Consider the costs of growth

Ponder for a moment the Montana way of life. What does that mean to you? What comes to mind? Wide open spaces? A simpler, more rural, and more fulfilling way of life? A place where people still value hard work, self-reliance, personal responsibility and individual freedom? Perhaps you thought of your favorite outdoor activity; hiking, camping, hunting, fishing, skiing, all on some of the most spectacularly gorgeous public land in the world. I personally reminisce about branding day at the family ranch and watching my kids build a fort in the field. 

Whatever your vision, I’ll wager that not a single one of you imagined anything like an uber dense suburban neighborhood crammed full of cheap boxy houses built on tiny postage stamp lots. Yet that is what we see popping up all over our beloved valley. 

One particularly egregious example of which is the proposed Tronstad Meadows Whitetail Crossing subdivision. Out-of-state developers proposing to jam 355 new homes into 110 acres on a rural country road in spite of massive opposition from the affected locals. The proposal is deeply flawed and riddled with issues and yet the city of Kalispell is poised to approve it anyway. I’m not going to cover all that here though. A simple Google search will direct you to other very well written articles on the topic.