I love the sound of that: I'm on deadline. I'm on deadline! Everybody kind of stands back and goes, "Oh, sorry, I didn't realize you're on deadline. Clearly you're an important person doing important things. I'll just meekly stand over in the corner. I won't bother you. You do your work."
It's kinda like, "Back off man, I'm a Ghostbuster!" Or, better yet, "Back off man, I'm a Ghostbuster AND I'm on deadline!" Wow. Imagine the power.
Okay, gotta go. I'm on deadline.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Rail Bike - It works!
Yes, the rail bike worked! Here's its first trial run.
Pretty hot, huh? My friend Sam took the footage; that's his daughter Olivia. Of course, at the end of that run the tracks disappeared, the front strut device dropped, I ran over it with my front wheel, and broke one of the maple sections. So it was back to the shop.
I braced the broken maple, made a few modifications, and took it back out later in the afternoon. Again a great trial run! But turning around and coming back, the front device dropped in a gap in the tracks, and that was all she wrote. Both wooden struts were demolished, as well as two of the three wooden discs that hold up the outrigger wheels.
I'm psyched, though. Hopefully I'll get this back on track (ha ha) by tomorrow.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Peak-a-boo
Nice peak, huh? Looks like it'd be pretty fun to climb, right? Craig and I were going to ski the Banana Couloir, which sounded pretty appealing (get it?), but we ran out of time. But we made it to the pass, so that's pretty good. Here's some pics:
Ready for liftoff
The railbike is ready! Trial run is scheduled for tomorrow. Wish me godspeed. Please.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Goodbye, Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut has died, and the most fitting tribute I could think of was to watch my old video copy of Rodney Dangerfield's "Back to School." Vonnegut plays himself in the movie; it's just a tiny part, but it's classic: Dangerfield's character hires Vonnegut to write a book report... on Kurt Vonnegut. The report gets an F. They cuss each other out over the phone. Hilarity and hijinks!
So it goes, so it goes, so it goes. I imagine playing that part was a nice moment in Vonnegut's life, one in which he could poke fun at himself and his improbable life as a revered writer. He was my favorite way back when, and still is one of my favorites. I remember defending him to a friend who claimed he was a hack... but no. He wrote in a style that was similar to the style of children's books, but he used that to illustrate the technological highs and human lows of our lives. My bookshelf still proudly displays all his books. Naturally, he was an influence on me, both as a writer and for his insights into life. There never was anyone like him. I hope he'll be remembered as one of the best.
So it goes, so it goes, so it goes. I imagine playing that part was a nice moment in Vonnegut's life, one in which he could poke fun at himself and his improbable life as a revered writer. He was my favorite way back when, and still is one of my favorites. I remember defending him to a friend who claimed he was a hack... but no. He wrote in a style that was similar to the style of children's books, but he used that to illustrate the technological highs and human lows of our lives. My bookshelf still proudly displays all his books. Naturally, he was an influence on me, both as a writer and for his insights into life. There never was anyone like him. I hope he'll be remembered as one of the best.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Flat Stanley Goes to Bridger
Flat Stanley is this kid who was smushed by a bulletin board, and he wanted to go on a trip so his family folded him up and mailed him places.
Which sounds rather abusive. I received Flat Stanley in the mail from my 7-year-old nephew James, although I don't know how James got him. Found him on the street, squeaking for help? Anyway, James sent him to me to have some adventures with, and that's something we're never short of around here.
Housemate Ross and I decided to head up to Bridger Bowl today for the last official day of the ski season - and why not take ol' Flat Stanley with us? He seems like a good sport. Probably not dressed properly with the tie and all, but hey, no one up there really cares.
So away we go! Might as well pose at the entrance sign:
And, of course, if you're going to ski, you're going to need a lift ticket. We don't want any embarrassing incidents! Fortunately, I work at Bridger Bowl, and I'm entitled to a few freebie passes for my friends. Kitchen manager Tina was more than happy to help us out with a voucher...
