We Are Lucky to Live Here!  Let's welcome the 55+ to Gateway Village.

Sunday morning I biked into Bozeman to meet a couple for brunch.  During the 14-mile ride in, several lycra clad male riders easily and silently passed me.  (I passed no one.)  In town three walkers smiled and volunteered, "Aren't we lucky to live here!"  Indeed we are!

Ramona and I normally met the couple I mentioned after church.  While writing this column, she was with friends in Tanzania on a photo safari. We know several Bozeman couples who have made a similar trip with the same outfitter.  After living here for over four decades, I'm not surprised by such traveling.  Bozeman has become a magnet for successful people with interesting lives. 

But even in our valley, often in America's top ten places for everything but scuba diving, problems develop.  Problems of social coordination are inherent to humanity.  Not all options are complementary.  Conflicts involving culture, economy, and power inevitably occur. 

Visions of progress, community, and continuity will differ.  The challenge is to find balance among competing preferences.  Here is an example of community conflict--and a potential resolution.

We live on a ranch near the village of Gallatin Gateway and have long enjoyed and favored the community.  (De Tocqueville too would appreciate its character, especially The Willing Workers Ladies Aid Society.)    Gateway has a fascinating history, one that gives rise to the current controversy.

Shortly after the Civil War, Zachariah Sales built a sawmill on the Gallatin River.   The mill founded a settlement of small house lots, 60' by 100', and the town became Salesville. In 1927 the Milwaukee Railroad built the Gallatin Gateway Inn to host tourists going to Yellowstone Park and in 1928 the unincorporated town became Gallatin Gateway. 

A main highway to Yellowstone ran through Gateway. The town had three gas stations, two grocery stores, a mercantile, a bank, several restaurants, a blacksmith's shop, and supporting smaller businesses. The main street is Mill Street, testifying to its history.

While Butte peaked in 1917 and has been in gradual decline until recently, Gateway's luster lasted longer.  However, the depression of 1929 killed the Inn, the Milwaukee Railroad went bust three times, and U.S. 191 bypassed Mill Street going straight up Gallatin Canyon.  All the "down town" business folded.

Further, Bozeman is but a few easy miles distant.  One can usually drive from Gateway to downtown Bozeman in less than 20 minutes.  Gateway should be an ideal home location for those working in Bozeman.  Except it isn't--and won't be for a while.  Here's why.

Two features are required for modern towns, adequate sewer and safe water.  These are fundamental elements of any modern town.  Today Gateway has neither.  It's tiny lot size, a fact established when Salesville was platted, is more than six per acre.  This prevents safe septic and individual water wells.  This simple fact precludes the successful evolution of a thriving community. 

While it should be an ideal place to move, without sewer and safe water, vacant infill lots can't be developed and businesses can't come in.  The fundamental requirements of public health can't be met until these problems are resolved.  There is no shortage of water; Gateway is on a great aquifer, the safety of which is compromised by antiquated septic tanks on tiny lots. Now to the conflict.

A few years ago an outside investor (way outside) purchased a 54-acre parcel abutting Gateway to the east.  This was a real estate investment.  Although he is surely intelligent with an Ivy degree and a top MBA, he miscalculated on at least two dimensions. 

First, the real estate market turned to his disadvantage.  Perhaps of equal importance, his actions seemed calculated to alienate the locals, a normally friendly and cooperative community.  Note the Gateway Community Center, a fine and well used structure built entirely with volunteered material and labor.

To recoup his investment, the outsider proposed several plans.  First was a development of some 400 plus low-income housing units.  This was widely considered a "man camp", a staging area for the Big Sky development 28 miles up Gallatin Canyon.  A resident of 80+ years described it as a "magnet for migrants". 

Next the stranger, whom some locals came to view as an alien invader, proposed a high-end RV park.  While generating less local opposition than the low-income housing proposal, it too failed.  A combination of distrust, a changed market, and political and administrative impediments precluded success. 

His current plan is a 190-unit trailer park with some unspecified manufactured homes.  Gateway locals fear this will bring shades of the Bakken to a Bozeman community.  Should this occur, at a Community Center meeting several homeowners predicted the consequences, a "Gateway Ghetto".

Locals have no animus toward trailers or manufactured homes.  Many of these have evolved, and that is the right word, in our community.  Modern ones can provide good housing at modest cost.  I happily lived in one while a grad student. Some friends still do. 

Still, the outsider's current plan generates vehement opposition.  Among the reasons, his record is longer.   I've met no one who believes his claim that he is "doing this for the community’s benefit".  They have observed his actions and attempted manipulations.

Here is a possible, mutually beneficial solution to the conflict, one suggested over a Sunday brunch by a physician friend.  Why doesn't the outsider propose an "over 55" development?  This is a proven, normally profitable, concept.  The magazines and websites targeted to people contemplating retirement frequently feature such communities, some with manufactured homes. 

The contested 54 acres is in a great location with spectacular views of the Spanish Peaks, the Bridgers, and the Gallatin Range.  It's 20 minutes from Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport and even closer to Bozeman's attractions.  Walking distance to a famous trout river and many trout creeks and ponds surely is an attraction.   The post office is on an adjacent property.  Farms and ranches, not urban sprawl, surround it.

Further, the over 55 crowd doesn't require a sheriff deputy on duty 24/7/365.  They don't impose demands on the school system.  Their homes add to the local tax base and they have discretionary time to devote to the community.  They will provide the critical mass required for successful businesses and services. 

I've tested this idea with several well-established community members and received positive responses.  While it is a second best solution, keeping the acreage in ag is preferred, an over 55 development might meet the financial goals of the current owner and is likely to meet the approval of locals. 

Finally, the outsider who owns the land consistently claims he has the community interest at heart.  Here is a chance to demonstrate his commitment.  Why not a development designed for the post 55?