We're just too remote for most

Years ago, while living in Bozeman, I suggested that people who didn’t farm or ranch should live in town.

I even recommended folks looking to move to Montana check out existing housing in the small towns scattered across the state where infrastructure is already in place.

This was years before the onslaught of home fixer-upper shows on HGTV, and decades before anyone ever thought about working remotely.

Still, it seemed a good way to slow down sprawl, protect agricultural land, and revitalize rural economies.

It struck me as a good idea then and even a better idea now.

Unfortunately, it didn’t catch on. Ag land continues to sprout tract home developments, and increasing sprawl surrounds all the larger towns in the state. Meanwhile, Montana’s little towns are hurting. School enrollment is dropping. Businesses are closing.

Now residents of Montana’s fastest-growing towns have begun to complain. The traffic is horrendous, house prices are sky-rocketing, and the noise is getting ever-louder.

No one’s moving to Malta, however. While I’ve heard of a few folks fleeing the Flathead for Miles City and Glendive, there’s no visible influx of new residents to Phillips County.

We’re just too remote for most.

And while a lot of newcomers say they came here for the wide-open spaces, they still don’t want to be too far away from a Wal-mart, a Target, or a plethora of fast-food choices. Folks want everything they left behind -- including densely-populated subdivisions of look-a-like homes -- just in a different setting.

I’m glad they haven’t yet started moving to Malta. It’s loud enough here already, what with the siren going off at 6 p.m. every day announcing dinnertime, and the rattle of trains passing through town at all hours. Sometimes I even have to wait for couple of cars to pass before pulling out onto Main Street.

When the noise and congestion get to be too much, Barb and I load the dogs in the truck and head to our cabin in Garfield County, an even less-desirable landing spot for newcomers than Phillips County.

I know of only two people who took my sage advice years ago and moved to Malta. They sold their place in Madison County, bought a fixer-upper here, fixed it up, and are quite content.

They are, however, as off-the-wall as I am. Mainstream Americans really have no interest in taking my advice and moving to rural Montana.

I’ll carry on best I can.

Parker Heinlein is at [email protected]