...and then ticket-man Jeff got us all set up:
Not only did we get an all-day lift ticket, we got Stanley a Bridger Bowl tattoo for his leg. That should loosen him up a bit! The lift line ticket puncher couldn't help but admire it:
And then we were off. I'm not sure if Flat Stanley has ever ridden on a chairlift before, but Ross and I didn't hear any complaints from him:
We put Flat Stanley in Ross' backpack for safekeeping. After all, we were headed to the steep and dangerous "Fingers" area, and Flat Stanley doesn't need to be any flatter.
At Bridger Bowl, the chairlifts don't go all the way to the top of the mountain, so if you want some really nice, steep, untracked powder, you're going to have to carry your skis to the top. Ross was nice enough to carry ol' Flat Stanley, too:
And then it's go, Flat Stanley, go!
Flat Stanley made several runs on the mountain... and he even made a bunch of new friends!
Ah, yes, after a hard day on the slopes, there's nothing like a nice, frosty apres-ski beverage. Yum! It looks like Flat Stanley's getting the hang of life out here after all.
Easter Skinday on Mt. Ellis
Here is a picture of my backyard. Why show a picture of my backyard? Certainly there's no adventure to be had back there (excluding Ross' trampoline, that is).
Ah, but look closer, dear readers. Off in the distance, directly over the birdbath, Mt. Ellis hovers over our fair city. And you know what? I've never climbed it all the way to the top. Yep, that thing's been tapping me on the shoulder for years, but I've only managed to make it up to its lower summit twice.
It's not like it's inaccessible or hard to climb or anything. Quite the contrary - backcountry skiers regularly ascend its southeastern flank to ski down fluffy, untracked powder. So, this past Easter Sunday, that's exactly what my housemate Ross and I planned to do.
For such an undertaking, one needs very specialized backcountry ski gear: skis with bindings that release at the heels for uphill travel, and adhesive skins to affix to the bottoms for uphill traction. Of course, once you're all decked out with the requisite gear, it's also kind of nice to have some snow. Since it is, after all, April, there were a few patches at the lower elevations that could have used some sprucing up. Here I demonstrate how to cross a creek when you're too lazy to take off your skis. Note the brightly colored outfit - yet another benefit of buying gear in thrift stores!
It took Ross and me two and a half hours to reach the ridge between lower and upper Mt. Ellis. Well, it took me two and a half hours; Ross spends his summers on a Hotshot crew fighting forest fires in the summers, and he's like bionic or something. Fortunately, he doesn't seem to mind waiting, which he was doing patiently by the time I huffed and puffed my way up the steep skintrack to the ridge.
(Note: If you look carefully past Ross' head, you can make out Mt. Black, which Craig and I climbed two weeks earlier.)
From the ridge it was an easy skin up to the 8,331 foot summit. What a beautiful day! But we couldn't stand around like a bunch of tourons drinking in the view; Easter dinner was scheduled for 5, and we were hungry. So down we went.
Of course, it wouldn't be a Ray outing without at least a little bit of adventure, so it was pretty much mandatory for us to get stuck in a bunch of impassable trees for a while, having to clambor out of deep snow just to get going in the right direction. But that didn't last for long; most of the run was mercifully aided by the laws of gravity, with enough long, open runouts to keep us happy. Of course, the snow was deep and warm and heavy and a bit unmanageable. Really, it was a bit of a struggle to turn in, but hey, I was just happy to be there. We made it home at five o'clock on the dot, got our fill of Easter vittles, and then (with about four glasses of wine in me) I made my counterclockwise circumnavigation of Mr. Boulder (see below). Then I went to bed, with every bone in my body aching.
The State of Bozeman's Real Estate
(The following article was the cover story in the April issue of Bozeman's Tributary magazine.)
by Ray Sikorski
Home-seekers Bill and Margot Zell aren't asking for much: something in walking distance to Bozeman's Main Street, not too decrepit, with at least two bedrooms – three would be great – and a nice, tree-filled yard for their two-year-old to play in. The ideal home would incorporate at least one rental unit, so they could have some income to help offset the mortgage. The Zells would also like to spend less than $300,000.
So far, they haven't come up with much.
