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By Andrew Bissell
Matt Singer has taken notice of some of the good press coming out on the Kalispell and Bozeman labor markets. I may be running this term through my EconomicsParser a few too many times, but what’s with all this talk of a labor “shortage.” Hey, businesspeople, in a free market where prices are allowed to adjust, there’s no such thing. That “shortage” means you’re not paying enough!
I’m wondering, could part of the reason wages are good in these two communities be that there have not been attempts to impose top-down anti-”sprawl” solutions to the growth that’s occuring? (I honestly don’t know how strictly these communities plan and zone their developments as compared to others in the state, I need you Montana politics junkies to enlighten me.) Maybe one of the things attracting people to the region-presumably relatively wealthy people with the resources to move to Bozeman or Kalispell and hence to push up labor demand-is the fact that they’re left relatively free to decide how big a lawn they’ll water and how far they’ll drive to work and back every day. Whatever’s the case, it certainly doesn’t look like the big box development on 93 North in Kalispell has torpedoed the Center Mall or job & wage growth, or made Kalispell less attractive to potential newcomers.
Another question: Brian Schweitzer and the Democratic majority have been in power for about a year now. Is this their baby, or economic do-nothing Judy Martz’s, or none of the above?
One final question: Is the depopulation of Eastern Montana ipso facto a bad development? If people are leaving because they have lost the desire to live there, I say, more power to ‘em. Montanaphiles should count their blessings that many of them stay in state when they transplant to the Bozone or K-town.
I’m from Kalispell, and I think they can handle a few extra burger-flipping immigrants should such an influx occur. I’ve also seen the nasty “I’ve got mine” attitude of some of the anti-sprawlers up there, the kind of people who move into a house opposite a wheat field and then expect city government to prohibit the farmer from selling to a developer so they can keep their pretty view.
I actually wrote an article about this issue for Flathead High School’s paper, The Arrow. The title should have been “Standing Athwart History,” (well actually I should have selected a less melodramatic title), but other than that I’d say it’s pretty good for a wee high school opinion editor. You can read it here.
A reply to the comments regarding my other post below is on my “To Do” list, hopefully I’ll get to it soon.
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I’d be willing to bet that rich people who build huge homes are actually moving to Bozeman and the Flathead due to the scenic beauty of these two locales. This would also explain why both places are becoming slightly more enviro friendly, while still leaning Republican.
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[...] own and join the discussion in one of the many active threads. Also, Andrew Bissell offers his own thoughts on employment in Montana, some of which I think is bizarre, but we’ll save that for another ti [...]
The depopulation of eastern Montana is a product of economics. The people aren’t leaving because they have lost the desire to live “here”. They leave to find better jobs. Most eastern Montanans prefer the wide open spaces and friendly people found in this area.
You ask if it is “bad development”? For those of us that stay, it is a life we have lived and deal with. We have lived with western Montana being the super model of the state and eastern Montana paying the way since the beginning of the state. Anaconda Copper convinced (bought) the legislature and enacted a 1/2 of one percent tax on hard rock mining. Today the oil and gas in eastern Montana is taxed at 13.5% and western Montana is looking at it to balance the budget and pay for educational funding increases.
Eastern Montana is largely subsidized by the federal government through the farm program. They’re not supporting anybody.
It’s the scenery Andrew, and the economy has a lot you can’t see. I can’t remember the last time I went to the grocery store without hearing people worrying about being able to buy enough food (not junk food or hair products or magazines) to feed themselves and their families.
I have friends who are benefitting a great deal from this boom, but I know a lot more average working folks that have really had to tighten their belts and even some people that are steadily selling off everything they ever worked for to supply themselves with the essentials.
There are two very divided sides to this economic story in the Flathead.
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