Montana town in crosshairs of changing economy

Missoula County's timber industry has taken a harsh hit not because of low timber prices but because of soaring home prices. ABC's Terry Moran reports on the fallout.
---
Subscribe to ABC News on KZbin: abcnews.visitl...
Watch 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events on ABC News Live: • LIVE: Latest News Head...
Watch full episodes of World News Tonight with David Muir here: • ABC World News Tonight...
Read ABC News reports online: abcnews.go.com
ABC News Digital is your daily source of breaking national and world news, exclusive interviews and 24/7 live streaming coverage. ABC News is the home to the #1 evening newscast “World News Tonight” with David Muir, “Good Morning America,” “20/20,” “Nightline,” “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos, “ABC News Live Prime” with Linsey Davis, plus the daily news podcast “Start Here.”
---
Connect with ABC News on social media:
Facebook: / abcnews
Instagram: / abcnews
TikTok: / abcnews
X: / abc
Threads: www.threads.ne...
LinkedIn: / abcnews

[@playballdr]

I live in a small town in Montana and we had our mill close down also. when housing went up my house went from a value of 232k to 550k. the american dream is now a nightmare

[@outlaw25555KN]

It’s everywhere in the country. Everywhere.

[@mtadams2009]

I own two homes, one in a rural New England town and one outside of NYC. Both homes have doubled. Then again I payed 14 times as much for my first home as my parents did for their first home. Things have a way of working out.

[@eldee9242]

@@outlaw25555KN saw this about Sedona, AZ kzbin.info/www/bejne/p2LTi4OAqbWig6s

[@scdrescher1]

I love that my house value has skyrocketed but that also means I can’t buy in my town if I sell my house. I hear houses in Guatemala are cheap…..

[@ZombieCartmanYT]

Same thing here in Libby

[@patriciadavis8535]

I live right across the street from this mill.. our town will be devastated by this... Ran the last log last week... Crew on front page of our paper today.. breaks my heart

[@JakeBlount11]

Praying for your community!

[@patriciadavis8535]

@@JakeBlount11 THANK YOU.. we are praying too

[@lazylad8544]

The haves and the have nots. It's criminal what's happening. I have an air b n b opposite me and it's empty most of the time. I live in a nice area.

[@FarleyMan151]

It breaks my heart, too, even though I live in Fl. The American Empire is toast.

[@johnphipps4105]

@parriciaadvis8535 How many outsiders have moved into town, and has the city council and local elites been encouraging it? Take care and God bless, I will be praying for you guys.

[@alan-jf2mz]

I'm curious what happens in ten years when only the rich people live there and no one is left to actually work at any businesses. maybe the home prices will plummeted the locals will move back! this is a nationwide trend in so many cities and towns.

[@wolfumz]

look at the UK, if you want to see the near future of this. In the UK, living standards in real incomes have fallen by about 10%. Metropolitan areas are dense enough to hang on, but rural areas, the economy approaches collapse. Government services have been in a spiral after ping-ponging between cuts and emergencies every few years. People are only going to move back if they have gainful work to do. This is the result of conservative economics: mass privation and transfer of wealth upward to the top 1-5%. Capital tends to concentrate, unless the state takes action to spread it around. Socialized economies are doing pretty well lately, compared with the privatized economies.

[@robertlinton5966]

No, they will import workers from third world countries on seasonal visas like the do in expensive areas like Nantucket

[@RoseanneSeason7]

​@@robertlinton5966New Hampshire too

[@DOMINIK99013]

Not enough rich people here to do that with all the small towns lol. A couple of cities in nature attractive areas adjacent to areas with rich people like Nevada for California or Montata for the North and Midwest.

[@doct0rnic]

Robots

[@user-lx7fj7rl3f]

What he said, all the housing got bought by people outside the community.

[@Rimrock300]

Existing housing for sale, yeah, largely. Highest bidder.

[@jamesheuer5139]

@@Rimrock300….Highest bidder, maybe is Private Equity Firms!?

[@Rimrock300]

@@jamesheuer5139 Could be anyone. but majority individual familes I guess, wanting to move to a smaller quieter area permanently, or for vacation

[@guest6423]

But let's not forget that the locals were very happy to sell their land to people from outside the community. Locals are not without blame. The local government could have enacted restrictions requiring that housing remain single family, and not short-term rentals, but locals "love freedom". Locals wanted that money, and they took it.

[@jamesmedina2119]

Black rock, vanguard & state Street investment companies are all said to be buying up as many single family homes as possible. Those companies all own each other. It's all about agenda 2050

[@tylerjones1804]

The factory producing the lumber to supply housing materials is closing because nobody can afford housing. There in lies the irony.

[@Rimrock300]

All prices are up, also for lumber naturally. But the main issue here is rich outsiders moving in pressing up property prices, and in addition have no particualr interest in seeing the town expand (help pay for a new sewage and water system) as they have come there for peace and quiet. Happens many places.

[@iLLuzion1st]

@@Rimrock300in my Montana town of 500 people one family owns 8 airbnbs. Rentals are almost extinct.

[@Matt-YT]

The morale is the story: build infrastructure and change zoning regulations so people can build! We need housing!

[@Darktophat_10]

@@iLLuzion1st rich people ruin everything

[@chachis-censored]

@@Rimrock300 Missoula county not allowing septic permits and thereby restricting housing for the last 20 years has a great deal more to do with it. Missoula county also has quite restrictive building codes even if you are outside the zone under restrictions.

[@darinsitko998]

Sadly, this same dilemma is playing out all over Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. What a shame.

[@forbolden]

It's playing out everywhere. Someone has to buy the expensive houses in California so those people that sell can move somewhere else.

[@mariusfacktor3597]

High housing costs + available lumber should equal lots of new housing. There's something fishy going on with this city's zoning codes, and it's hurting small businesses like this one.

[@45-70Guy]

Scary part is it’s happening all over the country to towns just like this.

[@earnthis1]

@@mariusfacktor3597 Yeah, there is always this attitude of; it's just the market forces, or blame hippies. But, this is exactly where government plays a part. Just as government originally built logging roads and infrastructure to help these mills thrive in the past.

[@lazerman121]

This is happening here too!!!!! I live in central Virginia and graduated HS in 2012 and still live with my mom. No one can afford a home these days. They build apartment after apartment with sky high rent and like to blame us for "not wanting to work" everyone blames inflation and wages going up but the truth is That is BS. the root of all this issue is no one can afford a place to call home.

