Montana relocation: resentment toward newcomers (Kalispell, Lakeside: motels, roofing, legally)

[Rans8855]

Mountains are nice, but have no real desire to live in them. A nice flat piece of land will suit us just fine! What we like is cold in the winter and warm to hot in the summer. Actually what we want is the 4 seasons. We do not want to be in a city...about 10-20 miles away from one is fine. As we get older medical care will be important too. Ever seen the movie "Roxanne" with Steve Martin? That's the kind of town we'd like without the hilly streets. Just a friendly, slow paced community where we can shop, have dinner and see some smiling faces, without the anger or self centered behavior we have on Long Island. Without offending anyone intentionally, to give you an idea of our mindset and what we are trying to escape from....in NY city, about 20 miles west of us, a Mosque is being built virtually on the site of the World Trade center! We find this appalling, but NY is a self proclaimed melting pot. We've had enough melting pot at the moment!

[Reziac]

I thought "melting pot" was what happens if your greenhouse gets too warm

Speaking of property taxes, anyone got a chart offhand of MT counties' property tax rates?

[janab]

That's an excellant idea! States and counties don't dare state publicly what our taxes would be, lol. Maybe under the state of.gov ?

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by janab

That's an excellant idea! States and counties don't dare state publicly what our taxes would be, lol. Maybe under the state of.gov ?

Just went looking, couldn't find a thing. But I did find this article, which falls under "serves 'em right":

Property tax appeals inundate western Montana counties; could take months to resolve

[ElkHunter]

You can look up current taxes paid on a given parcel. You can look at county records, one county, one parcel at a time. But I can't find any chart that show's all of them together so you can compare.

Here is a website that is a wealth of information if you are looking at a particular property. Also, birth records, death records, marriage records, etc...

Montana public records.

[Montana Griz]

Originally Posted by Rans8855

I understand the anger of having people move into your beloved town or state and the first thing they want to do is change it to suit their needs or desires. This modern time is a terrible time for our country! I long for the 1950's and 60's. A simpler time, no video games, computers, cell phones, etc...., and most of all....free T.V with 6 channels to watch. My wife and I, ages 55 and 51, would like to Move to Montana in the next 2 years. We want to leave the rude, self centered, and sometimes dangerous people of Long Island, NY as well as the insane property taxes here. We wish to change nothing, only to blend in to your beautiful state. I do have one question. I see posts here about high property taxes in Montana. Is that comment restricted to certain areas of the rich and famous? We would like some property so we can ride our horses and a reasonable size home, say 2500 sq feet in size. we are not looking for lakeside. Just something near a friendly town where we can go to dinner once or twice a week. Actually, I have been telling people on Long Island, which is where we grew up, that we don't care if we see another living person for the rest of our lives! That is a slight embelishment of course, but after seeing the changes here we've had enough of people. We want a simpler, slower, and of course, less expensive reamining third of our lives! We love people....nice polite, slow moving people! On Long Island we pay $10,000 a year in property taxes for a 1700 sq ft home on less than a quarter acre of property! We've always dreamed of Montana, but not really if we are going to be rejected simply because we are new there. Any answer would be appreciated...on property taxes, small peaceful towns and nice people. Thanks

At the risk of "asking a few questions that have been asked before of others in your position"..........it may give you "some food for thought".

Have you been to Montana for any extended periods of time? If so, what months of the year?; what areas of the state?; What cities (towns) have you been to?

MT is so diversified in so many respects, that it really could be divided into 3 almost equal areas (the dividing lines going from N to S). Each of these (3) so-called "areas", really do differ significantly in many respects: i.e. weather, cost of raw land, vehicle requirements, internet and cell phone requirements, restaurant "type" requirements; "so-called cultural-events requirements" and the list goes on.................

If you haven't spent a "fair" amount time in MT during spring,summer,fall AND WINTER.........I would strongly suggest that you do so......You can do massive amounts of research and get opinions from all kinds of people (90% of these opinions and comments will be "subjective"....that's just human nature responding) but nothing will give you a realistic idea as to what an area is like, than to spend some time there, at different times of the year.
The above comments are just my opinion(s).........I don't like "surprises" in my life, and try and minimize their frequency.

[tiberius]

I wonder how different Montana would be if UM and MSU Bozeman weren't there.. The media, for years, has been selling america on what a wonderful place these two sophisticated "oasises" in Montana's beautiful wilderness are.. (and yes, I looked it up .. oasises is correct .. haha)

I'm not saying it would be good or bad .. just saying that if there was no "food source" .. they wouldn't be flocking to beautiful, but BORING, Montana in the numbers that they are..

