Living on the street in Bozeman Montana.

[montanabill]

Seems they are having issues with folks living in campers and cars on the streets of one of thefaster growing towns in america...

The average cost to rent a one-bedroom apartment in Bozeman, Montana is $2,212 per month. The average size of a one-bedroom apartment in Bozeman is 610 sq ft.

https://montanafreepress.org/2024/1...-campers-in-wake-of-new-law/?utm_medium=email

 

[d_marsh]

I wonder how many of them are transplants from California? Sounds like they need to drive the cars and campers back there.

 

[Pearl]

People can't afford to live.... thanks Obama!!

 

[d_marsh]

People can't afford to live.... thanks Obama!!

In this case, the blame lies equally between Obama, Gavin Newsome and the idiots who fled California to Montana so they could turn Montana into California.

 

[havasu]

My daughter is looking at a 4 bed/2 bath home in central California, on 3½ acres, for $550k. This house would be $2m, just for the land. They pay $3k a month rent by us, and is not sustainable.

I just can't see homeless in Montana living in a car, with the frigid temperatures up there.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Why would anyone that can't afford it ever move to Bozeman? That's just plain stupid. They should turn their arse around and go somewhere else. We get fools moving up here too that can't afford to live here. Don't these people have enough brains to at least check out the housing costs before moving to an area? I don't have much sympathy for people like that.

 

[Pearl]

T

Why would anyone that can't afford it ever move to Bozeman? That's just plain stupid. They should turn their arse around and go somewhere else. We get fools moving up here too that can't afford to live here. Don't these people have enough brains to at least check out the housing costs before moving to an area? I don't have much sympathy for people like that.

hat does seem pretty dang stupid!!

 

[Mountain trapper]

My daughter is looking at a 4 bed/2 bath home in central California, on 3½ acres, for $550k. This house would be $2m, just for the land. They pay $3k a month rent by us, and is not sustainable.

I just can't see homeless in Montana living in a car, with the frigid temperatures up there.

When I worked in North Dakota there were countless people living in their cars and campers looking for a job in the oil fields. I hired many people that were camped out in the Walmart parking lot or farmers fields etc. Even during winter. I set up man camps for our employees and provided room and board + guaranteed 84 hour work weeks and a 3×3 rotational schedule. It's surprising how many people turned these jobs down.

 

[Pearl]

I wonder if they are only there in the summer and go south in the winter?

 

[UserNameTaken]

I am sad that as a nation we have chosen to allow the supreme court to criminalize being poor or unhoused. Especially in places where housing is unavaliable or beyond reach of residents. Bozeman is different from inner city ghetto homeless. While there are those with addiction issues, many are simply the working poor who are priced out of housing. Regardless, they are human beings.

When I was 16 our condo burned down (12 units). Thankfully as the fire spread I got my guns and our camping and fishing gear out, and jumped off the second story. We camped in the forest for 6 months while getting back on our feet. There was no red cross, or welfare, and my mom managed the complex, so we lost our job too. But we weren't criminals.

Later, when I got out of the army I lived in my VW pop-top for 6 months on the beach in Florida and the Keys, because I could. Both were some of the best times of my life.

You know what's really sad, Grants Pass and Rogue River, OR was where survivalist Mel Tappan espoused moving to for those seeking freedom and the ability to live a sustaining lifestyle. Many of those who followed him there were not very well off either. How far we have fallen.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I wonder if they are only there in the summer and go south in the winter?

In my example above, they were there year round. Many of these guys were losers and had no skills whatsoever. They were even too useless and lazy to fill a laborer position (which paid $35 an hour with 44 hours a week overtime ). Usually, if someone has nothing and looks worthless, he probably is.

 

[UserNameTaken]

This same thing is occuring all over the west. Flagstaff has hundreds living in the forest, at least in the summer. Sedona complains they can't get workers, and many who do come are living in their cars. But the city just blocked them from sleeping in a safe parking area where a number had settled. So again, in a town of $2 million dollar homes, the poor aren't welcome. Most ski towns in Colorado (really everywhere) have terrible housing shortages. Like Crested Butte. It's insanely expensive and workers can't afford housing. Some places provide employee housing.

People have to live somewhere. If we aren't going to subsidise housing, then we shouldn't make not being able to afford it a crime.

 

[Mountain trapper]

This same thing is occuring all over the west. Flagstaff has hundreds living in the forest, at least in the summer. Sedona complains they can't get workers, and many who do come are living in their cars. But the city just blocked them from sleeping in a safe parking area where a number had settled. So again, in a town of $2 million dollar homes, the poor aren't welcome. Most ski towns in Colorado (really everywhere) have terrible housing shortages. Like Crested Butte. It's insanely expensive and workers can't afford housing. Some places provide employee housing.

People have to live somewhere. If we aren't going to subsidise housing, then we shouldn't make not being able to afford it a crime.

