Guest Editorial: Evolution, Not Expansion

This is in regard to the Whitehall Master Plan meeting, which was held October 6, 2021.

I am by no means a politician or even much of a reporter, but I’ll be honest, I really didn’t take much home from said meeting. However, as the meeting progressed, one thing I did notice was talk about growing our community. Exactly what that growth should look like is the real question! The question asked by Downey, as mentioned in the article: “Do we want to become Bozeman? No. But do we want to grow? Probably, but to what extent?” is the gist of my own follow-up comment. I believe most, if not all of the residents of our quiet little community, would like to see more of an evolutionary growth, rather than expansion like Bozeman, Belgrade and other cities have experienced.

By evolutionary growth, I simply mean I would like to see us grow what we already have. It is clear to me that this area has plenty of natural resources, including the wonderful human beings who make this town what it is, as well as in the surrounding areas.

The question is why aren’t we growing? This might seem to be almost a moot point, a useless question, but let me proffer this point to consider: maybe we’re trying too hard, too fast! This is not the big city that some people in this town seem to think it is, or should be. I myself have fondly termed Whitehall as Po’dunk, MT. This is small-town Montana! That’s the way we like it and hopefully, that’s the way it will stay for the foreseeable future! Now, should we grow? Is there room to grow? The answer to both these questions is a resounding YES!

But then another question: HOW should we grow? Should we, by whatever means, try to get more people to move here? More people equals more revenue, right?! Well, maybe... but it also, without doubt, means more problems and issues. I’m not just talking about new neighbors, either, who might take issue with the way we do things ‘round heah. Not to mention bringing their own peculiar baggage with them. I’m not saying we shouldn’t try to attract more people to move here, for not all expansion is a bad thing. The main problem, is that if our foundation is not strong, the bigger we grow, the harder we fall!

So, how do we grow without the danger of falling? We grow ourselves first within our own community, then build upon that stronger foundation/ This will alleviate some of that falling danger. This is not going to be painless, self-examination and growth never is. But, for years down the road and the future of our community, it will be worth it!

No offense, Bozeman, but I’m pretty sure most of us are glad we don’t live with you. I might go as far as say many of us would rather not even visit you if we don’t have too. That may be a bit harsh, but who in their right mind actually enjoys the traffic over there?!

How many Bozemanites hark fondly back to the good ole days before Bozeman got so crowded? How many have left Bozeman behind, because it got too crowded? I could go on and on, but I think you get my point. Most of us don’t want to become Bozeman: we like our little town and we live here BECAUSE it is little!

Do we need better or more infrastructure? Yes, that would probably be a good place to start. For all intents and purposes, that might be the best we can do right now. Change is never easy. Right now, if you ask me, infrastructure is what we need most. We need places for visitors to stay before we create bigger events and bring in more people. We need quality water without health warnings. Etc. Etc.

There is an old saying, attributed to Albert Einstein I believe, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” There’s no use arguing over who spilled the milk, let’s just clean up the mess! Let’s work on ourselves and growing what we already have, because we have a lot, then we can talk about expanding our community.

Charles Haddon Shank

Whitehall, Montana