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Read the article at the Flathead Beacon by Mike Jopek
excerpt:
“Those in charge again remind us that the economy looks good with people making lots of money. The locals going to work every day, earning a living with their hands and minds, likely have real understandings of the actual cost to a rural lifestyle. Things sure got expensive in rural Montana over recent years.
The real-life strain endured by working households across rural Montana hurts everyone. Some Montanans moved and Americans with higher incomes flooded the valley. It’s a normal cycle repeated throughout history. It’s just our turn. Doesn’t feel good. Doesn’t much matter.
Wrecking the integrity of existing neighborhoods through state mandates without a single local hearing is a bad solution. Rowhouses, condos, townhouses, duplexes and multiplexes are fine, but without affordability guardrails, the state is guaranteeing more housing stock that’s only affordable to people earning wages from places like San Francisco.
Rural Montanans, existing homeowners and downtown businessowners pay for local infrastructure and absorb the brunt of rapid property tax increases. If the state is mandating neighborhood density increases, it better put up some infrastructure dollars. Things like sewer, water and roads are not cheap. It’s a bad idea for the state to dismantle local control and unfair to recharge old-timers for newcomers’ services”