If the media would just stop "pimping" Montana out .. that alone would make a big difference .. though I expect its too late to unring the bell..

tiberius

[Timberwolf232]

Originally Posted by tiberius

If the media would just stop "pimping" Montana out .. that alone would make a big difference .. though I expect its too late to unring the bell..

tiberius

Agreed.. One of my favorite hunting areas was completely ravaged by out of state hunters after an article in "Field and Stream" about 10 years ago. You can't even get there anymore without seeing 20-30 vehicles lined up by the access... Guess I'm going to have to get back into hunting on horseback, and NEVER posting any area info.

[tiberius]

I wonder sometimes what goes through minds of all the out-of-staters that have come here, and that are planning on coming here, and that are just considering coming here.. They aren't children, they know what they're doing.. They're aware of the impact they're having.. It's just like the situation with the illegals.. They know they're breaking the law by coming to america .. that, for the most part, they aren't wanted here .. that they're negatively impacting the crime, resources, quality of life, and culture of the place to which they're going...... But, for both the illegals coming to america, and the out-of-staters coming to Montana, its better than where they are .. Even with their impact, to them its still better than where they are.. No matter how crowded it gets, its still better.. No matter how the crime goes up, its still better.. No matter the drain on the resources, its still better.. No matter the financial costs to the local people, its still better.. (for THEM, of course .. the out-of-staters can afford it, and the illegals won't be paying it).. No matter the impact on the locals quality of life, it still better for them than it was where they're coming from.. No matter the impact on the local area's 150 yr old - working very well, thank you - culture, "Montana needs to get with the times, anyway." ( "what do you mean, there's no starbucks .. who do you think you are, telling my kids how to behave in school .. did I just hear you tell me NO to something - IS THERE A LAWYER IN THE HOUSE? .. I have RIGHTS, you know, WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE .. Well, its NOT how we do things in L.A. - or Chicago, or Philadelphia, or New Jersey, or a dozen other places .. "my kid's a good kid, he just hung out with the wrong crowd, that's why I'm bringing him here ... I didn't know you had gangs here - what do you mean you didn't till WE got here.)

They are all aware of everything that's going on.. They just don't care, because its better for THEM.. No matter how bad it eventually gets for the locals .. it will ALWAYS still be better for them.. Even if they steadily change their new home into the same place they made their old home, or allowed it to become (which to me is an even bigger crime).. it will still be better for them .. and when it isn't, they'll just find another nice place and move there. .... And they do it for two simple reasons.. They WANT to, and they have the RIGHT to.. Nothing else matters.

This doesn't apply to EVERYONE coming to Montana.. There are some who will fit in.. They aren't ALL the same.. But MOST of them are.. But even if they were ALL the kind who would "fit in" .. the numbers alone will still radically change the areas to which they move.. Good intentions aren't always enough.. The impact is still there.. Like locusts, individually they aren't all that bad, but when they come in numbers, when they come as a swarm, there's nothing more destructive.. They come, they comsume, they destroy and they leave.. And all they care about is their own appetite.. And like the out-of-staters, there's really nothing you can do to stop them.

I know its in the back of their mind SOMEWHERE.. I just wonder what they think when they DO consider it..

And I wonder what they think Montana did to deserve this..

Oh, and I want to thank the out of staters for house warming gift they brought with them .. THANKS..
http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com...cc4c03286.html

tiberius

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by tiberius

<snippola>
They are all aware of everything that's going on.. They just don't care, because its better for THEM.. No matter how bad it eventually gets for the locals .. it will ALWAYS still be better for them.. Even if they steadily change their new home into the same place they made their old home, or allowed it to become (which to me is an even bigger crime).. it will still be better for them .. and when it isn't, they'll just find another nice place and move there. .... And they do it for two simple reasons.. They WANT to, and they have the RIGHT to.. Nothing else matters.

This doesn't apply to EVERYONE coming to Montana.. There are some who will fit in.. They aren't ALL the same.. But MOST of them are.. But even if they were ALL the kind who would "fit in" .. the numbers alone will still radically change the areas to which they move.. Good intentions aren't always enough.. The impact is still there.. Like locusts, individually they aren't all that bad, but when they come in numbers, when they come as a swarm, there's nothing more destructive.. They come, they comsume, they destroy and they leave.. And all they care about is their own appetite.. And like the out-of-staters, there's really nothing you can do to stop them.

And I wonder what they think Montana did to deserve this..

You got it. Having watched SoCal go under the tide of illegal locusts... "but it's not the same" -- well, yes it is, just the details are different. Life is changed forevermore for those who already lived there, and never for the better... except for those who move in. It's better for them -- temporarily. Until San Diego becomes Little Mexico, or Bozeman becomes Bozangeles.

Whoops, too late...