NPR Reports
The Downsides of Whitefish’s Booming Real Estate Market
By Kate Downen, 6-19-06
Tonight on NPR's Montana Evening Edition, Whitefish, Montana's painfully high (or beautifully high, if you're selling) real estate market will be featured. MTPR's website gives a pre-cap of tonight's report:
"What was once an ordinary working class town now offers some of the most expensive real estate in Montana. In our continuing series on poverty in the state, reporter Kevin Maki visits Whitefish, a community where affordable housing is frequently out of reach - even for many of her long time residents."
The real eastate market has been on fire here for a number of years. A February Daily Inter Lake article reported that more than a billion dollars in commercial and residential property changed hands here last year, fueled by factors like population growth, investment buying and limited land supply. That was a 25% increase from just 2004.
I also read the other day that Northwest Montana houses 25% of the state's realtors. My hairspray, power-skirt-suit and Bluetooth earpiece phobias aside, that's an overwhelming statistic.
I hear the same wistful line from different mouths on a weekly basis: "If only I'd bought that lot/house/five square feet of toxic waste site five years ago..." It's become old hat to read special reports on inflated and increasing Flathead Valley real estate prices.
Sometimes we like to hear the big numbers. They're ego-strokers. They make us feel like we're where it's at. After all, it was in Whitefish, circa 1990, that Kiefer Sutherland and Julia Roberts bought a large symbol of (real estate) love for one another on Big Mountain Road. You remember what happened next: Kiefer and Julia broke it off, Julia seemed to have left her best, prettiest (woman) days behind and the world forgot about Kiefer for about ten years.
Whitefish did not have a similar fate. In the past 40 or so years Whitefish has morphed from the working class, dirt road town that MTPR mentions to a manicured, cutesy-pie real estate mecca. We think that's fine and dandy, especially if we've got plenty of money and our own piece Whitefish.
I suspect Montana Evening Edition's report, though, won't take the "look at us, we're on top of the world" angle (did you catch the word 'poverty?'). We've been talking affordable housing, haves and have-nots for a while now here in the Flathead. I look forward to hearing MTPR's report this evening. It airs tonight at 5:30 on your local Montana Public Radio station.
I hope you're listening, Whitefish.
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One of the great things that has made Whitefish stand out is the the future vision and planning that it's council and residents have implemented. The master plan, light ordinances, signage requirements, trails, Big Mountain, annexing of the lake, etc. have provided opportunities for residents to express their views on the direction of this recreation paradise.
The culture of philanthropy in Whitefish also lends itself to the appeal and the results that are acheived when people share a mission and vision. People in Whitefish are willing to pay for quality. Sales tax (why not ask our visitors and part time residents to share the load?), major donations, board involvement, and passion are all reasons that Whitefish has accomplished such a pleasing environment to raise children, retire to, or just plain visit.
The WAVE, Ice Den, Olseth Skate Park, O'Shaunessey......have met with success due to the generous individuals of the community.
All communities cannot be everything to everyone. If you like the direction a community is going, be a part of it. If you do not, then move 10-15 miles up the road and find a fit or be a part of the process. Let your voice be heard.
Time, talent and treasure are resources to be shared for now and for future generations.
Also, do not bite the hand that feeds you. Many Flathead residents that claim to despise this growth are employed because of that growth. Tourism, real estate, construction, title companies, banks, plumbers, landscapers, restaurants, etc. Without the growth or attractiveness of the area, many of the people that complain about the growth would not be able to afford to live here anyway, because jobs would be scarce and those that were here would pay a pittance.
I hope we embrace "smart" growth and realize that if you are no growing, you are......Butte.
Your little piece about "smart growth" deserves about three seconds worth of thought.
In other words, I would rather be Butte then Whitefish anyday and twice on Sunday.
And Butte columnist Jeff Gibson in the Montana Standard Monday must have
been thinking about Whitefish.
http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/2006/06/19/newsopinion_top/20060619_newsopinion_top.txt
Affluent young Americans are returning to the cities, with a difference. by Jeff Gibson
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They are flocking to “faux cities” — meaning artificial cities —because they find that real cities are too grim and gritty for their taste. The faux cities are planned developments, usually apart from real cities.
Even the faux cities’ names are nice. The “Presidio of the Pines” sits on the desert down in Arizona. In Texas, the “Legacy Town Center,” tastefully located well away from Dallas, draws upscale inhabitants. “The Greene” is being built in Kansas.
Most people just spell green green, but for some reason, the affluent young like that superfluous “e” on the end.
A reporter asked a thirty-something guy named Ron what drew him to the Legacy Town Center. Well, said Ron, while “snacking on brie and grapes” at a sidewalk café, “there’s too much riff-raff” in real cities. Grimly, they do have real Dumpsters in faux cities, but they are well out of sight, do not sport graffiti and do not overflow with “gobbitch,” as they pronounce it in New York, the realest city of all.
Even the drinkers are different in faux cities. Here in Butte you order a brewski, blow the foam off and down the hatch. In Fauxtowne, you pay $18 for a glass of cabernet, swirl the wine with your pinky in the air and go sippy-sippy.
The late Carl Sandburg wrote gritty poetry about real cities — Chicago, for one. What could a man like Sandburg have to say about a faux city? He’d get writer’s block.
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i heard somewhere (i can't remember where now) that butte was involved in some kind of community revitalization project. i don't remember exactly but i recall hearing about someone investing in and restoring a bunch of butte's cool, old buildings...was it a dream? i'm seriously asking. anyone?
First of all let me apologize for the misunderstanding. I did not mean to imply that there was anything wrong with the people or community of Butte other than the fact that the economics have been struggled for many years and that many in Butte/SilverBow would love to have the jobs that are provided from the growth that the Flathead is seeing.
I know that there are wonderful people and community support in Butte, Anaconda, Deerlodge, etc. And I know that many of them would like more opportunities for employment.
Both Whitefish and Butte have rich histories and are both "real" in their origins.
Thank you for helping me clarify my point.
I also agree that the city council and mayor have an eye toward protecting the environment, and even trying to develop affordable housing.
With that said, I grew up in the Flathead, and not everyone is benefitting from benevolent, philanthropic millionaires that build their houses in the wildland interface, gate them off, destroy habitat, create service jobs for a once proud working class, and pat themselves on the back for it.
I know, I'm bitter.
When introduced to the people I easily stereotype, I often like them and have seen real contributions to the community. But I can't help view it all cynically. New rich people want to protect state lands from development because they want a lovely patio view. Rich folks want the O'Shaughnessy Center so there are cultural events in their summering town. New comers want sushi. Wine bars. So they've whitewashed the town and brought all of the amenities from their last home to Whitefish.
The problem is, that the huge influx of wealth does not even begin to close the gap beween the rich and the poor. Rent and housing costs have skyrocketted so much in Whitefish that many people who work there cannot live there.
The new west economy brings weatlh, innovation, and "dicovery." As a kid, people always supposed it would happen, but I guess I didn't think it would happen in my lifetime. My parents can't afford their own home anymore. The farms been subdivided to try to keep pace. And in fact, they are thinking about moving to southwestern Montana, and the Butte area is not out of the question.
I don't know what the answer is, but I know that we have a moral obligation to develop affordable housing, pay a living wage (and start by increasing the minimum wage), increase education opportunities, and please, please, new friends, don't build those damn gates. Meet your neighbors, let them use the old trail trough your property to the lake, participate in community events, and support schools.
Thank you for the dialogue and the opportunity to express one person's opinion. I am always open to new ideas and alternative viewpoints and completely understand the thoughts that were expressed in this exchange.
Good luck to all of you as you participate to shape the futures of your communities.