The other day, a coworker of mine quipped, “You know it’s busy in the Flathead when you have to sit through the same red light twice.” He’s right. It’s busy. Crazy busy for around here.
It’s that time of year again, when a fender-bender on North Reserve Street in Kalispell will back up traffic for miles – well, maybe just one mile. But it seems longer, because we’re not used to this during other seasons, except perhaps the few days preceding Christmas.
It’s Christmas in July and there’s no end in sight. June was rainy and relatively sleepy and then July arrived and our northern neighbors flooded south to celebrate Canada Day in what is often referred to as “Canada’s Tijuana.” We call it Whitefish.
There seemed to be more bachelor and bachelorette parties than usual. I like Canadians, but there were so many downtown that weekend it was nearly impossible to maneuver the various establishments. Wait times for breakfast bordered on one hour.
Then it was Fourth of July. And the craziness continued. I was off the grid in Polebridge, which still attracted hundreds of people, many of them locals looking to escape the crowds, so they found a smaller one. An employee there said July 4 was the Polebridge Mercantile’s biggest day ever, although I can’t confirm that.
To be sure, these are good signs for a valley that suffered through the recent recession, still needs the business and is mostly affable with the visitors and second-homeowners here. And while the Flathead has long attracted tourists from Canada, they are also venturing from other areas, too.
I sat next to a couple who drove from Texas to the valley last week and another visiting from Florida. They were heading to the park, which had a quieter-than-normal June but is surely experiencing a busy July now that the Sun Road is all open. Whitefish resort tax revenues were up in May. More people are flying in and out of Glacier Park International Airport this summer than ever before, with direct routes added to Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon.
These visitors spend money, which goes into the pocketbooks of local business owners, who, in turn, invest in the valley and provide jobs. It’s a good thing, really, but hasn’t July seemed exceptionally busy? In Kalispell, Thursday!Fest and Picnic in the Park are attracting large crowds. In Bigfork, the chamber of commerce sent out an email to its members a couple days before the Fourth of July weekend asking if anyone knew of any room vacancies.
We’ll be writing more on June and July’s tourism numbers as they become available in the coming weeks, but I’d be shocked if they aren’t higher than recent years. And I wouldn’t be surprised if a few records fall.
Locals will debate whether this is good or bad for the character of Flathead. It’s more difficult to argue that it isn’t good for the economy. And right now, anyway, the inconveniences are minor compared to the collective feeling that we have really turned a corner. Yet we are proceeding, more or less, cautiously.
While construction, both commercial and residential, is visible almost everywhere in the valley, building permits have not risen dramatically. Nor have real estate prices or number of homes sold. The growth in the valley, which locals must live with all year around, has been steady, but not unhealthy.
It’s July, and rush hour in the Flathead means sitting through the same red light twice. It means adding five to 10 minutes to a trip across town. It means sharing a trail and your favorite restaurant with an out-of-towner. It will last a few more weeks, then it will largely just be us again.
And if that’s as crazy as it gets, and a lot of locals benefit from the increased traffic, I’ll take it.