Montana relocation: resentment toward newcomers (Missoula, Great Falls: RV park, sales, Home Depot)

[Nicknavyvet]

I am a veteran myself and starting my first season working for the Forest Service in Northern CA. My wife and I live in Redding CA at the moment and looking for a place to start a family in a small town in Montana. Darby happens to have a Forest Service there as well as many other places in MT. We are hoping, I mean really praying that the locals will treat us well. We are both small town kids. After coming home I realized that my hometown is now the next major metropolitan in CA. I hate it. Also my wifes grandpa lives in Libby. Wow, that is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. It would be great to find a Forest Service job near Kalispell or Libby. Darby would be great too. I know what it's like to have people move from big cities. In Redding Ca we have all these bay area people moving here and building starbucks on every corner. I could almost throw up.

Nick

[jimj]

My neighbor works for the forest service in Glacier Park and I understand they are hiring if you're interested. They moved here from Oregon and had no problems mixing in.

[Angel Eyes]

I recently visited the Flathead County area, actually reluctently but with open eyes. Upon landing I was taken aback by not only the beauty in the land but the beauty in people. A total stranger asked how my flight was and other chit-chat. The aiport itself was small and very personable, in all honesty I felt like I was in the twillight zone. LOL The next 3 days were just fabulous. No hustle bustle, no bad attitudes, everyone I came in contact with was friendly, helpful and good hearted. I finally feel like I have found the place I have always wanted to live. A place where people still care about family, morals, traditions and the general well-being of person, place and thing. I have never cared about name-brands, big cars, who has the most toys or people that judge and feel superior to you. I care about nature, helping your fellow man and putting a smile on someone's face that maybe just needed to smile.

Just out of curiousty, would there be any resentment towards a person that would give anything to relocate to your State if they felt like this?

PS I promise never to call myself a "native" but would it be ok if I called it "home"?

[RangerDuke08]

Originally Posted by JENJEN3565

This really does solidify ignorance. I checked the link and am in denial that such anal *****holes are actually voicing their opinion. Repeat after me everyone "California is not a venerial disease, but a state." We are not spreading ok. If everyone checked that link out that you posted you would see an oh so intelligent anti California remark that reads "Californias have destroyed their state with illegals and open borders, mexicans are taking over their territory."... So clearly the uneducated fool answered the question...We are driven out as well. WE have not done anything to ourselves. I am sickened by this.

Haha this is a good one ... In Colorado our population is 20% Californians, it could be called lil California ... but in reality 1,000,000 Californians is only 2% of California's population and California grows by 500,000 people a year. And Californians are literally driven out, especially since that 500,000 growth there are also unaccounted for illegals.

One of the best places in California where I lived for 3 years is Santa Barbara and trust me everyone in the world knows where Santa Barbara is and it's gorgeous but in recent years more and more illegals have been moving in and it makes me wonder why traditional Americans can't even afford housing there at an median housing price of $1,000,000 and the illegals can and crime has gone up in peaceful Santa Barbara and the formal language there to speak is Spanish. Not forgetting it was Spanish California 200 years ago but it's becoming Spanish California once again.

We also get a fair exchange here of Montanans, I mean geographically we got the Rockies and we got a city here but I also know a fair share of Coloradians who moved up to Montana, it might be getting expensive but it's still a lil cheaper and a lil less populated than Colorado. I sure hope that Montana doesn't become anything like Colorado or California. It is the last place to live. It's nothing against Californians, for the most part, they like any others just want to make a decent living and make a lil less but live a lil more but it's also the attitude a lot of people from big cities don't understand how we from small towns like to protect our communities. Oh and don't worry I ain't moving to Montana anytime soon but I won't forget to visit every once in a while.

[theRain]

Pardon me, I am joining this late, but my, oh my, there are a lot of you with your heads in the sand. Do you even have a clue how much of the land being developed is being done so by folks whose families have been here for many generations. They have owned much land for many years, and when the populations started arriving, they started developing and profiting, big time. Now, they could have said " this is our land, and we want to keep it rural, blah, blah, blah," but, no, these LOCALS, NATIVE MONTANANS, they jumped right onto, in fact they started, this development bandwagon. Why??? Well, duh, MONEY, of course. It makes the world go round. Don't kid yourselves. All homegrown MOntana folks are not small town folk. They make big bucks, they have homes around the world. They profit big on the changes coming to Montana, and why shouldn't they? This is America folks. Growth, change, it happens. Pry your heads up out of the ground, it's ok. Breathe now!

