EDITORIAL: Vacation rentals right for Kalispell

Let’s face it. Flathead Valley residents need every break they can get making ends meet.

Housing, in particular, is quite expensive here, so it is no wonder that many homeowners have taken advantage of the vacation rental market created by the internet’s ability to connect people worldwide.

Such an opportunity was certainly not something that planners had in mind when they were developing zoning regulations decades ago, and it is not something that city officials should shut down automatically.

Indeed, we think that vacation rentals for the most part offer a way for local families to supplement their income without any harmful effects on neighbors and neighborhoods. Of course, there will be exceptions, but they are few and far between.

Such websites as vrbo.com and airbnb.com are a valuable conduit for tourists and their dollars to the Flathead Valley. Based on discussions so far, it appears the Kalispell City Council is on the right track. We encourage the council to provide reasonable conditions that would allow vacation rentals within city limits, and thus to create a win-win for tourists, homeowners and local businesses.

Look for ‘101 Things’ in Friday’s Inter Lake

Memorial Day weekend is almost here, and that means the Daily Inter Lake’s popular “101 Things to Do in the Flathead” summer guide is hot off the press and ready for insertion in Friday’s paper.

The annual guide is the most comprehensive collection of summertime information in the Flathead. All the usual information is included, from the ticket price of local waterslides to show times for summer theater productions.

We always include a few new items and this year is no exception. All the information you need to know for picking morel mushrooms is tucked in there, plus information about the very unique Stonehenge Air Museum and details about a day trip on Amtrak from Whitefish to Essex. Want some insider info about tubing hot spots on area rivers? That’s a new entry this year, too.

Visitors rely on our 101 Things guide to get them around the Flathead, but locals find it just as useful. Get a copy in tomorrow’s Inter Lake, or come by our office during the next week to buy a copy of Friday’s paper. Later in the summer, the guide will be placed at many locations around the valley for your convenience.