To the people who want to move to Montana to get away from big cities, people and enjoy "nature". (Billings: sales, mortgage)

[magoomafoo]

Originally Posted by snofarmer

Taxes are a small part of it.
As I stated Montana is being sold off by Montanans.

Taxes the rancher makes more than enough to pay his taxes if he/her does not it's time to find a new job
You see if you know your costs you don't sell until you can make a profit..

Thing what happens when the rancher can no longer ranch?

Sell the ranch as a ranch.
Sell it to his kids.
Sell to a developer or develop the land him self.

The kids can't afford the inheritance tax so they sell it when the old man dies.
Again this excuse is shortsighted as they should have seen this day coming and they should have put money away for this.

Few folks want to buy a working ranch.

The kids see how much money they can make selling 3ac for 80k when great gramps got it for $300 ac.

It's called greed as they will be rich and moving to Cali.

Just because someone wants to move does not make them responsible for a subdivision.
Folks can't force a rancher to sell off his land only he can make that decision.

If the rancher respected the culture then he would not sell out for a subdivision but money is more important.




Everything has gone up in price.

Have you moved here yet? If so, then check out Helena, going to Montana City. Drive through those subdivisions, there are more out of state license plates than Montana. Backtrack and go towards Townsend. That alone makes a Montanan what to throw up. Take note of how many of those houses are up for sale now. They are not brand new either, they have been lived in for about a year then put up on the market. Then take a drive to Missoula. Drive south of town up on the hill. Yep, same thing. You can also check the schools out. See how many new enrollees there are from out of state. Next, go to Lincoln. East of town there is another subdivision and guess what? 80% of the residents there are from out of state. I don't have one single friend from Montana who would want to move from what they have to a subdivision. I do have a few friends who have moved here out of state who do live in a subdivision who think they have some kind of mini ranch. I don't expect them to stay for long though.

[FL2MT]

If we discouraged people from asking repetitive questions there would be very little to talk about on city-data, being that the site is geared towards providing information about communities/real estate/relocating, etc. If you read any forum (not just city-data) long enough you end up seeing the same types of threads over and over and it gets a little tiring, but the people asking the questions aren't doing so to bug the locals with the same question over and over, they just have a genuine interest in asking people for some information, nothing wrong with them doing that.

I agree with most of what you said, folks who are unhappy in location A will generally end up being unhappy and having the same problems in location B, but regarding the

Yes we have an abundance of "nature", and that nature is going to disappear when you come and build your home in that subdivision.

, we have to remember that the land all of our houses (even if our ancestors settled here back in the 1700s or even if our ancestors were native), once belonged to nature that disappeared so we could have our house/farm/ranch. We can't just draw the line where we've already 'got ours' and say everyone after that is ruining nature by building without admitting that our home had the exact same impact.

I love MT and I love sharing it with people and talking to them about it, I don't care how many times people ask the same question I find them interesting to talk to (or read as the case may be here), and try to help them out. The winters and other aspects of life in Montana will weed most people out in a few years anyway, and I'm happy to share the space with those who remain.

[magoomafoo]

Oh, I totally agree with you FL2MT. The problem is that we are running out of room for the population influx so folks are building in less than ideal spots.....like the whole side of a mountain or digging a road winding up to the top of that mountain. Flesher Pass is a great example of this. I realize there is going to be building and growth everywhere and it's going to continue as long as we are on this earth but really, do folks need to carve a two mile driveway up the side of a mountain to build an 8000 sq ft home? This example is up for sale after just a couple years. Sad when it's not really a price that anyone I know could afford or want to live for that matter. I also agree that those who can hack it after a year or two are more than welcome. It's obvious those are the one's who really want to live here.

[FL2MT]

Yeah, the building in less-than-ideal locales is something I notice too, and unfortunately we (humans) seem to be doing more and more of it. We have major cities that sit below sea-level, tons of development along the coasts, homes/cities/businesses along rivers that routinely flood, homes in the woods that regularly see wildfires, etc. And to top it all off, the US population is predicted to be over 400 million by 2050. If that distributes roughly proportional across the US, we can expect Montana to have about 33% more people than it does now.

[SandyCo]

As a native Californian, I doubt that most people who move to Montana or any other state have any intention of ruining it.

I'm wondering more about the demographic impact of the baby boomers retiring. I'm on the tail end of that wave (born in 1963, and the baby boomers generation ends at 1964) and I can't help but contemplate where I'll end up. I doubt I'll be able to afford to retire where I am now, so I'll have to compromise on weather, amenities, etc.

The winters in Montana are enough to put me off; yes, I'm a Southern California wimp! I won't be moving to your state any time soon, don't worry, although I'd love to visit because I've heard it's beautiful.

[Geo Roam]

Originally Posted by FL2MT

If we discouraged people from asking repetitive questions there would be very little to talk about on city-data, being that the site is geared towards providing information about communities/real estate/relocating, etc. If you read any forum (not just city-data) long enough you end up seeing the same types of threads over and over and it gets a little tiring, but the people asking the questions aren't doing so to bug the locals with the same question over and over, they just have a genuine interest in asking people for some information, nothing wrong with them doing that.

I agree with most of what you said, folks who are unhappy in location A will generally end up being unhappy and having the same problems in location B, but regarding the , we have to remember that the land all of our houses (even if our ancestors settled here back in the 1700s or even if our ancestors were native), once belonged to nature that disappeared so we could have our house/farm/ranch. We can't just draw the line where we've already 'got ours' and say everyone after that is ruining nature by building without admitting that our home had the exact same impact.

I love MT and I love sharing it with people and talking to them about it, I don't care how many times people ask the same question I find them interesting to talk to (or read as the case may be here), and try to help them out. The winters and other aspects of life in Montana will weed most people out in a few years anyway, and I'm happy to share the space with those who remain.

Thank you!

I have read pages and pages of this forum and that is still a small drop in a very large research bucket.

Thank you for those who have answered the same questions several times. I guess I come from the standpoint that if it important enough to ask, I will ask it.

Some of the lighthearted threads are great too!

[J_Himmel]

Told my friends there the same thing last year when they complained about the taxes on property. They're called elections. If you dont like the taxes find someone who will change them ... or start a petition. If its that big of a public issue then vote to alter the tax code. They did it in the 'dreaded evil' California years ago .. house bought in the 60's for 70k, tax bill is the same today it was then, despite value increase.

[pythonis]

Only reason I ever thought about moving to Montana was after i watched "The Horse Whisperer" (filmed in Livingston) and i thought 'hey thats a nice quiet looking place id love to live there'. Wont ever happen because im dirt poor but hey a man can dream.

[magoomafoo]

pythonis, Livingston is not portrayed very well in the movie. It's not that quaint lil quiet town that you see on the movie. Livingston has been growing and the types of people that are moving into the Paradise Valley outside of Livingston are more of the "greeny" artisty type.

[Mt-7]

I know but that darn Robert Redford is a great salesman

YouTube - ‪The Horse Whisperer Romantic Dance Scene‬‏