[@ytzpilot]

You are correct, I graduated high school in 1991 and rented an apartment pretty much right away, it was a large 1 bedroom with full size kitchen and living room for $500 a month, easily affordable for us while working on minimum wage. That very same apartment today is going for over $5000 a month due to gentrification. I wish your generation and my kid’s generation didn’t have things the way you do, when I was 18 no one was living in vans or tiny homes, apartment living was affordable and accessible. It was late 90s when things started to really change and gone from bad to worse over time, mostly due to gentrification

[@barcelonachair6487]

43% of the Condos in Downtown Toronto, Canada are empty. Short term rentals are the biggest problem in the housing market. You are right, it not people not wanting to work, it is people not having a viable, and affordable place to live. This is a global problem.

[@theinfinitymachine9610]

You can also blame reit and private equity firms for that. Most of the single family homes are bought with cash for investment now. How are first time homeowners suppose to compete. The govt should put in taxes to penalize folks who buy property without actually inhabiting the place for 6 months.

[@BP-ry6mw]

WEF

[@kevinrice7635]

No house for the student loan bail out people 🎉no fair....believe bidenomics was free house for everyone especially illegals 🎉

[@lisagerman2111]

This is all over western Montana - what wasn't addressed is the huge increase of property taxes statewide. In some cases, 20% - 40+% for 2023 vs 2022. That drives up rents, regardless of low or high income properties. Helena & Gianforte - we're talking to you.

[@JamesR1986]

I'm sorry civilization costs money to maintain, and you have to pay an extra $2000 in taxes a year on your $500,000 home..

[@bobbyledger2249]

@@JamesR1986depends what they were paying before the $2000 more was added on top. Besides schools we really don’t get much for our property taxes. At least the kids can get a good education. That’s the only thing that gets me to pay it.

[@steeldriver5338]

@@JamesR1986 It's not that simple. Locals who've owned their home for over a decade are being squeezed financially. Those who are born and raised there are finding it harder to remain despite being part of a family that stretches back generations. What about ranches, what about businesses such as that presented in this video? Property tax increases don't affect the rich.

[@dgreenbluet]

Agreed, the governor is a joke for raising everyones property taxes and then giving a little refund back then help them feel better. Hopefully voters remember this at the ballot box

[@philhatfield2282]

Property taxes are levied by your county, not the State. So talking to Helena (where I live, and pay property taxes) does no good. We in Lewis & Clark County have voted down many measures that keep wanting to add to property taxes.

[@iBackshift]

Its happening all over. Same in my home town and the town beside it. Someone from the city sells their home for $5, 6, 7 8 hundred grand. Moves to our small town, buys homes, plural. Homes turned into BnB's, there are no rentals anymore. A home in 2017 went for 80~90 g's. Now at 280~310g's. A company tried to open a mill here to process Lithium and figured out they can't get the workers because there are no homes available for people to move in to supply the work. Combine that with all the greedy real estate people who fictionally drive up prices, and the rich people come in, buy everything up. How can the market get corrected so the middle class can afford to live?

[@karenkoe7096]

Not getting that lithium processing plant might be a blessing in disguise....just sayin.

[@brianbutton6346]

I guess they could build a sewer system for the town. It *IS* the twenty first century, after all.

[@Chewyfood]

@iBackshift Laws need to be passed to prevent houses to be used as short-term rentals or basically hotels, or tax it to high heaven (AirBnB used to be renting out your primary residence while you were on vacation to make a few extra bucks for the budget minded traveler. Now it has become just another hotel app, with the hotels being homes). That will put millions of houses back on the market. Of course, that doesn't prevent rich people from buying homes, but it will help a bit. And at some point the state will have to be required to overrule local counties on building utility infrastructure like sewage, internet, water - meaning the state will have to pony up some money. "But but but cost". Yeah, sorry rich people, your property taxes gotta go up...just the reality.

[@dougdavis8986]

How do real estate people drive up prices?

[@OlTurcotte]

Funny i just watched your vids on the p tech clutches a couple days ago. But I agree, im a young guy and there are lots of jobs that I look at available in places where i cant afford a house, let alone rent. Even now my best chances to own a home is to buy a damn trailer or van and live out of it. This world exists to drain every last penny and hour or labour out of me and my generation with no regards to how it affects my life. The worst is hearing that every single person thats my "Superior/journeyman" plans on buying more homes/property and turning them into rentals! I keep telling them that theyre the problem and why I will have to live out of a van, but they just dont care, all they see is the money.

[@WrongedSports]

This sounds like something Millenials have complained about for a decade. Thanks for listening about 20 years too late

[@DOMINIK99013]

2004 it wasnt that bad, specialy in places like this, even after market colaps 10-15 years ago.

[@draneym2003]

I love to see it

[@FrankNBeans-bn6wr]

Millennials are the ones who caused this. Maybe tik Tok will save ya.

[@mr.b3168]

@@draneym2003 You must be a boomer

[@davesteier-xf5lh]

It was. I was there. It was a real “get out your tinfoil hat” conversation. Meanwhile, this has been going on since the English bought up Irish potato farms and rented them back to the workers. Time for a sawmill to get an only fans account

[@wanderingquestions7501]

This was already happening when I lived in Montana back in the 80s. Everything is being reduced to low paying service jobs.

[@myhomemovies9110]

@@wanderingquestions7501 we lost steel jobs in the 70's & 80's, Japan got blamed, people lost their homes, it happened after the steel workers signed a big contract. The heirs to Morgan, Carnegie and Schwab didn't suffer at all.

[@Skyking6976]

@@myhomemovies9110AND you understand that’s American capitalism…right? If you were a CEO making widgets at a cost of $5, sold them for $10 and a consultant told you those widgets could be made overseas, shipped back to the US and distributed for $1, without having to deal with workers and you bonus from shareholders was based on profit, whatcha gonna do?

[@MrGchild14]

People are short sighted and will say it started this year or last year.

[@cidifede1]

This happened in Napa county 20 years ago. So sad. Everyone has a second or third home that they use for 2 weeks out of the year. Our elementary school is closing because we don’t have any kids in our town of St Helena anymore.

All that lumber and cant build a house

[@repete2362]

when my uncle built their home in the late 50's early 60's he said he could go to the saw mill and buy a pickup load of 2x4's for $5

[@abc123hshdhd8w]

I agree! They own the lumber and get it cheaper than anyone in the US. It can cost much to build a small community for their workers

[@AnontheGOAT]

Did you miss the part about the sewer system? It’s not that simple… Also, last I checked only the framing and mill work of a house is made out of lumber.

