Vent:Fleeing from Traffic (sticker)

[StuckPA]

Originally Posted by GiftShoppeGuy

Be sure to study up a little though, as most things here aren't all the marketing materials might say they are.
It's the television, songs, real estate agencies, and marketing firms that give a skewed look into how things really are here... it's not all as romantic as some production facility would like folks to believe.
Be sure to do your homework though, you'll be better off because of it, I can assure you.
Be ready for some life changes.... as there are some profound differences between Pennsylvania and Montana.

Again,as I had mentioned previously,I do not subscribe to any marketing. I am quite an independent thinker and have been researching places on my own since I was a teenager stuck in my bedroom.
I have also traveled more extensively than most people I know and have observed differences in cultures. (By the way I also know about the refugees trying to hide out there as well if that's what you're all getting at

[JoeJoeMan]

Giftshopguy---
Even it they built that bypass - wherever all those box stores ended up would still be a traffic disaster, and thank god there is no bypass along the base of Blue Mt......it's still nice back along there even if it is full of yuppie foo-foo homes and you can't get river access.

Hey StuckinPA.................I'm just messing with you mostly I think I know where you are coming from. When I was a kid I wanted nothing more than to get away from the sprawl and disaster I saw happening all around me, people ruining everything in sight for the sake of a buck, I was never happier than when I sleeping on the ground or fishing on some deserted little pond or sleeping in the foothills of the appalachian mts......the reason I speak the way I do today is because I see the same exact thing happening today in Montana. And Montana was so beautifull, and it was alot more than just the scenery, which seems to be all that anyone cares about anymore, they see the mountains and think oh yea everything is great, it's still beautiful, I'll build my McMansion there, there's plenty of room for everyone......no it's more than the scenery....it was the solitude, the quite roads, the freedom to go where you wanted, the lack of "NO Treaspassing" signs, or foo-foo mansions blocking the river access, the small town atmosphere, it was the liad back feel, the weak coffee, and lousy cafe food, .....it was the openess the feeling that you were somebody, you were an individual in this big land under this big sky, ....you felt like you were in someplace special, and living on the edge just trying to make it here, it was exciting it was wonderfull it was beautiful, it was a feeling that you knew you shared with others that lived here too, everyone kind of knew what it was all about and you felt a certain comradery with them.
That whole aspect of Montana has disappeared along with the peacefullness and solitude of the valleys and hillside, replaced with McMansions and the never ending drone of traffic.
And say, I'm not against change, change is inevitable, I'll can accept change, except for one small problem, it all changed for the worst, we changed it all for the worse, we changed it all for a buck. Ah what's the use in talking............take it all, screw it up just like you did every place else in the country.

[StuckPA]

To me Montana along with Wyoming seemed to be one of the last bastions of hope to get away from it all,so if that's gone where can we go? And where is everyone coming from? For years the northeast was the most densely populated area of the country and the west was always the least. Me wonders what is going on here...perhaps people are realizing(as I had years ago)that it's just not worth it anymore to all head to a few areas but to start to build and populate more evenly across the country.
Either that or we're becoming overpopulated faster than originally thought

[NYMTman]

Originally Posted by StuckPA

To me Montana along with Wyoming seemed to be one of the last bastions of hope to get away from it all,so if that's gone where can we go?

Alaska

[JoeJoeMan]

StuckPA,
there is still lots of open space out west, but in other areas much of that solitute and openess has disappeared, western montana is a prime example of a congested area, urban sprawl run amuck.
I'm sure places like the middle of wyoming and the eastern montana are still pretty lonely, sparse and unchanged.
But as you might imagine any place that has a scenic attraction, mountains, lakes, etc those areas have just become inundated with development, Bozeman is a prime example, close to Yellowstone Park, ski slopes, etc. then once the foo-foo crowd starts moving in the whole thing just starts to snowball, just like what happened to Colorado.
I have never been to Alaska, but I imagine it is what Montana use to be like. Don't get me wronge there is still lots of open space in montana, well in some parts, but the whole atmosphere has changed, at least it has for me, I'm sure others as well, I use to feel that I was in "the west"....that feeling of openess and isloation, the feeling of being very distant from the rest of the country, it was different here, it was like Montana was 30 years behind the rest of the country, it was nice, it was wonderfull. Now it just feels like anyother place in the country, box stores, traffic, kids with tatoos and face ornements, etc,
Keep your chin up though guy, there's a place for you yet in this old world and it may still be smack dap in the middle of Montana even if it ain't the most scenic and foo-foo place around the state.

[StuckPA]

Originally Posted by NYMTman

Alaska

Uhh thought of that,but they're moving up there too. Granted there's still gonna be alot of room left...that's for the people who actually take the time to learn to fly bush planes

[JimC]

Stuck,
I think with a little more research you will find what you are looking for. There is a line, I'm not sure exactly where but it is west of Billings. It runs north to Canada and south to Wyoming where it magicaly stops. If you stay east of that line in Montana, include all of Wyoming and the eastern part of Idaho you'll find what your looking for. Theses areas have not lost their western tradition and what that brings with it with the exception of Jackson WY.

I've read that Montana is really 2 states, east vs west. I never put much stock in it until I started really paying attention to the threads and posts on this forum. Some of the old timers from east MT will tell you it's always been this way, some say it started when those in the west started raping the land. I don't know when it started nor does it matter to folks like you or me.

If you haven't noticed the vast majority of the negative and more vocal posts on this forum are coming from the west side of that line. Try a little experiment. Go ask your original question on the Wyoming and Idaho forums, then compare the responces to what you have here. It will speak volumes.

[JoeJoeMan]

JimC - well put

[Montanaford]

I agree with you on the east/west Montana- I drive truck from Billings to Butte and abck 5 nights a week and eventhough I've only been here 2 yrears, I noticed a difference in the drivers from about Bozeman west. They seem to drive more like Californians-tailgateing,cutting in to get ahead and other unsafe tactics.
The whole pace from there on to about 3 forks seems more frentic.
Even Billings doesn't seem as frantic and it's a lrger city.

[GiftShoppeGuy]

Originally Posted by JoeJoeMan

Giftshopguy---
...Even it they built that bypass - wherever all those box stores ended up would still be a traffic disaster, and thank god there is no bypass along the base of Blue Mt......it's still nice back along there even if it is full of yuppie foo-foo homes and you can't get river access.....

At least with the bypass, we could still get a fair amount of fishing done...

If it's all the same though.... this access rights deal will hopefully be passed in Helena..... allowing all of us to fish anywhere we want.... private property owners will have to take the fences down..... and buck up to letting us fish our favorite holes again...... I sort of feel bad for all of the Foo Foo's out there, but they have been asking for it for a very long time now...