Will out-of-state people ever be welcomed as "Real Montanans? (Missoula: fit in, apartment)

[Antonio Montana]

Let me premise this by saying that I didn't vote for Quist or Gianforte. I had issues with both of them. That being said, I'm getting really tired of the way the Montana Democrats, in their campaign commercials, imply that anyone not born in Montana is not a true Montanan. They did this during the last election for Governor as well.

I live in Montana. I work in Montana. I pay taxes in Montana. I have a Montana drivers license. Am I any less of a Montanan because I used to live in another state? By the way, I came here (Montana) with the goal of assimilating to the Montana way of life. I came here because I love the wilderness and the second amendment. I came here to escape the craziness of the liberal state in which I was living.

The democrats are making me root for Gianfore to win.

[NDak15]

I think it depends on the region. I grew up in southwest Montana and while you had some of the obligatory complaints about Californians, the us vs. them attitude wasn't as bad. But when I moved west of the Divide it was nonstop. Everyone from outside of the state was ruining their "way of life."

[MT-HI Travelin]

Originally Posted by Dangerous Dave

I saw this a lot in Oregon. Funny thing is, if you're from another state, they hate you. If you're from Mexico and here illegally, they love you and will volunteer to translate for you to go sign up for food stamps, drivers license, etc.


Oregonians even hate it when people from Washington commute in to work every day in Portland. "Them Washington people are taking out jobs!" I told one "well, they're just doing the jobs that Oregonians won't do". I got an earful on that one, but then I mentioned to her that she's perfectly fine with illegals coming to Oregon and she got quiet and said "well that's different". Yeah, the people from Washington aren't breaking any laws! That's the difference!


Anyhow, in the larger towns like Missoula, Bozeman, Flathead area, etc. I think they're used to outsiders and don't really care. I'm second generation military so I've lived all over the place. When people pull the "oh, you're a foreigner" crud I tell them that it's hard to settle anywhere when Uncle Sam has made your decisions for the last 40 years. They usually pipe down then.


However, I'm sure the incident in Three Forks is going to get some of the natives riled up against Californians, and I can't really blame them. It's too bad we can't build a wall around that state.

I agree with your OR/Wa reference having lived on one side of the river working on the other.

But when it comes to MT it's a little different. I would say Bozeman is one of the worst! Literally as your introducing yourself people are asking so where you from and how long have you been here! And it's not the locals asking it's the out of staters who for some reason feel they need to jockey themselves as being in MT longer. When I first moved back to BOZO with my husband I got to the point of stating my family facts as I introduced myself. Needless to say we moved, Bozeman isn't what it was and has become so pretentious. Missoula has always been so liberal hippie town they pretty much accept anyone. To me the smaller town folks are way more accepting because they have no agenda and are just real hardworking people.

[USMC1967]

No offense to any Bozemanites but from my personal experience I find Bozeman to be one of the most pretentious cities in the entire state. Both Bozeman and Missoula are college towns, supposedly open-minded and liberal, but the "snobbiness" in Bozeman is palpable.

[Threerun]

Originally Posted by MTSilvertip

The OP has a point, but the fact is, it doesn't matter where Gianforte is from, it's the fact he's a Republican and the dems will do or say anything to try and pull votes and support from him, and create controversy to pull attention from their deeply flawed candidate.

I am 5th generation Montanan, and I don't care where you're from if you come to contribute to our way of life by becoming part of the state community.
Telling us how backward we are, how unsophisticated, that we are too dumb to realize that the pursuit of riches is so much better than our deep love of the land, that mindset I do not accept.

I don't appreciate out of staters locking down roads and shutting off access to our hunting and fishing, I don't like subdivisions taking good land out of production, or all the libs that want to destroy the culture and values, but I can't stop it, and I don't blame the folks moving here to escape toxic liberalization of where they're from.

Montanans by and large are libertarian by nature, just leave me alone kind of thing. I'll admit, I have no love for Californians in general, but individually, some are OK, you just take them one at a time.
Being a true Montanan has nothing to do with how long you've lived here, it's more who you are and what you do to help your neighbors, how you live, and the kind of person you are.

Hell, even the Indians came from somewhere else too.

Dude- Republicans lock their $hit up too and adopt NIMBY policies. You are over generalizing on Democrats.

[Antonio Montana]

Originally Posted by USMC1967

No offense to any Bozemanites but from my personal experience I find Bozeman to be one of the most pretentious cities in the entire state. Both Bozeman and Missoula are college towns, supposedly open-minded and liberal, but the "snobbiness" in Bozeman is palpable.

I agree 100% with what you and MT-HI Travelin say about Bozeman. Unfortunately, and I've indicated this before, Billings is getting to be the same way, as more and hipsters, Californians etc. flood into there. Whitefish may be the worse, though.

Tell these people (hipsters, Californians etc.) that you either live in or are moving to a less glamorous part of Montana, such as a hi-line town or a place in Eastern Montana such as Miles City or Glendive. They will act as if you aren't worthy to be in their presence.

[NDak15]

Originally Posted by USMC1967

No offense to any Bozemanites but from my personal experience I find Bozeman to be one of the most pretentious cities in the entire state. Both Bozeman and Missoula are college towns, supposedly open-minded and liberal, but the "snobbiness" in Bozeman is palpable.

Bozeman is extremely pretentious. I went to college there and couldn't wait to leave. Missoula wasn't a picnic either. You had liberals in town but also a lot of people living in the 19th century. It's the worst mix I've ever encountered and I've lived in two other states. I also agree with Antonio that Whitefish is bad in that regard.

[MTSilvertip]

Originally Posted by Threerun

Dude- Republicans lock their $hit up too and adopt NIMBY policies. You are over generalizing on Democrats.

Different statements dude. I said the reason the dems were pushing the out of state thing was just to try and stir up prejudice against Gianforte because he was a republican.

I said the main reason I wouldn't like recent immigrants, (no party affiliation noted) was if they locked gates etc.

Not everything is about politics.

[MT-HI Travelin]

Originally Posted by NDak15

Bozeman is extremely pretentious. I went to college there and couldn't wait to leave. Missoula wasn't a picnic either. You had liberals in town but also a lot of people living in the 19th century. It's the worst mix I've ever encountered and I've lived in two other states. I also agree with Antonio that Whitefish is bad in that regard.

In WF it's mostly Canadians with a CA attitude.

[Antonio Montana]

Originally Posted by MT-HI Travelin

In WF it's mostly Canadians with a CA attitude.

Along with a lot of people from the east coast, mainly New York.