[@abc123hshdhd8w]

@@AnontheGOAT majority of a house can be lumber. Septic systems are easy to install and cheap

[@2drsdan]

@@abc123hshdhd8w NOT in Missoula County, they are steeped in regulation and red tape, permitting, and endless inspection.

[@kermitwilson]

Never knew I’d grow up and try to buy a house and be competing with Chinese, India, and Russian money. Hedge funds are taking money from all over the world and buying all the property in the USA. Empty houses, rentals, it’s insane. And the politicians are so happy to take money from the real estate companies that front that foreign money , it will only get worse.

[@kevinc8955]

You’re describing a problem that isn’t real. The vacancy rate of homes today (.8%) is half of what it was in the 1990s (1.6%). Why would Chinese people buy homes in one of the most expensive countries in the world and leave them empty? 😂. Doesn’t even make sense.

[@Lotterywinnerify]

@@kevinc8955 Its capital flight. They don't want all their money tied up under a system that can seize it at the drop of a hat.

[@baconatoromg6062]

@@kevinc8955 they buy the houses out and rent them back to locals

[@Jessiejam-44]

China , India and Russians are Buying Homes in America??? Really! So China with a Surplus of Condos and entire Built communities are Buying houses Here?? Russias too??? Im trying not to Laugh. Id say its more likely Hedge Funds like Blackrock!! And Not Trumps two Fav Countries and its two Leaders He Loves

[@Lotterywinnerify]

@@Jessiejam-44 GOP BS that the CCP can seize people's assets? Man you live under a rock. The CCP has the power to do far more than seize peoples assets. Can you tell me your angle on the CCP's power, history, and practices?

[@barcelonachair6487]

Air BnB has ruined the housing economy. Perfect housing has gone to short term and vacation rentals worldwide. There needs limits in every city to how many homes can used by this company.

[@NomenClature-o8s]

You spelled Biden wrong.

[@barcelonachair6487]

@@NomenClature-o8s Are you one of the people blaming the left and the media for being toxic? I wasn't being political but you couldn't help but stoking fires. Re-calibrate yourself.

[@KAT-dg6el]

There are places in Montana that do limit the short term rentals.

[@steven.h0629]

@@NomenClature-o8s your donald undies are showing

[@bobwoods1302]

@@NomenClature-o8s This isn't Russia Ivan. The government doesn't control housing.

[@KathleenMcNe]

I live in a mountain-lake-ski resort town in North Idaho. More and more people are turning their homes into short-term rentals, driving up the cost of housing and all but eliminating long-term rentals.

[@gorkyd7912]

This a symptom, a coping mechanism. There's levels of wealth, everyone with a job is working for money and some people actually have some of it. Those with money want to put the money somewhere else and not hold cash because its devaluing rapidly, so they bought real estate when the market was good. Now the market is bad and they can't sell, so they rent.

[@jeffersonstateofmind4057]

Same happened up in my home in Northern California. Every town had a mill and now there are none.

[@SpyMan-p4d]

They have the exact same problem in Jackson Hole Wyoming.

[@MichaelSnyder1776]

Except on steroids

[@chrisallen2005]

No, in Jackson Hole the billionaires ran out the millionaires a long time ago.

[@SpyMan-p4d]

@@chrisallen2005 And they have the same problem in the ski resort town of Mammoth Lakes, California.

[@mrweisu]

@@chrisallen2005did you cite a line in a movie, or this is a common reference?

[@chrisallen2005]

@@mrweisu Thought it up with my superior mind. That is not a reference from a movie either. "What do you think Rayette".

[@happycamper5900]

I was there 3 years ago. I did not recognize the town after 20 years. So many vacation homes built. The rural feel of the town had changed.

[@Thebluesky0311]

What town is this?

[@happycamper5900]

@@Thebluesky0311 Seeley Lake, Montana

[@jayk.2276]

I’ve driven all over the intermountain west as a kid with my dad who is truck driver, 25 years later I’m running my own rig through the same routes and it really is saddening to see what’s happened from CO to ID and everything in between.

[@snowg4953]

I hadn't been to Montana in a decade. I was saddened to see how it is loosing its open spaces at a rapid pace. The working class is destroyed in this country.

[@Skyking6976]

@@jayk.2276Because..what are you “seeing”?

[@zamis21]

Here in the Idaho Panhandle, we are going through it too! Our kids cant afford to buy their own homes anymore.

[@jesusfreak3587]

VOTE TRUMP!!!!! STOP THE GREAT RESET OF 2030!!!!!!

[@TOPWOP999]

You can thank crappy government policies and corporate greed…same thing is happening in Canada.

[@karenkoe7096]

What government policies do you see as responsible for this problem and what policies need to be put in place?

[@MrJeffreyDR]

What about the inane Covid edicts which were implemented for waaaayyy too long.

[@wolfmantroy6601]

EXACTLY !!! The failing timber industry is a direct result of government over regulation.

[@JohnD-zh9st]

@@karenkoe7096 first and foremost, it is way too expensive to get permits to buy a house. Mortgage brokers I know in Toronto say 60% of housing costs is from permits. Don't forget how many environmental studies you need in some places. Second, the policies that need to be in place are: 1. Ease up zoning laws and neuter HOAs 2. If you do not live in the home, and you do not have long-term tenants living there, aka short-term stays only, your property should be considered a hotel/commercial lot, not residential. You can imagine what legal repercussions this would have against the owner(s). 3. If not #2, make it so that only citizens and permanent residents who live majority of the time in the nation can own property. You would not believe how many of these AirBnB's are owned by rich foreign citizens who aren't even allowed to be in the USA themselves, but are allowed to profit off of owning property in it.

[@shayparis2213]

Every company needs to make money. I would say that if they were they would still be operating. The democrat economy is based on foreign workers and using no American wood/minerals/oil. Those in washington have no calluses on their hands and never will.

[@chrisoffersen]

The same thing is happening all over the Colorado mountains. The only houses being built are mansions that are inhabited only a few weeks a year.

[@liva236muzika]

I just can't get enough of looking at this small Montana town, it's just beautiful. Look at those beautiful houses and all that greenery. A sight for sore eyes. It's a shame folks can't afford to live there, they have a very nice town.

[@wooleystitcher]

Those houses shown in the drone footage are in Missoula... not Seeley Lake just saying...

[@baconatoromg6062]

those "beautiful houses" are why locals can't live there...

[@liva236muzika]

@@baconatoromg6062 i am not familiar with life in such a small town in USA. Do most of the locals rent or own?