“It's a little discouraging right now,” said Margot Zell. Currently the family is living in the two-bedroom basement of their Montana Whitewater rafting business in Gallatin Canyon, which Zell admits is getting a bit cramped. They've looked at about a dozen homes, but haven't found anything that fits the bill. The the nicer in-town houses have had “For Sale” signs with $400,000-plus price tags on them for months, but so far there's been no indication that owners are interested in lowering their prices. And the lower-priced in-town homes?
“What we're looking at is 400 houses that need to be renovated,” Zell said, referring to some of the prospects as “falling apart and manky and disgusting.”
“The sellers are acting like they don't even have to sweep the floor,” she said. “They're still hoping for the old days when they don't have to do anything.”
She was referring to the heady days of 2004-5, when a house listing sparked instant interest, with potential buyers lining up to outbid each other on the asking price.
She admits that she and her husband may be a bit picky. Despite lower prices in the now-sprawling suburbs, the Zells are adamant about moving into either the south or north side of old Bozeman, for its small-town, walkable feel, and where many of their friends live.
“But maybe we can't afford that, and have to buy a big Yukon and drive around all day,” Zell said.
For now, the Zells are willing to wait it out, hoping for prices to go down a bit.
“I need to feel that feeling,” Zell said. “I need to get that chemistry. For the amount that people are asking, I need to love it.”
***
Realtor Jaclyn Katz doesn't pussyfoot around the facts of the local housing market.
“When even local people tell me, 'Oh, I was born and raised in Bozeman and I can't afford to live here,' I tell them, 'Look, I'm a great realtor, I can do a better job for you than anybody else, but I don't have a magic wand. You are competing with people who have a lot more money than you do.'”
Katz explained that Bozeman, with its outdoors-based lifestyle, has simply become an extremely desirable place to live, and is still a bargain for many who come from other parts of the country, particularly retirees.
“A bungalow they bought 40 years ago is now worth so much money, they can now come here and write a check for anything and it doesn't seem expensive to them. But the person who's moving from anywhere else in Montana, or Idaho, or Washington State, wants to tell me why they have to have land and why they have to be within 20 minutes of Bozeman, but they can't go over 300.”
Katz suggested that potential home buyers need to adjust their expectations, and consider buying a condo or townhouse or living in Belgrade instead of insisting on their dream home.
“You wouldn't believe how many people I talk to who refuse to compromise. They want everything.”
And buyers aren't the only stubborn ones, Katz said. She agreed with the Zells that many sellers are still living in the roarin' 2000s.
“It's too much testosterone in pricing,” she said. “Because they've got it all in their head that they couldn't possibly live with themselves if they didn't make a profit. If you want to sell it at 2004 prices, then sell it in 2004.” She said that sellers are being greedy, and so are buyers.
“Buyers think they've got it to where they want to low ball everybody. So we're not getting anybody together.” The result, she said, is an overall slowdown in home sales.
She added that the desire for land has been driving prices up around the valley for years, and despite a nationwide decline in real estate, she doesn't expect prices on more modest homes to go down anytime soon.
“Bozeman is not like the rest of the country,” she said.
“If you are tied in to anything below 200 or below 215, there's nothing on the market, or almost nothing, and it's not a buyer's market. And a lot of buyers are under the misconception that they should keep looking and looking and looking because the prices are gonna go down, and I don't think that's gonna happen in that range of property, and the interest rates are probably gonna go up,” she said, adding that in the higher range there are a glut of new homes. She explained that builders prefer building bigger, more expensive spec homes to get a larger return on the price of land and other expenses.
“Nobody's building anything affordable,” she said.
Of course, “affordable” isn't what it used to be. Katz explained that when she moved to Bozeman from New Orleans in 1994, “affordable” was anything below $100,000... and long-time residents complained that 20 years earlier “affordable” was around $25,000.
“What's 'affordable' today is well over 200,” she said.
***
Gallatin Association of Realtors president Tricia Bailey said the median price of a single family home without acreage is $285,750... and that now is a great time to buy a home.
“It's gotten a lot better for buyers in Bozeman in the last six months,” she said, explaining that there's plenty of homes on the market. She said that currently there are 116 homes – mostly condos – under $175,000 in Bozeman; of those, 85 percent are brand new. Plus, interest rates are still below 6 1/2 percent, she said.
