Shocker! Montana Overrun by People With More Money Than Us.

Via MidCurrent comes an excellent article by Jim Robbins summarizing the new Western land grab occurring in Montana right now.

The fact that Montana and the Rocky Mountain West isn’t exactly a shocker for many of us, but Robbins handles the subject in a deft manner, and the article is well worth a read.

He explains the concept of ecological hot zones, equity-rich outsiders driving out what middle class existed in the cities, and even mentions fly fishing in this following passage:

I used to fly-fish, a sport I took up long before “A River Runs Through It” was filmed near Bozeman and Livingston. I can’t muster the enthusiasm anymore. So many drift boats can be seen along the Missouri and other rivers that it looks like a Viking invasion. Or an “Orvis orgy,” as some locals call it, referring to the expensive gear that well-heeled fishermen like to wear. Shouting matches and even fistfights break out. There are just too many people whose lives and incomes the locals don’t understand.

Read enough about the west, and one thing becomes clear: it’s in very real danger of being loved to death.

I can say with some conviction that Northern California is facing some of the same problems; local home prices have skyrocketed far faster than local wages (crawling upwards), and most simply couldn’t afford to buy the homes they currently own.

Compounding the crunch are the number of homes bought for weekend use only, meaning those owners don’t contribute to the local economy (or local scene) more than a couple weekends a year.

It’s an interesting (and largely inevitable) vicious cycle where newcomers flock to an area for a lifestyle… that simply can’t be sustained in the face of all the newcomers.

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