 hours. Today I have 2. All the suburban folk are moving here and putting up No Tresspassing signs everywhere.

That is exactly what is happening here, ever year a couple more of my fishing spots disappear. And any place in Montana where that is not happening will probably start experiencing it in time, sooner or later, and 'sooner' seems to be the trend.
Some people on here seem to thing that Montana is endless and if it ain't happenening in their area it won't......lot's of luck, if there is anything good about their area, say fishing, mountains, etc, it will soon be exploited.
If I were you I'd stay way ahead of the herd, which won't be easy. Any place in Montana with mountains and streams has already been infiltrated, even places like the big hole valley, just go down there during the Salmon Fly hatch, it looks like the Britsh navy was released on the river.
I drove past a stream excess point on the Bitterroot River this past weekend, it was packed tight with cars, trucks and boat trailers, and it's only april. 15 years ago you couldn't give away a piece of property in the Bitterroot valley, and you would of had the whole river to yourself, it shows you how fast a place can change. 'Growth' kills

[Reziac]

[GiftShoppeGuy rants about Qwest]

Gee, at first I thought you were talking about Verizon! just about have to hold a gun to their heads to get 'em to come out and fix stuff that's TOTALLY broke, never mind stuff that's merely half-dead. Last time my neighbour's phone went intermittent, it took a month to get 'em to come out and now it's 6 months later and it's STILL not fixed, despite numerous complaints. The local station was bad when it was installed 23 years ago, they know it, and still won't fix it. Etc, etc, etc.

Problem is that profits for the almighty stockholders comes first. Customers? We don't need no steenkin' customers, they're just a needless expense!

http://home.earthlink.net/~rividh/asylum/wartime.htm
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