“It's still a great rate,” Bailey said, adding that while home prices may not be noticeably coming down, they're not going up, either.
Of course, those prices still remain out of reach for many people who work in Bozeman, where wages haven't increased at anywhere near the rate that home prices have. It's with that in mind that the Gallatin Association of Realtors read a letter of support for a draft of the Workforce Housing Agreement that's being hammered out by a coalition of home buyers, realtors, builders, lenders, and low-income advocates.
Jennifer Olson, a lender with First Horizon Home Loans and a member of the Workforce Housing Task Force, said the idea of the agreement is that everybody involved will have to give a little, for the ultimate benefit of the community. She said that when the original draft of the ordinance came out, the burden was overwhelmingly placed on the developers. “I totally didn't agree with it,” she said. The new version fixes that, she said.
“We've asked developers, builders, parks and rec, lenders, realtors, landscapers... even the taxpayers are going to have to give some,” Olson said, explaining the agreement makes it possible to sell lots to builders at cost so they can build affordable homes.
The agreement aims to help people who make 80 to 100 percent of the area's median income buy a home. These are the teachers, civil servants, police officers, and firefighters; Olson said that assuring that these workers are able to live in the city in which they work is integral to concept of community. Without that possibility, “You're good enough to save my home and my family, but you're not good enough to live here,” is the message they would receive, Olson said.
“It's good for the city of Bozeman,” Olson said. “It's the right thing to do.”
Former mayor and city commissioner Marcia Youngman first started addressing Bozeman's housing situation as long ago as 1980. Also a member of the task force, Youngman said that despite an initial “sense of doom,” she was amazed that the disparate group was able to reach consensus on the agreement. She said that there are a number of builders who have been interested in building affordable housing, but due to the high cost of land haven't been able to do so without taking a loss.
“Now they will be able to do it and still make a living,” she said.
Youngman expressed optimism for the agreement's outcome with the city commission; hearings are expected to take place in either April or May. She said that all city commissioners have shown support for the basic concepts of the ordinance, which could go into effect as early as July 1.
Human Resources Development Council president and city commissioner Jeff Rupp said he expected the city commission to tweak the agreement a little bit, particularly in the controversial area regarding city park land, before it passes.
“I think it's good that we're now talking just about how we're doing it, rather than whether we're doing it,” he said. “And I think that's a monumental step forward.”
Rupp said that despite progress on the ordinance, helping provide housing for families that make $50,000 to $60,000 a year still ignores a significant swath of Bozeman's workforce.
“That does not get down to what the need is,” he said. “People who make $10 an hour in our town, $20,000, $30,000 a year should have a chance to own their own home. A condo. Something that builds wealth.”
He said he'd like to make appreciation and equity available to as many people as he can.
“For every action there's a reaction. For everybody who's speculating and flipping homes and making a living on the fact that our homes are appreciating at 15 to 18 percent a year for several years, there's a downside to it.”
***
So, can the average person afford to live in Bozeman?
“I think it's possible, you just have to be a little bit more creative sometimes,” said Tracey Menuez, who hosts home buyer education and counseling as HRDC's Community Development Associate.
“The idea that someone who's making $20,000 a year is just going to go and buy a home in Bozeman... it's just not an idea that's going to happen,” she said. However, she added, if you connect that person with down payment assistance programs, matched savings account programs, the Montana Board of Housing lower interest program; if you ask if they can bring in a roommate, or get help from their parents, maybe they have a shot.
“You just have to be more creative, and add more pieces to the puzzle.”
HRDC's Home Ownership Education Program and individual counseling attempts to realistically address home seekers' needs, Menuez said.
“They all know they're going to give up something,” she said. “I don't ever have somebody who comes in here – sometimes maybe for the first appointment, but definitely not for the second appointment – do they come in here and think, Okay, I'm getting a house, on an acre, in Bozeman... they know that's not happening.”
Instead, Menuez attempts to figure out what programs home seekers might qualify for, and what their monthly payments might be.
