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I live in montana... It is a beautiful state... however in all the subject the original poster mentioned montana cant compare...I have lived in california all over the state and california has everything as far as scenery goes as montana does and then some... the only down fall to california is the population and the crazy laws etc they have...
Those are some amazingly beautiful photos of Montana! But I understand the eastern half of the state isn't very attractive. Love the Rocky Mts. Montana is sort of off the beaten track; far northern state with no really large cities and quite a way from the closest large cities [Denver, Salt Lake City, Spokane]. Not very diverse and somewhat limited in things to do except outdoor activities like hiking, hunting, skiing, dirt biking, etc. Besides mining, lumber and cattle, I don't know of much industry\ commercial enterprises. Montana is somewhat conservative but more Democratic than most Midwest & Southern states. But Montana is a beautiful Western state yet not as beautiful as California and certainly not nearly as diverse. In-fact, in most other categories Montana lacks in comparison to California and many other states. But some people prefer to live in more remote areas, small towns and slow pace of life.
Montana has some great mountains but so does California:
Lake Tahoe
Montana beats California overall I live in Helena Montana and here are some words to describe Montana beautiful, friendly, traffic is good, wild, awesome scenery California: blah, overpopulated, traffic is the worst, scenery is pretty good in the northern part, unfriendly
I'm gonna abstain from voting on this one. Montanta has a really special place in my heart. I was going through a really rough time in my life when I took a trip on a Greyhound bus from Minneapolis to Spokane. I'll spare you the details, but it was bad: alcoholism, drug abuse, failed jobs, failed relationships. Long story short, I ended up stranded for three days in Billings, Montana. Due to the conversations I had and some events that transpired, that time in Billings was the start of a new beginning. My life started to make sense again from then on.
I wouldn't be where I am now or who I am now if it weren't for that trip. For similar reasons, I also have a lot of positive memories associated with Indiana (of all places). So, yeah, if I were to vote I would vote for Montana, but that wouldn't at all be fair. Both are amazingly beautiful states.
Location: Watching half my country turn into Gilead
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I was born in Montana; still, I think California wins this one very easily, unless you prefer being remote from people (which is understandable). California has all of Montana's natural beauty; Montana has no answer for California's people beauty. Pretty clear cut in my opinion.
This is interesting because my father is a California native and my mother is a Montana native. Growing up in Houston, we always spent a couple of weeks of summer in both places. My paternal grandparents lived in Palm Springs (formerly LA where my dad was born and raised) and my maternal grandparents lived in Great Falls. Growing up, I always preferred visiting Palm Springs (even with the horrible summer weather). I never really appreciated Montana. We would travel in California though, we would stay in Orange County and San Diego at times (when we weren't in Palm Springs). We would always leave Palm Springs for day trips to the different theme parks, such as Disney, Knotts, Universal, and Legoland. We would also go to the beach. I used to think California was a utopia. In Montana, we would just kind of sit around and do nothing (we went to Glacier Park once, but it wasn't really my thing). I always found myself wishing we were in California, even though we spent a lot more time in California. Part of this had to do with the fact that my favorite grandparents, favorite uncle, and favorite cousins all were on my dad's side.
As I've grown up, I realized that Montana is a very scenic state. It probably does have some of the best natural beauty in the United States (although Great Falls doesn't really fit into that ). However, I still prefer California. It has more diversity in geography/climates than Montana. While both places have mountains, rivers, and national parks, California also has coastline. As a Texan, I don't think I could handle living in snow. My Montana family members have mostly relocated to warmer abodes such as Texas, Arizona, and South Carolina. My grandparents are snowbirds that spend winter in Arizona, formerly Florida. I've never been to Montana in the winter, and I don't plan to go. The weather of the California coast (San Diego and LA) is more similar to the weather I grew up with in Houston.
The two states are so different, that it truly is like comparing apples to oranges.
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But I understand the eastern half of the state isn't very attractive. Love the Rocky Mts. Montana is sort of off the beaten track; far northern state with no really large cities and quite a way from the closest large cities [Denver, Salt Lake City, Spokane]. Not very diverse and somewhat limited in things to do except outdoor activities like hiking, hunting, skiing, dirt biking, etc. Besides mining, lumber and cattle, I don't know of much industry\ commercial enterprises. Montana is somewhat conservative but more Democratic than most Midwest & Southern states. But Montana is a beautiful Western state yet not as beautiful as California and certainly not nearly as diverse. In-fact, in most other categories Montana lacks in comparison to California and many other states. But some people prefer to live in more remote areas, small towns and slow pace of life.