[@baconatoromg6062]

@@liva236muzika most locals rent. Unless they are living in generational houses. For the most part, anything bigger than a 3000sqft house is likely owned by a wealthy out of state family. Locals have never made much money, but it wasn't an issue until rich out of state people started moving in and buying up land/driving local costs up.

[@LB-ty6ks]

This is a horrible situation.

[@JudyStroyer-bk6fb]

It's happening everywhere.

[@jayk.2276]

I guess it just depends if you’re rich or you’re poor lol.

[@baconatoromg6062]

@@jayk.2276 rich people won't like coming out to their vacation homes to find they've been burned down

[@claytonmorada]

It's happening everywhere. A lot of people in homes don't want affordable housing built near them. That is a huge part of what the problem is as well. We want growth and keep our small town charm without having places for working people to live..

[@lalodaniels1388]

They would rather walk away from the business and buy a new Land Rover.

[@anthonybanchero3072]

Seems NIMBYs are everywhere. I got mixed feelings on zoning myself.

[@bingusmctingus4395]

Every time there is (un)affordable housing built, it raises the property values by insane amounts, the rent gets subsidized by the government, so the owner of the apartment complex has an incentive to raise the rent for everyone (because they can't just raise it specifically on the sec-8's) because subsidized rent is just free money coming it, and the unsold units are marked as lost revenue.

[@stephencottens2521]

Idk about there but most people in low income housing around me don’t work anyway

[@FrankNBeans-bn6wr]

The American west has become the super rich play ground. They only want the peasants to live there and serve them.

[@FrankNBeans-bn6wr]

Same problem in WY. Outsiders came here and ruined everything. Cant even go camping without a reservation.

[@scottyee707]

What do you think is going to happen when 13 million people cross the border since Biden took office, that's more than the total of 33 states, yeah they're might not live in your state but they're gonna make Americans leave their states and go to new states like yours, the United States is failing right before our eyes

[@dizzylemons5776]

Can still camp in the Bighorns without a reservation.

[@paxundpeace9970]

Locals and strict zonning regulations are at fault. They can't get anything build. Many of those towns don't have much new construction. They often don't have any multifamily homes that are more affordable then single family homes.

[@scottyee707]

youtube shadow banning comments again

[@whirltech8031]

About 20% of the US population are Baby Boomers, and more and more are retiring every day. Cashing out and buying their version of the American Dream that they've been saving for for decades. Rural economics is being flipped on it's head.

[@jaymacpherson8167]

I saw this too often in small Oregon towns that needed costly upgrades to their drinking water system. The need was either to replace aging infrastructure, obtain more (or sufficient) water, treat for safe water, or expand for community growth. Both potable water and sewage infrastructure are largely out-of-sight and therefore out-of-mind, which leads to neglect in some form…be it planning for the future, anticipating cost of sustainability, or both.

[@karenkoe7096]

You got that right about sewage systems in particular. The city I live in neglected the sewer system for over a century. In the mean time the city doubled or tripled in population. That led to sewage overflows into rivers, etc. In the last few years the city has been forced (finally) into doing something about it. That has led to sewer bills that are now more than our water bills. At least the situation is being addressed.

[@Swarm509]

@@karenkoe7096 Usually take a major failure for people to care, and maybe not even then if they can fix it quickly and ignore it. Even our major cities here in Canada are now having these problem. Water/sewer systems that cannot handle the density they cities want, and then try to force the upgraded city infrastructure costs onto the developers who then refuse to build... and the it goes around and around like that.

[@whatgoesaroundcomesaround920]

@jaymacpherson8167 Cities and towns are supposed to have savings that are added to regularly, set aside for infrastructure repairs and replacement. That money can be invested, and bring good returns. But when you need to upgrade the water processing, or create or upgrade s sewer system, the town has something to go with. That's an integral part of government, to prepare for the future. Cities and towns where that hasn't happened will have to borrow, or limp along as they are. It is absolutely the fault of local government -- which is directly the fault of those who let it happen, the voters!

[@jaymacpherson8167]

@@whatgoesaroundcomesaround920 The “government” for the smallest systems is often a board of the locals, who rarely succeed in convincing the voters that their rates should be raised. For instance, I witnessed more small systems than I can recall who couldn’t get the voters to approve a rate hike from $25 or $30 per month (for unlimited water) up to $50 per month. Yes, fixed income folks, as I am now, suffer when rates of any kind rise. Most often, the defecation would have to hit the ventilation before the voters would agree to a rate hike. The alternative sometimes was for the state government to levee fines for regulatory non-compliance.

[@ladhkay]

Everything in a 50 mile radius from Glacier NP...sad

[@LunarSecrets]

It costs more to live in Seeley than Missoula? Unbelievable!

[@jameshoopes6467]

The rich have what they want and to heck with the rest of us.

[@stevenotero2627]

Yeah but who provides all the labor to make their life's so easy. They don't even raise their own kids. Let alone cook for themselves, clean their own house, do their own laundry, ecetera.

[@danielbrown3461]

Does this include MLB, NBA, and NFL Players. I'd hazzard a guess that many of them make 20,000 a day after taxes.

[@ElizabethMarshall-jb8mm]

And to the rich, it will never be enough.

[@Blacksheepis500]

Look at you, just barely learning how the world works

[@Skyking6976]

It’s American capitalism and ALWAYS been that way. CEO’s made bigger bonuses, shareholders made more money when products are made overseas. It’s not rocket science. Don’t confuse morality with making money. You’ll lose every time. Like as a 3rd generation .1%’er, the financial group earned me a 15% increase in total net worth for 2023. That’s millions in my case, far exceeding the rise in cost from inflation.

[@JeffGilligan-q7t]

Ban Airbnb

[@Jahoo-o]

Large company’s purchasing thousands of homes for rental properties must stop. Also, stop allowing other countries to buy our land/properties…. Unchecked processes always run off the rails.

[@whatgoesaroundcomesaround920]

REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) are shares you can buy and get dividends from. They buy up housing and hold it, forcing local prices up, then sell at the higher rate. The profit goes to the REIT shareholders. They are very profitable. That's capitalism in action!

[@Jahoo-o]

@@whatgoesaroundcomesaround920 completely agree but I would never choose socialism or communism or a mixture of them over capitalism. Capitalism can be put in check and for a long time created a very strong middle class. Now we are selling out because of greed. Sometimes it takes a fall to remember.

[@lorah2087]

As a small business in Missoula we are having the same problem! Down to one staff member with four openings.

[@jesusfreak3587]

I need a job & would love to move to Montana but I fear I'd have to camp in the woods to work there!

