To my friends in Montana, I'm sorry to hear about this. Same thing happened in the small, close-knit farm town where I spent my first 40 years. Small, rural township, population under 500. Mostly dairy farms and woodlands, last unspoiled spot in south Jersey.
All that started to change about 25 years ago. Well to do types started buying farmland, building their McMansions. And they brought their big city snobbery with them, looking down at us yokels. Taxes have skyrocketed to the point that middle class folks and those on a fixed income can no longer afford to stay. All but one dairy farm are gone, the fields where I worked as a teen are but a memory.
After my mom passed in '07, I have not been back. I want to remember it as it was.