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by theRain

Pardon me, I am joining this late, but my, oh my, there are a lot of you with your heads in the sand. Do you even have a clue how much of the land being developed is being done so by folks whose families have been here for many generations. They have owned much land for many years, and when the populations started arriving, they started developing and profiting, big time. Now, they could have said " this is our land, and we want to keep it rural, blah, blah, blah," but, no, these LOCALS, NATIVE MONTANANS, they jumped right onto, in fact they started, this development bandwagon. Why??? Well, duh, MONEY, of course.

The problem is that son watched dad work himself to death on the ranch, and what does dad have to show for it? a pile of debt that he can't pay off til the next harvest rolls around. Or dad finds that as a farmer, he has NO retirement fund, because he's never had the spare cash to invest in anything beyond making ends meet. Remember, farmers and ranchers don't get a paycheck. They live off what's left over after they sell their annual crop and pay off all their expenses. Sometimes there isn't any money left to pay yourself, especially if you got hit with drought or disease, and you don't happen to be eligible for farm subsidies (many smaller producers are not).

So naturally when some realtor comes along and says, "Ya know, Californians will pay big bucks for that land" you betcha the son (who doesn't want to work for nothing his whole life like dad did) or the retiring rancher (who CAN'T retire otherwise) is going to jump at the chance. The farm may be worth $10M in land value, but all too often that farmer still hasn't got $1000 in the bank or 5 spare bucks in his pocket, and he still owes a quarter of a million on that new combine he finally had to break down and buy, and he's still in hock to the bank for last year's seed grain and fertilizer.

I can't blame them for deciding it's high time to get ahead for the first time in their lives. But it IS killing the Montana way of life.

I don't have a good answer, other than maybe it's time to restructure how the money flows from consumer to producer (90% or more goes to middlemen of one sort or another, NOT to the farmer or rancher) so they can actually make a living at their trade, and don't have such a huge incentive to subdivide the old homestead and get the hell out of a job that has no profit, no days off, and no end in sight.

[Timberwolf232]

Originally Posted by Reziac

I can't blame them for deciding it's high time to get ahead for the first time in their lives. But it IS killing the Montana way of life.

I don't have a good answer, other than maybe it's time to restructure how the money flows from consumer to producer (90% or more goes to middlemen of one sort or another, NOT to the farmer or rancher) so they can actually make a living at their trade, and don't have such a huge incentive to subdivide the old homestead and get the hell out of a job that has no profit, no days off, and no end in sight.

Good idea!

Some of them hate to do it (sell property) also... but what options does a person have when all they know is farming and ranching and get to the point where you can't work anymore?

There are the other ones too, that see the big $$ and sell without a second thought. It is sad.

[Guy C]

I am thinking of moving to Montana around the Polson area. Are the winters pretty severe there? My family and I want to take up farming ( in a limited way ), and we are conservative ( we've been outnumbered 3 to 1 by western washingtonians - who mostly moved here from California and brought a lot of their craziness here ).

[mrwumpus]

The only way Montana (or any state) could have stayed Montana was to organize its state and local governments to actually prevent Californication.
That means define your way of life and enact rules that preserve it.

Never forget that California itself was Californicated over several successive migration waves since the 1930s (when my family came here) and nobody stopped it, although clearly a great many of them regret that.

How can anyone fight greed? Wal-Mart thrives on greed and cannot be stopped. If you build it, they will come. There are tens of thousands of young families who have only ever known Wal-Mart and tightly packed clone-home communities. It is up to you and your state to show them the better way, by not letting developers build condo complexes without sidewalks (like where I live in California), or that a house to be called a house must be on a large lot, on a large street complete with sidewalks.

I guess what I'm saying is that America is fighting a losing battle, not against Californians but against the human love of money and comfort. You want to preserve your local stores? Then you must somehow force or convince every new person to shop there even if it uncomfortable for them. And most people are like tourists, not travelers. They want a nice comfortable experience, a rigged game. So good luck if there is a Wal-Mart, since they know that and are comfortable with it.

The fact is the majority of people prefer the easy and comfortable way, even if that means forever wrecking cultures and landscapes. If that wasn't true then it could be prevented, but it's not being prevented. And by simply resenting the newcomers for doing the only thing they know, you're only accelerating the progress you lament.

Gosh what a depressing post I just made. Please tell me it isn't true.

[jimj]

I wish I could tell you it isn't true but if I did I'd be a liar...