[@ScottBrown-e2j]

It is very sad to hear about this tragic, I love the mountains and that kind of work

[@jasonschlegel4027]

This story is put together well. I find the overall message disheartening in a number of ways. Perhaps most surprising is the idea that growth is limited because of infrastructure development.

[@waynewallace2061]

A businesswoman in Crested Butte Colo. built apartments for her restaurant workers. Nothing like coming up with your own solutions in order to stay in business.

[@crystalroane4062]

Clearly you didn’t watch the whole video. They can’t build apartments because the city’s sewer as it stands, cannot handle that capacity. And the wealthy who have moved to the town, do not want to vote for a new sewer, because they do t want to see the town grow. This is happening all over Montana.

[@grod805]

​@@crystalroane4062the NIMBYS (Not in my back yard people) destroyed California too. It's disgusting. People are homeless because they refuse to let anyone build housing

[@heidilady]

Sounds like that saw mill could build their employers housing and fund their own sewage…..

[@Polack-ml9fh]

This actually is terrible, taking a step back. Years ago mining company’s built housing for workers to keep them under their thumb. This is what we’re headed back to.

[@johnfitzgerald1879]

CB faces its own giant hurdle-Mark Walter’s, owner of the Dodgers, etc. He has been buying up property left and right throughout the valley, shorting the amount of rentals that make it to market.

[@calvin-]

As a _native_ Montanan, this breaks my heart. 💔

[@AdamC5013]

Been voting republican ? They are holding down wages, sustainable infrastructure, low income housing and helping expand the worker base for fear of migrant crime even more so than crappy neoliberals.

[@Matt-YT]

Then vote differently next time! Vote in favor of infrastructure and against restrictive housing regulations

[@pearljam_1]

Native in italics... Unless you are meaning Native American then get over yourself.

[@calvin-]

@@pearljam_1 Clearly, not from MT

[@pearljam_1]

@@calvin- Wow aren’t you special. Your grandfather put the Native Americans on reservations there then you claim to be a “native” bahaha.

[@richpaydirt]

This is the California effect. Here in Idaho, same thing. People moving in, gobbling up the land, building mansions and driving up home prices. Most of the kids who grew up here will never realize the dream of owning their own home.

[@iLLuzion1st]

It’s happening all over the country, cant blame everything on one State lol. A lot of businesses are fleeing California to Texas so soon Montanans will blame it all on Texans

[@jcstuart6978]

yes. Homes become investments and community becomes lower and lower on the list of priorities.

[@AMPProf]

no.. It's Rich people being Stingy and stupid.. Pay MUSt be Proportional to COST OF Basic needs or Humans migrate.

[@AMPProf]

Subway franchise will save no,persons

[@JLiznuts]

California colonizers

[@SpencerAstraPOV]

This is what a zero interest rate FED policy gets us. Asset bubbles fueled by cheap debt.

[@Matt-YT]

Also bad restrictive policies. Don't want to build infrastructure and have restrictive zoning preventing new construction

[@hergie409]

And housing being treated as a commodity to inflate rather than a human need

[@Matt-YT]

@@hergie409 Locals killed their own way of life!

[@stayanddrown]

Every time I watch a video like this I browse through the comments to see if anyone gets it. If anyone understands why we're here. It fills my heart with joy to see someone mention the Federal Reserve. What they have done to our currency is criminal.

[@ihyln1]

@@stayanddrown trump threatened the reserve to keep interest rates low to make himself look good. just like the brainless people in montana who vote for trump they are empty suits with no skills. vote R! love to see these videos

[@lockman004]

The community I grew up in was built in the 1920s. Wealthy business owners controlled the village's development. They had the foresight to reserve about 1/3 of the land for hundreds of 4-plexes that were build to resemble the large homes of the wealth residents. So they had housing for everyone that worked in the community. They added a grocery store, pharmacy, medical offices, hardware store, filling station, and other retail. They also left space for parks, a community swimming pool, and most importantly in the center of the community were the schools with extra land for future expansion. 100 year later it is still considered one of the most livable communities in Wisconsin.

[@adventurefixn]

Bonner County Idaho. Average price of a home is $600k in a lake/resort town designed to cater to the wealthy and elites. It’s entire base community, the people that make the town operate can’t event afford rent let alone dream of owning a home in their home town. Same story all across the country in the desirable rural communities.

[@whatgoesaroundcomesaround920]

REITs.

[@GenXOracle]

This exact same thing is happening where I live in the Ashe county NC mountains

[@JudyStroyer-bk6fb]

Housing affordability got much worse when remote work became so prevalent. People no longer needed to live in the cities and were tired of the high crime and taxes so they moved out to the suburbs when there was already a housing shortage.

[@12time12]

Housing was a problem in cities before remote work. GOP deregulated the housing market in 2017 which allowed blackrock to start buying entire neighborhoods. Housing prices began rising drastically in 2018, they started in cities and are now moving to your areas. But sure judy, keep thinking it’s crime rather than the wealthy who stole the American Dream. You never blame the politicians you voted for since Reagan began the middle class decline. Now people like you expect us to double down on these bad policies under Trump again. RW Boomers never learn.

[@MrPhotodoc]

Housing is the similar problem in many rural towns and will continue to be until business and government get together and decide on a solution.

[@user-dj3zq3no1rbiteme]

The rich don’t care 😢

[@Sicilian1S]

The poor don't care

[@Navitus]

@@Sicilian1S The poor doesn't care about trying to make ends meet? What is wrong with you?

[@guineapigzed]

Of course we care. If your not at work, the rich don’t get any.

[@seanpetaia]

@@geocam2actually yur wrong , they vote for the democrats & is their fault for letting inflation become into reality. 🙃

[@tuckerbugeater]

@@geocam2 what happens when you vote the other way?

[@FGH9G]

Gotta love NIMBYs fighting tooth and nail to keep things the way they are in the name of "preserving neighborhood character."

[@curtsiekert]

They're talking about keeping outsiders out as in immigrants.

[@rodedawg77]

​@@curtsiekertAnd it would be the white republican businessmen hiring the immigrants

[@JoeSmith-fu9yx]

@@curtsiekert has nothing to do with immigrants you idiot. The outsiders are transplants that don’t want their investment property to lose value because the lower working class needs a place to live and are seen as trash in the eyes of many lefties like you.

[@evoman44]

This reminded me in a way of a South Park episode where Cartman was rich and bought out an amusement park so he could have it all to himself without crowds. But then the rides started breaking down and everything in the park needed maintenance. So he had to start allowing some people in to earn some revenue in ticket sales to help pay for it. Eventually he had to let even more people in to earn enough to be able to run the park at 100%. Which then pissed Cartman off because he was back where he started.