“Sometimes we're the bearers of bad news. We sit down and say, 'You know, you really can't afford this loan.'”
A private non-profit that receives its funding from federal and state grants as well as private sources, Menuez said that HRDC's Home Ownership Center was able to help lower-income families when it started the program in 2003, but now it’s using the same amount of money to help higher-income families. She said the last five loans she worked on were for people in professional positions or very high in the service industry.
“They're not just starting out at six dollars an hour,” she said.
Menuez said that while Bozeman lagged behind cities such as Missoula, Billings, and Great Falls in gaining federal funds for housing assistance, the city has gained ground in using big box funds and affordable housing mills to help people buy homes.
“The city of Bozeman has contributed $230,000 to date, mostly for down payment assistance,” she said.
***
“We had hoped to have a house with some property,” said Alexandra Divis, who moved into a three bedroom, two bath condo off Durston Street on the city’s west side in December. “We waited too long. I feel we got the next best thing.”
Divis, a retail clerk, and her husband, who works in video production, moved to Bozeman in July from Orlando, Florida, where they lived in a house with a swimming pool and “the whole nine yards.” Divis said the couple is not rich.
“We could probably afford a house in Bozeman, but there'd be nothing else,” she said. “It would stretch us to the max.”
She said she's concerned Bozeman will go the way of Santa Fe and Jackson Hole, where prices have spiraled well beyond the reach of the average worker.
“I've seen it happen in California, I've seen it happen in Florida,” she said. “A lot of people discover it, and prices go up. I don't know if that will happen here. I think it could.” She added that she hopes Bozeman doesn't become so densely built-up that it takes away from her reason for moving here.
Despite not landing the home of her dreams, Divis is happy with her condo.
“Literally, I can look out my kitchen window and see the Bridgers. You can't get that with some houses. It's out there, you have to look for it,” she said.
by Ray Sikorski
Home-seekers Bill and Margot Zell aren't asking for much: something in walking distance to Bozeman's Main Street, not too decrepit, with at least two bedrooms – three would be great – and a nice, tree-filled yard for their two-year-old to play in. The ideal home would incorporate at least one rental unit, so they could have some income to help offset the mortgage. The Zells would also like to spend less than $300,000.
So far, they haven't come up with much.
“It's a little discouraging right now,” said Margot Zell. Currently the family is living in the two-bedroom basement of their Montana Whitewater rafting business in Gallatin Canyon, which Zell admits is getting a bit cramped. They've looked at about a dozen homes, but haven't found anything that fits the bill. The the nicer in-town houses have had “For Sale” signs with $400,000-plus price tags on them for months, but so far there's been no indication that owners are interested in lowering their prices. And the lower-priced in-town homes?
“What we're looking at is 400 houses that need to be renovated,” Zell said, referring to some of the prospects as “falling apart and manky and disgusting.”
“The sellers are acting like they don't even have to sweep the floor,” she said. “They're still hoping for the old days when they don't have to do anything.”
She was referring to the heady days of 2004-5, when a house listing sparked instant interest, with potential buyers lining up to outbid each other on the asking price.
She admits that she and her husband may be a bit picky. Despite lower prices in the now-sprawling suburbs, the Zells are adamant about moving into either the south or north side of old Bozeman, for its small-town, walkable feel, and where many of their friends live.
“But maybe we can't afford that, and have to buy a big Yukon and drive around all day,” Zell said.
For now, the Zells are willing to wait it out, hoping for prices to go down a bit.
“I need to feel that feeling,” Zell said. “I need to get that chemistry. For the amount that people are asking, I need to love it.”
***
Realtor Jaclyn Katz doesn't pussyfoot around the facts of the local housing market.
“When even local people tell me, 'Oh, I was born and raised in Bozeman and I can't afford to live here,' I tell them, 'Look, I'm a great realtor, I can do a better job for you than anybody else, but I don't have a magic wand. You are competing with people who have a lot more money than you do.'”
Katz explained that Bozeman, with its outdoors-based lifestyle, has simply become an extremely desirable place to live, and is still a bargain for many who come from other parts of the country, particularly retirees.
