Whitefish,
MT : Travel Guide.gif)
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| Downtown
Whitefish, Montana |
Whitefish
is one of the fastest growing cities in Montana and is,
at least in my own opinion, still one of the nicest.
Whitefish itself is quite small – with just a couple
of blocks making up the downtown. The winter population of
Whitefish hangs around 6500 people or so. However, during
the summer, the population of Whitefish soars – aided
by the mass influx of tourists and people who have built
fancy “trophy homes” in various places around
town.
The
explosive growth in Whitefish, indeed the Flathead Valley
itself, has been fueled by its very scenic setting and close
proximity to Glacier
National Park. And, if this wasn’t
enough, Whitefish itself plays host to the second largest
ski area in Montana – the Big
Mountain. Until recently,
Big Mountain was a pretty relaxed and subdued ski area. But,
changes over the years have converted this once local ski
area into a destination ski resort (with emphasis on RESORT) – bringing
in new people from all over the place (read a Review
of Big Mountain).
For
better or worse, Whitefish seems destined to become the
next big “destination” spot for tourists
in Montana, trailing behind such places as Big Sky and West
Yellowstone. While Whitefish has always attracted tourists
due to its scenic location at the base of Big Mountain and
its proximity to Glacier National Park, only recently has
a flood of people began to arrive in town.
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| Depot
Park in Whitefish, MT |
This flood of new people, all of whom brought a boat load
of out-state money to town with them, has dramatically changed
Whitefish. The changes to Whitefish are all not necessarily
bad, although undoubtedly many long-time locals are less
than pleased about it.
On the
negative side of the changes, the cost of living in Whitefish
has soared with this mass influx of people.
Lots of new housing is being built in Whitefish. Unfortunately,
virtually all of it is of the “trophy home” type
of housing. Very little housing is built that is like actually
affordable. Due to this boom in large luxury homes, the cost
of even run-down cabins has been soaring as well. As such,
for someone on limited means (like the people who actually
live and work in Whitefish), Whitefish presents a rather
challenging place to find affordable housing. Although, that
said, it has a long way to go before matching Big Sky or
other ski resort towns in the United States (like Vail or
Aspen).
Yet,
like all changes, much of what has transpired in this once
relatively sleepy town have been for the good. Much
of the credit for these changes can be laid on the shoulders
of the downtown business people and the City Council – who
actually did something unique in the US today by doing some
planning on how to manage the growth. The City Council also
initiated a resort tax (current at 2%). This Whitefish resort
tax, which is of course meant to pick the pockets of the
tourists passing through (as it taxes food, hotel rooms and
other touristy things) has been plowed back into the town
in the form of new and greatly improved roads, new and expanded
parks and reduced property taxes for homeowners.
As such,
Whitefish has avoided some of the pitfalls that have plagued
many other booming resort towns. Although traffic
can be intense at times (a bypass around town is LONG overdue),
by and large, a trip into Whitefish is generally pleasant,
always scenic and usually enjoyed. And, while costs (such
as food and gas) in Whitefish are higher than is found just
down the road in Kalispell, the costs are not really that
much higher – and nothing like is found in most resort
towns.
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