Will Whitefish eventually merge into Kalispell? (Billings, Columbia Falls: RV park, sales, real estate)

[NorthwestResident]

This probably won't happen anytime soon, at least not in the next decade but sometime in the future do you think Whitefish will merge with Kalispell creating a larger Kalispell? The way the two towns are currently growing and building it seems like they will eventually collide.

[Redraven]

That thought was bandied about way back in the 1950s all the way up to the 1970s and beyond. It hasn't happened yet.
It is possible, I suppose. But it is also possible that many people will get disgusted with what the growth has done and will do to the Valley, so they will leave, and the growth will stop and possibly reverse itself.
IMO, that would be a good thing.

[mrwumpus]

Wise investors will buy land between the two and sit on it.

The winters here are bad enough. If it continues sprawling into a series of strip malls and clone home communities between the two, I will leave because if I'm going to live in sprawl, I want nice weather.

[NW Crow]

Town mergers are pretty rare. Wanting to run your own show & distrust of being treated equally usually trumps "efficiencies" or marketing. I would guess extremely low chance in this case.


A few city-county mergers happened in past and were probably good things. The one I lived was. One responsible party on growth, transportation, taxes, public safety, etc.

[Shuffler]

And there's sales tax in Whitefish ... so either that goes away or gets extended to cover the entire combined area if/when something happens. The way the area is growing, it shouldn't be a surprise to see more fleecing, I mean taxes, in the near future.

Rate of growth is alarming - potentially requiring the addition of a 2nd area code and another State Rep in the near future. Here's hoping MT doesn't lose it's soul, but it sure feels that way with most of the projects going on around the Valley ... paving over paradise for parking lots.

Banks, food, casinos, big box stores, and car dealerships. Yet the average person around here struggles to pay the bills and have $$ left over. Maybe there's another market correction on the horizon, because I just don't see the JOBS in this area to support this kind of growth.

And who designed that fugly new hotel at the airport? Good gawd.

[Redraven]

Actually, many years ago the expectation was for Kalispell and Whitefish to grow along the Hwy 93 corridor, and Columbia Falls to grow along the Hwy 40/LaSalle Road corridors, to eventually become one "megalopolis".
I don't think that will happen, now that C. Falls has no industry left except tourism.
My next planned trip to the Valley is 2019, for my 60th CFHS re-union.
Well, other than the annual trip to Glacier Meadows RV park for the Glacier/Waterton Hamfest, that is. But, I don't consider the Essex/Nyack Flats area to be part of the "Valley".

[man4thejob]

With sincere respect... you people are funny! I was born and raised in Anaheim over 50 years ago. Anaheim was a place people moved to get away from the city. Eventually Orange County swallowed up Anaheim and we became one big metropolis. Then eventually LA, OC and San Diego all connected and became one big giant melting pot of craziness. Sure, SoCal has the sun but you just have to share it with 15 million plus other people. So my guess is YES Kalispell and Whitefish will collide sooner than you think. After all we conservative Californians need somewhere to run away and move to like my family has. Something I think the Flathead Valley is going to need to learn to live with. Like it or not the world is changing for us all.

[Redraven]

Yessir, man4, people have been saying that ever since my parents moved from Billings to Hungry Horse in 1949 or 1950. That has been 67 years or so now, and it hasn't happened yet. With the demise of industry (timber, Aluminum Plant, etc.) in the Valley, I think such plans have been either put on indefinite hold or delayed for the foreseeable future. Tourism probably will not support such growth. Even the Californication of the Valley won't help.
To get some idea of growth patterns, look at Hungry Horse, Martin City, and Coram.
Hungry Horse is now a tourist trap and bedroom community for Columbia Falls, and to a lesser extent Kalispell and Whitefish.
Martin City is slowly dying, and is also a bedroom community for the Valley. It can't be a tourist trap, because tourists seldom see it.
Coram is just there. It doesn't even qualify as a tourist trap!
Until something happens to revitalize the Valley with lots of good jobs, I just don't see the growth happening.
Yes, the Valley HAS changed. That is why I don't go back there. I plan to make one more visit in my life, next year, for our 60th high school re-union. I will attend that mainly to see who is still alive.

[mrwumpus]

I too was born in OC and witnessed 1.4 million people move into that COUNTY in my lifetime. Wrap your head around that growth, Montana! More people than your entire state moved into my former county for a taste of the good life.

With the crappy winter weather here, rapid growth is not going to happen. CRAPID growth, however, happens anywhere.

Unfortunately greedy developers and power-hungry politicians ensure crapid growth if the public does not strong-arm itself into the backroom deals.

I totally get resenting outsiders and growth, but it's wasted energy. Change is coming, growth is coming. The question is how will you and your community shape it to preserve the quality of life for future generations?

[snowave]

I lived in Happy Valley a couple years ago (just south of Whitefish off 93)... it is already happening. That land is getting bought out and more and more development is occurring.. especially with regards to real estate. The retail cluster that has happened in Kalispell will probably continue to spread north, and areas on the south side of Whitefish are also building up. (new hotels, etc).