The tone of this article also sounded like she was spitting it through clenched teeth, which I found to be incredibly distracting and defeating to the point the author was attempting to make. Was the point small business owners at establishments like Dales are facing troubles because they're fat-cat capitalist Trumpian Covid deniers whose problems aren't valid as such? That's what it sounded like.
I look forward to when we can have conversations about topics like economics without hyperbolic intolerance for outsiders serving an ultimately unproductive narrative that has been driven into the ground.
I live in Missoula. I am a regular customer of Black Cat Bakery and I can see them struggling. In fact most restaurants and breweries I frequent face the same issue, a few employees desperately trying to keep an inundated ship afloat. I will tell you this article largely ignores what everyone who lives here understands is the biggest problem faced by laborers in Missoula at the moment. This city is amid a dire housing shortage, expedited by lack of new construction and a migration of buyers from more lucrative economies. The median home price increased by 57% in the last 10 years, 8.6% in the last year alone to $315k. In the meantime the median family income remains only $46k.
https://missoulian.com/news/local/missoula-housing-prices-se...
It is truly a seller's dream market and as such the availability of rentals has evaporated. You'd be lucky to find a 1 bedroom right now.
My wife and I bought a home here a little over a year ago and were fortunate to find the nut who, "didn't need a realtor, what with craigslist." Before then we had been outbid 5 times previously, during which we offered up to 30k above the asking price. Frankly, we wouldn't live here if we didn't get lucky. Our experiences weren't unique at the time and it has only gotten worse. I regularly hear of houses selling for 50K over listing price to people buying sight-unseen.
Frankly I don't care what the owners of Dales or Black Cat Bakery think about Covid or whether they voted for Trump. I really, sincerely, don't care. I only hope for the best for their business and their employees. I know what it's like to struggle in Missoula, I did for years and I still would be if not for dumb luck and a bit of privilege. The problems people face today are starting to pale in comparison to my own, and a solution is becoming truly urgent. I can only hope people will come to understand if we care about solving these problems, then we have to put down the tribalism and intolerance for those with different views and focus on the matter at hand.
To quote Vince Staples, "Ain't no money in havin' hate in your heart."
> Was the point small business owners at establishments like Dales are facing troubles because they're fat-cat capitalist Trumpian Covid deniers whose problems aren't valid as such?
You still have to understand the workers are also the one who's getting fucked here. The owner of the grill in the article is deliberately worsening working conditions because of his beliefs on Covid, and it's perfectly reasonable that the workers will leave you to get a new job where your boss doesn't spread Covid on you by not wearing masks. I understand businesses are hard right now, but business owners should care a bit about hygiene, it's not something that would cost you a lot.
> This city is amid a dire housing shortage, expedited by lack of new construction and a migration of buyers from more lucrative economies. The median home price increased by 57% in the last 10 years, 8.6% in the last year alone to $315k. In the meantime the median family income remains only $46k.
But I think you've correctly diagnosed the real issue here - skyrocketing housing costs. Everyone suffers from this, both the workers and the small businesses. And it's a shame that the Dems and Reps are making this an "us vs. them" issue. (There's a similar dynamic in my country too, where liberals try to raise the minimum wage a bit, and then the conservatives fiercely oppose it and latch onto small business owners for support. Of course both the establishment liberals and conservatives are totally incompetent at solving skyrocketing housing costs and general economic inequality, yada yada.)
I think the real issue here is not about workers or small businesses, but just plain-old economic inequality - in the sense that the minority rich at the top can invest on housing at their heart's content (numbers seem to always go UP!) but the majority can't afford those prices. So even though the majority at the bottom knows that the price is bullshit, the bubble will not burst unless the rich realizes that those prices are bullshit (And do they really have to realize? They can still afford those investments though! They can stay being delusional and still enjoy all the luxuries they have!) Market price is now not an objective measure of value, but instead becomes a power that real estate investors can collectively impose onto the poor. Ah, communism for the rich, capitalism for the poor...
I live in Missoula. I am a regular customer of Black Cat Bakery and I can see them struggling. In fact most restaurants and breweries I frequent face the same issue, a few employees desperately trying to keep an inundated ship afloat. I will tell you this article largely ignores what everyone who lives here understands is the biggest problem faced by laborers in Missoula at the moment. This city is amid a dire housing shortage, expedited by lack of new construction and a migration of buyers from more lucrative economies. The median home price increased by 57% in the last 10 years, 8.6% in the last year alone to $315k. In the meantime the median family income remains only $46k. https://missoulian.com/news/local/missoula-housing-prices-se...
It is truly a seller's dream market and as such the availability of rentals has evaporated. You'd be lucky to find a 1 bedroom right now.
My wife and I bought a home here a little over a year ago and were fortunate to find the nut who, "didn't need a realtor, what with craigslist." Before then we had been outbid 5 times previously, during which we offered up to 30k above the asking price. Frankly, we wouldn't live here if we didn't get lucky. Our experiences weren't unique at the time and it has only gotten worse. I regularly hear of houses selling for 50K over listing price to people buying sight-unseen.
Frankly I don't care what the owners of Dales or Black Cat Bakery think about Covid or whether they voted for Trump. I really, sincerely, don't care. I only hope for the best for their business and their employees. I know what it's like to struggle in Missoula, I did for years and I still would be if not for dumb luck and a bit of privilege. The problems people face today are starting to pale in comparison to my own, and a solution is becoming truly urgent. I can only hope people will come to understand if we care about solving these problems, then we have to put down the tribalism and intolerance for those with different views and focus on the matter at hand.
To quote Vince Staples, "Ain't no money in havin' hate in your heart."