“A bungalow they bought 40 years ago is now worth so much money, they can now come here and write a check for anything and it doesn't seem expensive to them. But the person who's moving from anywhere else in Montana, or Idaho, or Washington State, wants to tell me why they have to have land and why they have to be within 20 minutes of Bozeman, but they can't go over 300.”
Katz suggested that potential home buyers need to adjust their expectations, and consider buying a condo or townhouse or living in Belgrade instead of insisting on their dream home.
“You wouldn't believe how many people I talk to who refuse to compromise. They want everything.”
And buyers aren't the only stubborn ones, Katz said. She agreed with the Zells that many sellers are still living in the roarin' 2000s.
“It's too much testosterone in pricing,” she said. “Because they've got it all in their head that they couldn't possibly live with themselves if they didn't make a profit. If you want to sell it at 2004 prices, then sell it in 2004.” She said that sellers are being greedy, and so are buyers.
“Buyers think they've got it to where they want to low ball everybody. So we're not getting anybody together.” The result, she said, is an overall slowdown in home sales.
She added that the desire for land has been driving prices up around the valley for years, and despite a nationwide decline in real estate, she doesn't expect prices on more modest homes to go down anytime soon.
“Bozeman is not like the rest of the country,” she said.
“If you are tied in to anything below 200 or below 215, there's nothing on the market, or almost nothing, and it's not a buyer's market. And a lot of buyers are under the misconception that they should keep looking and looking and looking because the prices are gonna go down, and I don't think that's gonna happen in that range of property, and the interest rates are probably gonna go up,” she said, adding that in the higher range there are a glut of new homes. She explained that builders prefer building bigger, more expensive spec homes to get a larger return on the price of land and other expenses.
“Nobody's building anything affordable,” she said.
Of course, “affordable” isn't what it used to be. Katz explained that when she moved to Bozeman from New Orleans in 1994, “affordable” was anything below $100,000... and long-time residents complained that 20 years earlier “affordable” was around $25,000.
“What's 'affordable' today is well over 200,” she said.
***
Gallatin Association of Realtors president Tricia Bailey said the median price of a single family home without acreage is $285,750... and that now is a great time to buy a home.
“It's gotten a lot better for buyers in Bozeman in the last six months,” she said, explaining that there's plenty of homes on the market. She said that currently there are 116 homes – mostly condos – under $175,000 in Bozeman; of those, 85 percent are brand new. Plus, interest rates are still below 6 1/2 percent, she said.
“It's still a great rate,” Bailey said, adding that while home prices may not be noticeably coming down, they're not going up, either.
Of course, those prices still remain out of reach for many people who work in Bozeman, where wages haven't increased at anywhere near the rate that home prices have. It's with that in mind that the Gallatin Association of Realtors read a letter of support for a draft of the Workforce Housing Agreement that's being hammered out by a coalition of home buyers, realtors, builders, lenders, and low-income advocates.
Jennifer Olson, a lender with First Horizon Home Loans and a member of the Workforce Housing Task Force, said the idea of the agreement is that everybody involved will have to give a little, for the ultimate benefit of the community. She said that when the original draft of the ordinance came out, the burden was overwhelmingly placed on the developers. “I totally didn't agree with it,” she said. The new version fixes that, she said.
“We've asked developers, builders, parks and rec, lenders, realtors, landscapers... even the taxpayers are going to have to give some,” Olson said, explaining the agreement makes it possible to sell lots to builders at cost so they can build affordable homes.
The agreement aims to help people who make 80 to 100 percent of the area's median income buy a home. These are the teachers, civil servants, police officers, and firefighters; Olson said that assuring that these workers are able to live in the city in which they work is integral to concept of community. Without that possibility, “You're good enough to save my home and my family, but you're not good enough to live here,” is the message they would receive, Olson said.
“It's good for the city of Bozeman,” Olson said. “It's the right thing to do.”
Former mayor and city commissioner Marcia Youngman first started addressing Bozeman's housing situation as long ago as 1980. Also a member of the task force, Youngman said that despite an initial “sense of doom,” she was amazed that the disparate group was able to reach consensus on the agreement. She said that there are a number of builders who have been interested in building affordable housing, but due to the high cost of land haven't been able to do so without taking a loss.
