affordable housing

For the second time this month, Missoula County is asking an out-of-state investment firm to meet and discuss the future of two mobile home parks and the impact that recent rent hikes have had on residents.

Back in 1908, Gideon International member Archie Bailey was a regular guest at the Superior Hotel, while working for a company which was assisting the railroad to expand. “He approached Edna Wilkinson, the hotel’s proprietor, to see if he could place a Bible there at the hotel desk clerk’s station. Edna countered with a bigger proposition: could Archie actually place a Bible in each of the guest rooms? Archie agreed.”

Four bills the Montana Legislature adopted in 2023 in a quest to create more affordable housing in the state will stay on the books — at least for now — despite a lawsuit arguing they are unconstitutional.

If funding pans out and residents buy in, a manufactured home park on prime real estate in Lolo could soon become resident owned.

Montana has an overall shortage of affordable and attainable rental housing stock, a crisis that pushed people out of their communities and in some cases onto the streets.

Colorado state lawmakers visited Summit County on Monday to learn how local officials are working to develop affordable workforce housing, ahead of a 2024 legislative session that will likely see housing policy as a top priority once again.