Boz-Angeles........ (income, property taxes, friendly)

[banjomike]

Housing and land prices seem to be a universal problem in the mountain west now.

I don't know, but I tend to think they're a problem in other regions of the USA as well. I suspect they are in the fast-growing states in the southeast.

I'm sure I won't live long enough to ever see the old prices housing used to be for most of my life return. The United States has more living souls now than then, and though our population isn't growing as fast as some other nations, it's still growing. We all need a domicile of some kind.

Whenever housing is mentioned, the cost of living and wages are mentioned in the same breath. This makes me think the current high housing prices won't be falling anytime soon, but it's quite possible our wages will rise to meet them.

One thing I do know about my home territory: In the west, whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting over.

As it was in the past, so will it be in the future. He who owns the water has the power. That's the way it has always been out here. Newcomers need to keep that fact in mind as soon as they contemplate a move here.

[NDak15]

Originally Posted by OneDawg

My family homesteaded in southern Wyoming. Most of them moved on after 30 or so years and a few children like myself moved back. We lived in NW Wyo 28 yrs, BUT we were still considered outsiders. Crime has incrementally increased over the last 15 yrs or so. I was shocked by what has happened in Park and Bighorn counties

That is some tough country to homestead. Do Park and Bighorn Counties have a meth problem?

[OneDawg]

Originally Posted by NDak15

That is some tough country to homestead. Do Park and Bighorn Counties have a meth problem?

Easier to live on the high plateau prairie than in the mountains of NW Wyo.

Meth - not so much that, tho breakins are common when you have tourists and forest cabins. Most caught are the transporters. Both counties are well below the national average. You gotta be there to see it for yourself.

Now up in Montana - or anywhere near a rez or the oil patch - it's almost always meth related.

[Shuffler]

I figure the meth thing to explode all over the State, and the country, as we descend into recession/depression. It's bad enough here in the Flathead as it is ... can't imagine it'll improve when times get tough again. I like Bozeman, but it reminds me too much of Boulder ... nice scenery, tainted with urban sprawl, bad traffic, high costs, and too damn many people. Those issues are creeping into the Flathead as well - it's the way things go.

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by mjstef

It would be interesting to see where people are coming from in this graph today.....

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...n.html#Montana

At the time (2012) it added up to 27% born in Blue areas. Figure most of 'em brought their politics with 'em. How long does it take to go solid blue? Let's watch Texas, and find out...

...and that's when our way of life ends, as it has in CA, which used to be not terribly different from MT.

[NW Crow]

My understanding is that Social Security income is exempt from Montana state tax for lower income people. If income is below $25k for individuals and $32k for couples. Attempts have been made to raise these thresholds. Check closer for your own situation.

[tijlover]

Originally Posted by mrwumpus

My neighbors in California bought their house for $256k in 1995. They sold it last year for $1.2 million. There are tens of thousands of people like them.

The fact is, middle class equity wealth has transformed the country in many bad ways for those who didn't buy at the right time.

Maybe that's due to their bringing their Nimbyism with them. Protest any new development because it will increase traffic in their neighborhood, makes housing more scarce, and up go the house prices.

[NDak15]

Originally Posted by Reziac

At the time (2012) it added up to 27% born in Blue areas. Figure most of 'em brought their politics with 'em. How long does it take to go solid blue? Let's watch Texas, and find out...

...and that's when our way of life ends, as it has in CA, which used to be not terribly different from MT.

People have been saying that Montana will go blue for almost 30 years at least. Hasn't happened yet.

[tijlover]

Originally Posted by NDak15

People have been saying that Montana will go blue for almost 30 years at least. Hasn't happened yet.

Many that leave CA are tired of the high taxation and when they move to another state, just like the many Chicagoans who have moved to Phoenix, they tend to be very, very conservative.

I lived in Conservative Las Vegas for 22 years, and these CA conservatives will vote No every single time to a tax increase, unless it's for more police protection. And they vote Republican and that brings me a good laugh, as the biggest tax increases in NV history were led by 2 Republican Governors, Gibbons and Sandoval over the last 17 years.

[OneDawg]

Originally Posted by NW Crow

My understanding is that Social Security income is exempt from Montana state tax for lower income people. If income is below $25k for individuals and $32k for couples. Attempts have been made to raise these thresholds. Check closer for your own situation.

"For example, if an individual is filing alone and has an income below $25,000, their Social Security benefits will not be taxed. If their income level is between $25,000 and $34,000, half of Social Security benefits remain deductible. Once an individual's income exceeds $34,000, only 15 percent of their total benefits are deductible" - source https://finance.zacks.com/montana-re...fits-7461.html