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People keep talking about a high cost of living which is one point that I don't agree with. The cost of living in Bozeman and Kalispell is high because yuppies from California, Texas and a few places back east buy up all the houses and try to sell them at California rates--$500,000 for a two bedroom, one bathroom shack. Conversely, Missoula, Billings, Butte and Helena are more than reasonable. Our utility rates are about the same as every other state in the west, gas may be a bit more expensive but not too much and groceries are the same price as they are any where else (unless you live in a small town that is a long way from any of the big towns because you'll pay $6 for a loaf of bread...damn monopolies).
As far as the "closed minded" nature of people, I have to agree, but lets talk about why. I'm not a big outdoors guy but imagine how you would feel if someone from Cali tried to tell you that a river that you'd fished your whole life was suddenly not accessible to you. Nobody owns the rivers but don't tell that to SOME of our new found residents. Some, not of all, of our out of state residents really come in and try to change the culture. It's funny that they move here because they want to live a "Montana lifestyle" and then they act like they're still in California. People in Bozeman can be very rude and I notice an overall snotty attitude when I visit there (of course Bozeman is now nicknamed Bozangeles). The land issue is a big deal and native Montanans are used to moving about freely and accessing the rivers when and where we want. A lot of the out of staters go out of their way NOT to assimilate to our lifestyle despite citing that as the primary reason that they move here....and then they can't believe we're not friendly. I guess they think we're all a bunch of naive boobs who are just good natured and altruistic.
I guess the only thing that's more amazing than the sense of entitlement some Montanans feel is the sense of entitlement felt by some people who have lived in the state for only a few months.
Last edited by DoulbeU; 06-13-2009 at 10:15 PM..
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