[@anthonyc8499]

Missoula County and San Francisco County sound about the same with voters refusing to approve development then the locals wondering WTF happened.

[@darrenmackenzie1645]

The money comes from rich outsiders, who offer crazy money to the locals for their property and it is very very hard for the local property owner to refuse that kind of money. My brother lived in a small coastal town in Maine for years . Same thing happening there. The local sells and then goes and buys property at an inflated price and the cycle begins.

[@AmberSaver]

Greedy people are driving those who need homes out of the area. I am tied of seeing vacation rentals. Even in bigger cities we are seeing a huge (bigger) growth of them which is also shoving us out also. I am tired of landlords raising prices higher and higher and yet they don't warrant that high cost. It used to be rents went up when changes were made to better the property and yet small changes suddenly warrant 60-400 dollar jumps in rent. We had new numbers placed on our apartment buildings and apartments and our rent that year jumped to 100 more. Which had me cracking up when they made a big deal about that small change which allowed them to raise the amount. There needs to be more accountability over this.

[@pepperonish]

Prices won't stop going up til houses and apartments are sitting empty because prices are too high. The irony of this video is that the only way houses will come down if way more housing is built.

[@tuckerbugeater]

@@geocam2 The fed printed all the excess liquidity and handed it blackstone and blackrock.

[@tuckerbugeater]

@@pepperonish no one cares if you're comfortable

[@pepperonish]

@@tuckerbugeater ok

[@kenkayiii]

Montana is a resource-rich state....look at the state seal...mining, timber, water....all have suffered under government. We were told that we need to change our economies into Service industries and tourism to save ourselves....with a no-common sense viewpoint. We aren't educated to ask ourselves "And then what?"...we are sheep. As a fifth generation Montanan who hates what we've become....from Mansfield and Metcalf...we have Tester...and no common-sense. BTW...there are technologies that solve the sewer problem...but does not fit with government administrative purpose.

[@patrickkenney1080]

I live in Billings, on the opposite side of the state, and the whole state has been turned into a Jackson Hole with the help of our Governor and Legislature. Average cost of a house in Missoula is $750,000. In Billings, it's $400,000 and the median single income is 38K. Property tax went up 20 to 40%-thanks Gianforte.

[@whatgoesaroundcomesaround920]

That's REPUBLICAN governor Gianforte. People, you get what you ask for.

[@namehere4454]

​@@whatgoesaroundcomesaround920get to.work.and shut up

[@greg-ui1hg]

@@whatgoesaroundcomesaround920 Outcome would have been same with a Dem.

[@louiearmstrong]

@@greg-ui1hg dems at least talk about restricting or banning short term rentals. Conservatives just say "deal with it, free market"

[@chachis-censored]

@@louiearmstrong Dem restrictions on building is responsible for this. Missoula is a college town and very liberal. They control the whole county.

[@rogerdudra178]

I've been a resident of Montana for seven decades and hearing that housing is getting priced out of range for me sure makes Montana into a vacation place not a place. I prefer the 'place'.

[@haroldayat2066]

In Hawai’i we call it priced out of paradise. Cost of housing, food, gas and electricity is so high. Gas is over four dollars a gallon, has been for years. Housing, average small 3bd, 675k. It’s crazy.

[@kevinc8955]

Hawaii is an extremely beautiful place with extremely limited acreage. 3bd for $675k TBH sounds cheap given the location.

[@cookingwithkimbap4432]

Lmao 675k is wrong. More like 890k min. Also in California we have $6.50 per gallon of gas…

[@czogg99]

Why can’t they build workers camp on the property and let the workers work a 2 weeks on 1 week off.

[@stevenanthony9619]

They would have if they were serious about keeping the industry private. The trust obviously is foreign!!! This is YELLOWSTONE the series. So this takeover ALREADY happened. Fuuuu

[@Rawstock92]

Same in rural Oregon ...

[@koanstarr9393]

What's happening in rural Oregon?

[@bob_frazier]

​@@koanstarr9393we've lost two mills so far this year in rural locations. Same thing, can't find workers cause workers can't afford housing.

[@mariusfacktor3597]

Something's not adding up. There is a lack of housing and there is a saw mill... why not build more housing with that wood? Has somebody investigated the zoning codes? Sometimes cities have really old zoning codes that ban low-cost multi-family housing, and those need to be repealed ASAP.

[@JudyStroyer-bk6fb]

We need tens of millions of affordable homes built. Not luxury apartment buildings and not 4000 square foot mcmansions. The profit margins must be a lot lower for small single family homes

[@itsoktobewhite6377]

The sad reality is that, without any restrictions on who can buy those homes, they'll all end up bought out by investors just like the existing homes. Then turned into expensive rentals.

[@pungarehu]

Exactly the same situation here in rural Scotland. In fact, rural anywhere. City folk buying up houses and pricing out locals, so what next then.

[@jimfiles3307]

As a Californian that visited Montana, I find this state to be the best place to live in. Thanks to Gavin Newman importing voters from across the border, California is too expensive to live in. Newsom gives free medical and free food to these people, forcing fed up Californians to cash out and leave. This migration is what has changed rural America. Montana leadership needs to change and provide infrastructure for its citizens. Americans want to work and not receive handouts, they want to provide for their families and have a roof over their heads. Without change, we’re doomed.

[@fuku4eva]

Same problem in Australia & New Zealand, interestingly I went to Denmark a few years ago & couldn't believe how cheap the houses were in the countryside. Apparently you cannot buy a house unless you are a Danish citizen even a company buying a house has to be Danish owned. ...now how hard can that be ?

[@chrisaycock5965]

I live in California people love to scream about how bad things are here crime, homelessness, blight.. The fact of the matter is people largely chalk it up to politics that it's a liberal cesspool. In reality it's actually the people who live here being largely unwilling to build any type of new housing for many years now you see it wherever you go a lot of places are short staffed because you can't pay people enough to live here. This isn't a blue or red problem in terms of states this is people trying to compromise with how America has been built up for the last 70 years and what needs to happen going forward which is more urbanization to make room for people. If you own a home they don't want to make room for anyone else. This happens in Montana in California in Florida many places have the same issue. Your state will look like California before too long if you're unwilling to make room for anyone else this has been a slow motion train wreck for 40+ years now.

[@tuckerbugeater]

people simply aren't involved

[@johnnytactical3054]

Also think of all the illegal immigrants taking up housing that American citizens can use

[@sameagletheregal8526]

How about halt immigration completely? Stop the new people.