“Now they will be able to do it and still make a living,” she said.
Youngman expressed optimism for the agreement's outcome with the city commission; hearings are expected to take place in either April or May. She said that all city commissioners have shown support for the basic concepts of the ordinance, which could go into effect as early as July 1.
Human Resources Development Council president and city commissioner Jeff Rupp said he expected the city commission to tweak the agreement a little bit, particularly in the controversial area regarding city park land, before it passes.
“I think it's good that we're now talking just about how we're doing it, rather than whether we're doing it,” he said. “And I think that's a monumental step forward.”
Rupp said that despite progress on the ordinance, helping provide housing for families that make $50,000 to $60,000 a year still ignores a significant swath of Bozeman's workforce.
“That does not get down to what the need is,” he said. “People who make $10 an hour in our town, $20,000, $30,000 a year should have a chance to own their own home. A condo. Something that builds wealth.”
He said he'd like to make appreciation and equity available to as many people as he can.
“For every action there's a reaction. For everybody who's speculating and flipping homes and making a living on the fact that our homes are appreciating at 15 to 18 percent a year for several years, there's a downside to it.”
***
So, can the average person afford to live in Bozeman?
“I think it's possible, you just have to be a little bit more creative sometimes,” said Tracey Menuez, who hosts home buyer education and counseling as HRDC's Community Development Associate.
“The idea that someone who's making $20,000 a year is just going to go and buy a home in Bozeman... it's just not an idea that's going to happen,” she said. However, she added, if you connect that person with down payment assistance programs, matched savings account programs, the Montana Board of Housing lower interest program; if you ask if they can bring in a roommate, or get help from their parents, maybe they have a shot.
“You just have to be more creative, and add more pieces to the puzzle.”
HRDC's Home Ownership Education Program and individual counseling attempts to realistically address home seekers' needs, Menuez said.
“They all know they're going to give up something,” she said. “I don't ever have somebody who comes in here – sometimes maybe for the first appointment, but definitely not for the second appointment – do they come in here and think, Okay, I'm getting a house, on an acre, in Bozeman... they know that's not happening.”
Instead, Menuez attempts to figure out what programs home seekers might qualify for, and what their monthly payments might be.
“Sometimes we're the bearers of bad news. We sit down and say, 'You know, you really can't afford this loan.'”
A private non-profit that receives its funding from federal and state grants as well as private sources, Menuez said that HRDC's Home Ownership Center was able to help lower-income families when it started the program in 2003, but now it’s using the same amount of money to help higher-income families. She said the last five loans she worked on were for people in professional positions or very high in the service industry.
“They're not just starting out at six dollars an hour,” she said.
Menuez said that while Bozeman lagged behind cities such as Missoula, Billings, and Great Falls in gaining federal funds for housing assistance, the city has gained ground in using big box funds and affordable housing mills to help people buy homes.
“The city of Bozeman has contributed $230,000 to date, mostly for down payment assistance,” she said.
***
“We had hoped to have a house with some property,” said Alexandra Divis, who moved into a three bedroom, two bath condo off Durston Street on the city’s west side in December. “We waited too long. I feel we got the next best thing.”
Divis, a retail clerk, and her husband, who works in video production, moved to Bozeman in July from Orlando, Florida, where they lived in a house with a swimming pool and “the whole nine yards.” Divis said the couple is not rich.
“We could probably afford a house in Bozeman, but there'd be nothing else,” she said. “It would stretch us to the max.”
She said she's concerned Bozeman will go the way of Santa Fe and Jackson Hole, where prices have spiraled well beyond the reach of the average worker.
“I've seen it happen in California, I've seen it happen in Florida,” she said. “A lot of people discover it, and prices go up. I don't know if that will happen here. I think it could.” She added that she hopes Bozeman doesn't become so densely built-up that it takes away from her reason for moving here.
Despite not landing the home of her dreams, Divis is happy with her condo.