Why should the tax payer be expected to pay housing costs for people who have no business moving to expensive area where they can't possibly ever afford? There are thousands of areas around the country that have much cheaper housing cost than Bozeman, ski towns or other high cost areas.

 

[Peanut]

Why should the tax payer be expected to pay housing costs for people who have no business moving to expensive area where they can't possibly ever afford? There are thousands of areas around the country that have much cheaper housing cost than Bozeman, ski towns or other high cost areas.

Thousands of areas? Think how bad it has to be elsewhere for someone to choose a car in a Bozeman winter... People aren't making that choice from stupidity, even stupid people know they can freeze. Has to be other reasons.

 

[Patchouli]

Isn't it odd how it is too expensive for the paid help to live in an area they are supposed to serve? And everyone wonders why there is a shortage of workers @UserNameTaken Come work here, they said, plenty of jobs, room with your co-workers...used to be that college students (or just young people) would go to national parks for the summer work. Now the jobs have been slashed because now to get in to national parks, you have to have a reservation so there aren't too many people and cars clogging the roads and trails.
One of my relatives lives in Billings, MT and the same is true of the housing costs there.
In my area, we aren't seeing as many homeless. I mentioned this to my son and asked about his area, next county over. He said a lot of the homeless died during covid. There is never enough room at the shelters in FW.

 

[Sourdough]

God, I thank thee for parking my unworthy asss in Majestic Alaska the last 56 years.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Thousands of areas? Think how bad it has to be elsewhere for someone to choose a car in a Bozeman winter... People aren't making that choice from stupidity, even stupid people know they can freeze. Has to be other reasons.

At least. It easy for anyone now days to look up the housing costs, the climate and demographics of every city in the country.

 

[montanabill]

Bozeman Mt is just north of Big Sky montana the resort ski town where the private developments have vacation houses of the likes of bill gates et all. Fees of like a million dollars to be able to live there occasionally and build your mountain mansion...
Bozeman also has good paying jobs so the economic engine employs people and the fringes of all that going on provides some scraps for other people to live on.
The county and state governments (run by the rich folks) want cheap labor for jobs so they tend to overlook campers till the citizens that have to interact with them complain too much..
Yellowstone park has some limits on entry but that is because there isn't anymore room for people to drive or park....they have plenty of business. They also hire a lot of younger folks from europe and other unlikely places to work the summers. I had a great chat with a young guy from turkey working in a cafe for the summer. The park concessioner has some dorm style living for the workers. Some of the motels in the area provide housing for their basic workers.
As far as living in the cold, you can buy a lot of propane for the$1500 rent on a crappy studio apt.
https://www.amazon.com/Heater-MH9BX...&qid=1732601497&sprefix=buddy+,aps,194&sr=8-5
https://www.amazon.com/Propane-Adap...732601497&sprefix=buddy+,aps,194&sr=8-39&th=1
https://www.amazon.com/VEVOR-8KW-Di...INHOUSE_INSTALLMENTS:US_IHI_3M_HARDLINES&th=1

 

[viking]

My daughter is looking at a 4 bed/2 bath home in central California, on 3½ acres, for $550k. This house would be $2m, just for the land. They pay $3k a month rent by us, and is not sustainable.

I just can't see homeless in Montana living in a car, with the frigid temperatures up there.

They do it here, just not as cold but it still can't be comfortable. I've slept out in the open on the ground at 13,000+ feet elevation in Colorado, woke up covered with a coating of frost on the sleeping bag, I certainly would not want to do that on a daily basis, but people living in untenable situations do and some freeze to death in the process. I know someone that lives in Bozeman and they said people are living in vehicles due to rent being so unaffordable, we gave a 1989 Ford Windstar to a friends son and he and his brother sleep in it, they have a bit of fuel to warm the vehicle once and awhile. Sad situation, that people have to do that.

 

[Morgan101]

Don't these people have enough brains to at least check out the housing costs before moving to an area? I don't have much sympathy for people like that.

Apparently not. I totally agree with you.

 

[Pearl]

It's a choice!! There are jobs there, some people feel they don't have to work. They could take a job, save a little and drive to a better, warmer area! Or better yet, they could take pipeline work, make money and actually own something!! After I graduated HS at 17, I moved into the barn apartment at the horse farm I worked on! I was excited! I got to work full time and had my own place! I had great parents and they always provided a great home! But what a great feeling to be doing life on my own! I don't know what's wrong with people now a days!!?!

 

[old tex]

Housing shortages are generally the results of something, not the problem. Generally the problem is building restrictions & building codes. For example, they will have large areas that apartment buildings can not be built in. Apartments can house a lot more people in a smaller area. Add to that insanely over complicated building codes that drive the cost of building anything thru the roof.

An example that comes to mind was Elon Musk. He came to Austin & built a plant there & from start to finish took about 18 months. He said that had he wanted to build it in CA he couldn't have even gotten the paperwork done to build in 18 months.

We complain about housing shortages while at the same time our local governments are causing housing shortages.