[@electricpaper269]

The reason so much housing is needed in the first place is due to mass immigration, blame leftists for that. And hypocritically, leftists are the strongest NIMBYs, they go full force. No qualms about using government power to restrict developers and satisfy themselves.

[@dovonovich]

What are you bloody talking about? It’s more of a blue problem than a red, at least.

[@PatrickCarey-f4o]

Absolutely LOVE your style/methods . You have provided so many valuable videos & insight to trading!!! You are truly a blessing ️

[@CS-eb9wh]

Similar story in the Wenatchee valley...especially the upper valley... Leavenworth in particular. Gentrification... Its a thing.

[@yrbuddy77]

I worked for this company pulled green chain. Wonderful company the people i worked with I had no issues. I was one of the ones let go in 2000. I drove 100 miles a shift for this job roundtrip. In the winter it can be quite fun lol. I think i made $12.00 an hour 12 hour evening shift if i recall correctly. After i was let go in the winter I think it was right before Thanksgiving the only job i could find in Missoula at the time paid 8.50 an hour + health and some other great perks and I went to that interview and begged for the job. It was a weird experience 1 day your job is gone and not sure what you are going to do but a week later I felt that i had actually came out on top even though pay was less I was home more and had more free time. I was very young so it was all a learning experience for me. I can't help but wonder if the property won't be sold and huge resort will be put in it's place. Time marches on.

[@walteragentplummer7031]

Sad America reality😢😢

[@firstlast8258]

Murica

[@DoomSlayer-ow4jq]

At least now we know what lack of innovation does to a town.

[@Plan_it-Farm]

Same problem all over small towns cannot afford water and sewer infrastructure. But lack of infrastructure creates a housing shortage. I think green energy on sewer plants that have biodigesters makes a ton of sense from the government but doubt we will move that way.

[@unitedstatesmarine5087]

I actually saw this video before. Crazy how the economy changes and entire towns fall into disrepair!

[@BradleySmith1985]

The thing I keep saying is. that there needs to be restriction on how much housing can be charged. It is getting ridiculous. The housing is becoming more and more of our financial burden on everybody. that there is no ceiling to growth.

[@Xalta_Sailor]

Restrict the price of a house and I will buy 10 instead of 5. Bring it on. Doesn’t should like a solution. Building more is the only solution when there is demand to fill.

[@baconatoromg6062]

@@Xalta_Sailor cant build houses everywhere. better solution is property/housing limits.

[@bob_frazier]

We've lost two mills already this year in Oregon. Hard times for small communities. Real hard.

[@chadseitz9705]

BS. Out of state people coming in and driving up property prices!

[@whatgoesaroundcomesaround920]

Hey, that's capitalism in a nutshell. The public good is NOT part of that economic system's calculations.

[@paxundpeace9970]

That's capitalism accept it.

[@lp6757]

It isn't just Montana its every state in America!

[@sellwill]

Easy peasy fix. Increase property taxes on non-residents.

[@mikes_in_paradise78]

Thank you for your hard work through the years. Love the traditional years of family run business. Great job!!

[@timothyortega5608]

The same thing happened to Park City Utah. That place used to be run down mining town.😢 Now, the people have to commute from Salt Lake up to Park City to work there. I made the drive many times myself.

[@tuckerbugeater]

no one told you to come here

[@ellaortega1554]

​@tuckerbugeater Stop making racist assumptions based on names! Timothy grew up in Utah. His mother, a Clark, and her parents grew up in Utah. His dad was from Arizona. His grandfather's parents were from Spain. Hence, the name. Timothy is a master Craftsman and carpenter. He is very skilled in his work and for years he did beautiful siding on houses that still lasts to this day. He is one of the best in the nation and won a national award for his excellent work, the first time it was ever won in Utah. Again, don't make racist assumptions.

[@ellaortega1554]

​@@tuckerbugeater The big issue is that normal people can't afford to live in places like Seely or Park City. Ask the teachers, firefighters and police officers. People who do the real work are priced out by the rich who move in and then the workers can't afford to live there. The rich want the services but don't want "the help" as neighbors. This is a real problem.

[@timothyortega5608]

@@tuckerbugeater I was born in Los Angeles California 1961

[@brianbutton6346]

Hey ABC - and Terry - great report! Fantastic. Great interviews and gradual unveiling of information. I will be thinking about this for a while.

[@timkaldahl]

Now try to survive on a teachers salay in the state that ranks 51st in starting teacher pay with housing prices similar to Seattle.

[@sloughdog]

I would choose a different career,

[@themcadamsminute8494]

@@sloughdogthen who teaches our future Americans. Responses like yours need to stop. Every career is important to the fabric of Americas success now and its future.

[@KS0102]

​​@@themcadamsminute8494I see these braindead responses like "choose a different career" and it utterly shocks me that these people dont understand how or why educating the next generation is so important that it deserves decent pay....

[@themcadamsminute8494]

@@KS0102 agree 💯

[@jesusfreak3587]

@@KS0102 Yeah my wife teaches third grade for less then 50k a year. While children & bafoons make mills doing social media. At some point we must sit back & ask ourselves....... How did we get here? And what are we going to do about it?

[@iTzKevinFTW]

I lived in seeley lake for a few months while I traveled the country so I could work. Loved the town and area. Would always drive by the mill. Sad to see this.

[@robertmatthews4285]

I’ve never understood towns that fight development and progress. It never works. I’ve seen towns fighting growth and progress in the seven states I’ve lived in and it never works. You have to embrace change and progress. You have to invest in the future. If you don’t, bad things happen. The most likely outcome is creating a town your kids won’t be able to (or won’t want to) live in.

[@djt8518]

Some people don't want the mess and stuff that progress brings they don't see that as a good thing

[@EricS-d1e]

You sound like a Californian Some things don’t need to be changed and are worth preserving.

[@KingArthur13th]

​@@djt8518well Goodluck with businesses leaving and the wealthy buying up whatever is left of your town.

[@jesusfreak3587]

SHOW LOW N PINETOP/LAKESIDE AZ 100%

[@bigwheelsturning]

They never mentioned the amount of timber that is still available to harvest. I would say from experience as a Forester, that there was a lack of trees to cut in sizes that could be made into lumber. It's happened to every logging town I ever saw.

[@Rimrock300]

it was mentioned generally that due to rising operation costs they had compensated for that by constantly enlarge the operation in order to keep competative. Now not able to enlarge more due to lack of people willing to take job openings. Rising timber cost into this yes

[@XDC47]

Wow management is finally realizing you need “the worker” 😂 flex on millennials and gen z. I’ll quit on the spot with no plan.