“Literally, I can look out my kitchen window and see the Bridgers. You can't get that with some houses. It's out there, you have to look for it,” she said.
Meet my climbing buddy: Mr. Boulder
Wow, oh boy do I have a lot of blogging to catch up on. I slack off for a few days, and people are banging on my door, demanding more blogs.
Well, not really. I sense that you're out there, though. The fact is, I've been doing a lot of interesting things lately, and I haven't been writing them down for you, my loyal readers. So I'm going to have to make up for some lost time.
First off, meet Mr. Boulder. Mr. Boulder is not your ordinary rock. First of all, he's fake. Utterly. Why hide it? He was never real to begin with. He was put there for the enjoyment of Bozemanites, and enjoy him we do. Just the other day I was climbing on him, along with about 200 children of varying ages and climbing abilities, along with several nervous parents. The kids seemed to enjoy standing on top and asking me weird child questions when I was huffing through a particularly difficult series of handholds: "Is that hard? Did you buy those shoes just for this? Are you good?"
To answer, yes, it's hard, I bought the shoes to climb, but not just for climbing Mr. Boulder, and... am I good?
Well, I like to think I'm getting better. After all, I just completely circumnavigated Mr. Boulder in a counter-clockwise direction, without touching the top or the bottom. Some large-limbed muscle-bound guy was kind of impressed when I told him that.
Yep, me and Mr. Boulder, showing off our stuff. One of these days maybe even the kids will be impressed.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Fool for thought
Last night (April Fool's Day) several Bozeman writers, myself included, performed the fourth annual "Foolish Words," a story we all conspired to write. Well, not conspired, exactly. Poet Sam Louden started it, he passed it along to the next person, and so on, and so on... Fifteen writers and 8,524 words later, the beast was cooked.
I'd love to show you my entry, but it wouldn't make much sense without the rest of it. Actually, it doesn't make much sense WITH the rest of it... which is sort of the nature of the game. I ran into former Foolish Wordster Paul Groueff today, who said it's liking taking the old axiom "too many cooks spoil the broth" and turning it on its ear. Like, spoiling the broth so incredibly that it's actually kinda interesting.
Instead of posting my part, I'll let you see the whole dang thing. My part is at the very end -- I was once again given the role of anchor-man, in which I had to tie together the myriad twists and turns and characters that everyone else had created.
The thing is full of Bozeman (and Butte) specific jokes that not everyone will get, but that's part of the fun. Really, we do it each year primarily to entertain ourselves... although a few spectators did show up, on their own accord, at the Leaf and Bean coffeehouse. Plus, I'm editing it somehow so that it will once again be published over several issues of the Tributary magazine.
Please also note that during the performance I not only read my own part, I also read the part written by Equinox Theatre director Soren Kisiel, who was unable to make it. Which meant I spent a good deal of the evening faking an Irish accent - and, scarily enough, I think I actually did a halfway decent job. I can jest pull the Blarney out of me arse, I tell ye.
I'd love to show you my entry, but it wouldn't make much sense without the rest of it. Actually, it doesn't make much sense WITH the rest of it... which is sort of the nature of the game. I ran into former Foolish Wordster Paul Groueff today, who said it's liking taking the old axiom "too many cooks spoil the broth" and turning it on its ear. Like, spoiling the broth so incredibly that it's actually kinda interesting.
Instead of posting my part, I'll let you see the whole dang thing. My part is at the very end -- I was once again given the role of anchor-man, in which I had to tie together the myriad twists and turns and characters that everyone else had created.
The thing is full of Bozeman (and Butte) specific jokes that not everyone will get, but that's part of the fun. Really, we do it each year primarily to entertain ourselves... although a few spectators did show up, on their own accord, at the Leaf and Bean coffeehouse. Plus, I'm editing it somehow so that it will once again be published over several issues of the Tributary magazine.
Please also note that during the performance I not only read my own part, I also read the part written by Equinox Theatre director Soren Kisiel, who was unable to make it. Which meant I spent a good deal of the evening faking an Irish accent - and, scarily enough, I think I actually did a halfway decent job. I can jest pull the Blarney out of me arse, I tell ye.
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