Montana towns afraid of ‘Aspen-ization’

WHITEFISH, Mont. – Across the West, the mantra in new resort areas is this: "We don’t want to be like Aspen, Vail or Jackson Hole." And with this statement of disdain usually comes the professed belief that somehow, it’s possible to take some other road.

So make what you will of a report by Bloomberg News about new hotspots in Montana. The rush is on by the high-tech nouveau rich to these pretty mountain valleys, says Bloomberg.

The poster child is the Whitefish-Kalispell area. Riveting mountains in the background, proximity to Flathead Lake, and oodles of golf courses are just the beginning of the amenities. It also has a ski area, Big Mountain, and is near Glacier National Park.

Another hotspot is the Bitterroot Valley, south of Missoula. There, West Spiker, the spokesman for a members-only resort, says Montanans are "afraid to death that little towns are going to become like Aspen or Vail, where the billionaires chase out the millionaires, and employees have to live 45 to 50 miles away to drive to work."

But, he adds, it "won’t ever happen, because people come to Montana for what Montana is. They don’t want to change it."

Maybe not, but their money will.

By: Allen Best

http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20051004/NEWS/110040035