[@-in-the-meantime...]

"You're cool... F-it i'm out" - yolo

[@tuckerbugeater]

@@-in-the-meantime... so what

[@joshua6287]

There are too many people living in the US, put's huge pressure on housing everywhere

[@WardenClyff]

Love how were talking about housing and acting like pay isnt an issue too, labor demands with the price of everything today of nearly 30./h bare minimum. Yet plenty of entry positions are asking for employment history and a starting of 19.-21. complete joke we live in

[@yuckyool]

"Entry level housing for working class folks" . . to support economic growth for all. Glad that my (upscale) town in NJ understands this.

[@masegraye]

So you have a lumber mill that might go out of business, and a housing shortage causing a labor shortage. Seems like one could solve the other.

[@KingArthur13th]

Not really. Multi-unit housing development is needed to house lower income individuals but you need a sewer system to support larger, multi unit properties. This town voted down both a sewer system and higher density housing because it would "change the character of the town." This is a problem of the town's own creation.

[@dovonovich]

@@KingArthur13th Video touched on that, too. Those infrastructure plans would most immediately impact lower-income individuals and families.. it’s an odd, frustrating cycle.

[@REaton03]

It’s not just in Montana almost everywhere in the US is currently dealing with this. Locals can’t afford the. $420k houses and builders don’t build $100k houses anymore not to mention the inflation on top of high interest rates.

[@bobdole6691]

It isnt worth their time i can see why

[@benandwood5903]

i bet the lumber yard is getting sold to a property development company....

[@Tate-sf7ec]

Welcome to every small beautiful town in America folks. Thank your local officials and politicians

[@knotbumper]

And nobody want to pay taxes to support infrastructure.

[@SandersChicken]

That's because we are broke

[@whatgoesaroundcomesaround920]

Town government is supposed to have a fund for infrastructure repairs or even new build. Many towns don't bother. This is how it goes down when the money is needed

[@knotbumper]

@@SandersChicken I was talking about the wealthy Californians from Orange County that are moving in ruining Montana

[@SandersChicken]

@knotbumper oh yeah they ain't broke. Screw them

[@shogunfogun]

Ban airbnb. Stop giving percentage of sales to Real estate agents. All real estate issues resolved.

[@DavidDavidunderthebridgeChampi]

Lumber prices and housing are really two separate issues. What part of the cost of a house is the inches thick regulations on construction and inspection of a house? What are your expectations? A starter home does not have a man cave plus and more. Bedrooms, kitchen, and living room with maybe a dining room. At my age, I am glad that I limited myself in kind of house I bought.

[@dancox3251]

In a world where builders (whose stocks are at or near all time highs) are marking up their product 100% over cost and over a quarter of the entire US housing stock is now investor owned and thus squeezing the supply - "burdensome" regulations are at this point a rounding error.

[@Ricardo-f1w4i]

Regulations are different in each state. Hence, Tx is still without power. At least in Houston. No regulation, you get what you pay for.

[@daveleslie4396]

Oh boy, let's move to rural Montana!!

[@cosmiclouie1]

Locals are not “priced out”. The locals who are selling homes are choosing to take more money for their home instead of helping another local family.

[@Hugh_jasshole1980]

Speak for yourself. I sold my home to a local family with 2 children and they were the 3rd lowest offer. They had been saving for years for a down payment.

[@jasminesingh1863]

This breaks my heart, I recently graduated with a degree in engineering and even the starting base pay is too little to live in citys like Missoula , Bozeman , and Kallispell, where the job market is. Im saddened to say, but im leaving for South Dakota for a competitive salary.

[@KennethGreenCMP]

To the point made, this is self fulling problem. The town set itself for failure. Keeping taxes low and not investing in the town is not a receipt for success. On the bright side, I am sure the new rich people won't mind if the working class and poor people go.

[@wooleystitcher]

Our taxes are not low. We are a non incorporated town. Our taxes go to missoula county.

[@ruxoneto6560]

Raising taxes is not the answer the higher ups just give them self pay raises here in small town sheriff making $150,000 got a $ 30,000 raise that is almost more than the average person makes ? Taxes are not the answer

[@williamweiss6128]

Been to Seeley Lake, back in the 80's. I live near Boise now and costs have skyrocketed here, too.

[@Dammmguddd023]

Karens fighting tooth and nail to keep NIMBY alive

[@JuliaEK71519]

It’s sad, farther north of Missoula, towns are feeling the same thing. I’m from Ronan and like hardly see any workers, businesses closing and rich people buying up all the land. 😢

[@dzmcghee]

Sounds like this company either needs to create living areas for their employees like studio apartments in shipping containers, or innovate and add automation.

[@loganbrown1185]

All the local resorts bought the entire town so they can house immigrants to work and serve the guest it's called the paws up resort

[@bduerr5082]

Growing up in CNY the local bean farmer provided his summer employees decent housing at no cost to them. He considered it just a cost of doing business and as he said it was deductible from his taxes.

[@newttella1043]

Had companies just paid their fair share of taxes and accepted corporate tax increases instead of fighting for tax decreases, the local government could've paid for the sewage system. Corporate welfare never ends well...accept for the millionaire mill owner. He's accummulated generational wealth beyond imagination.

[@slowp100]

They can't. The town has to have a sewer system before any apartments can be built. It doesn't have one.

[@Stuka_Ace]

​@newttella1043 "generation mill wealth" LOL. California comment of the week!

[@stevewilson8862]

There is no strong economy without a strong industrial base.

[@mysterymayhem7020]

After serving in the military I moved from NYC up to Kalispell MT to get my head right. Montana is a beautiful state.

[@davidwright873]

KALISPELL is amazing!!! I drive thru ther once and was really tripped out by the beauty.

[@KAT-dg6el]

Kalispell was my home 4 generations in Montana. I had to move because of you out of staters. People are rude, it’s overcrowded, and the crime is ridiculous!

[@firstlast8258]

Gawd bless Murica 🤓 🖕

[@mysterymayhem7020]

@@KAT-dg6el I really apologize for all the people who ruined it. I was not one. Kalispell and Columbia Falls were so good to me for the 4 years I lived there. If it wasn't for the point that I am not able to drive anymore because of my disability from the service then I would most likely still be living there.

[@stucorbett7905]

Welcome to America in Montana. I built a place near Ennis. Best thing I ever did. Thanks for your service.

[@UnhingedBecauseLucid]

The ironies of unenlightened self-interest keeps getting ever more glaring ...