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Old 12-30-2007, 06:24 PM
 
Location: Spots Wyoming
18,700 posts, read 41,936,036 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hopscotch11 View Post
I'm sorry, what does this mean?
Should be talking about Coalstrip. Not He said, she said, but you said...
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Old 12-30-2007, 06:34 PM
 
16 posts, read 59,993 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ElkHunter View Post
Should be talking about Coalstrip. Not He said, she said, but you said...
Sorry. Will try to keep it on track. Just a little upset over the whole thing.
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Old 12-30-2007, 09:56 PM
 
1,872 posts, read 4,205,265 times
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Default Opinion

I posted a note on here sometime back about Colstrip. I am one who definitely disliked living there. I have to agree wholeheartedly with Montanagirl and Hopscotch. Compared to other places I've lived Colstrip has very little to do. Compared to other places I've been the people there are very unfriendly to newcomers. I don't doubt that they have been very helpful to those in need, but I know that most of those who were helped were not newcomers. Sure, there are all those outdoors things to do there, but that's not exclusive to Colstrip. I can do all those same things where I live now, and have the "bonus" of having awesome neighbors and townspeople who treat me like I've been here forever. As hard as I tried I never felt like Colstrip was "home". I felt at "home" here after only a few short weeks. I have to agree with Elkhunter that we need to make this a post about living in the town itself, not personal attacks on each other. It is my opinion, and we are all entitled to our own opinions...that's what these boards represent.....that there are many places more desireable to live than Colstrip. I can truly say that in the year I was there I only made one true friend and that was a person who was from out of state! The people I worked with were okay, but I'd consider them co-workers, very few would I consider friends. Outside of work I wasn't invited to do anything with anyone besides the one good friend I made while there. It wasn't because of my lack of trying, either. Again, this is just my opinion. To each his own, as they say. Just as the lady who said she wouldn't trade living in Colstrip for any of the other towns she listed, I would in no way trade where I live for Colstrip! This isn't a personal attack on anyone, it's a general opinion I formed while living there.
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Old 12-31-2007, 07:37 AM
 
16 posts, read 59,993 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GEORGIAINMT View Post
I posted a note on here sometime back about Colstrip. I am one who definitely disliked living there. I have to agree wholeheartedly with Montanagirl and Hopscotch. Compared to other places I've lived Colstrip has very little to do. Compared to other places I've been the people there are very unfriendly to newcomers. I don't doubt that they have been very helpful to those in need, but I know that most of those who were helped were not newcomers. Sure, there are all those outdoors things to do there, but that's not exclusive to Colstrip. I can do all those same things where I live now, and have the "bonus" of having awesome neighbors and townspeople who treat me like I've been here forever. As hard as I tried I never felt like Colstrip was "home". I felt at "home" here after only a few short weeks. I have to agree with Elkhunter that we need to make this a post about living in the town itself, not personal attacks on each other. It is my opinion, and we are all entitled to our own opinions...that's what these boards represent.....that there are many places more desireable to live than Colstrip. I can truly say that in the year I was there I only made one true friend and that was a person who was from out of state! The people I worked with were okay, but I'd consider them co-workers, very few would I consider friends. Outside of work I wasn't invited to do anything with anyone besides the one good friend I made while there. It wasn't because of my lack of trying, either. Again, this is just my opinion. To each his own, as they say. Just as the lady who said she wouldn't trade living in Colstrip for any of the other towns she listed, I would in no way trade where I live for Colstrip! This isn't a personal attack on anyone, it's a general opinion I formed while living there.
This was the point I was trying to make. The people mentioned were not newcomers. I am not trying to attack anyone, just trying to understand why newcomers are treated that way. There is not much to do there. The nearest Walmart is 80 miles away. The nearest mall is 120 miles away. The parks that are there are for very young children. When grocery shopping, you have to hang onto your cart or it will roll away due to the unlevel floors. You are not allowed to take your cart to your car due to insurance, so the employee takes the groceries to the car for you and then you feel as if you need to tip them. The clothing store needs trendy clothes that the kids like to wear. If there was a good buyer for the store, it could actually make some money.
I am not personally attacking anyone so please don't take it that way.
Also, what about the housing costs? Am I the only one that feels that they are way way way to high?
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Old 12-31-2007, 12:51 PM
 
92 posts, read 387,155 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hopscotch11 View Post
This was the point I was trying to make. The people mentioned were not newcomers. I am not trying to attack anyone, just trying to understand why newcomers are treated that way. There is not much to do there. The nearest Walmart is 80 miles away. The nearest mall is 120 miles away. The parks that are there are for very young children. When grocery shopping, you have to hang onto your cart or it will roll away due to the unlevel floors. You are not allowed to take your cart to your car due to insurance, so the employee takes the groceries to the car for you and then you feel as if you need to tip them. The clothing store needs trendy clothes that the kids like to wear. If there was a good buyer for the store, it could actually make some money.
I am not personally attacking anyone so please don't take it that way.
Also, what about the housing costs? Am I the only one that feels that they are way way way to high?
Okay, now you made me smile and laugh! I love your grocery cart line! It is so true. How my husband & I wish that the grocery store could be improved especially the floors & currently the prices. The deal with the carts has been that way for over 15 or 20 years, it was started as a nice customer service, something that a small town grocery store would do. You are never required to tip them, I think that would come as a shock to some of them to be honest. I will agree that the clothing store could use some work. It was supposed to be a store where you could get the basics, like socks, pants, shirts, basic underwear, tights for girls etc. A lot of community members spent a lot of time working to get something here and it is better then not having anything. They do have a board of directors that is always looking for help including people to be on the board and they still have shares for sale.

When it comes to the housing prices, a lot of people who are close to retiring saw that there were a lot of new people coming in that didn't want to live in trailers so they decided that they could try to sell theirs for some $. Some of the people who have come in from outside came in with more money to spend on housing and priced some of the people that had been living here for a while out of the market. So it comes from both sides, new and old. A lot of people wanting to buy and not a lot to chose from= higher prices and then add in people jumping on the selling band wagon, not good for prices. Some of them have been improved better than others and some are exactly the same as when they were built. We lived in the town houses for many years before we bought a house and we looked at a lot of houses and had only put a bid in on one before we got a tip to look at the house we bought. It never hit the market, and we were thankful that we bought it when we did for what we did. I think that the prices are too inflated for the quality of houses. I would say to give it a while and the prices will come down here. I would also suggest to buy an empty lot and put a nice modular on it with a nice size garage. You could do that and spend about the same and it would be new.

On to where this attitude that you are feeling may have come from. It probably started 3 years ago when the plant, mine, school, & clinic started hiring more frequently. There were several mine & plant positions open and a lot of very qualified locals who had been living here for quite a while or who had come back to live here because they wanted to live here applied for them. They were passed over because a mine in WA had closed and our mine & plant choose to hire a lot of these people, and now many of them have left. The school hired a person, he accepted a contract, two weeks before the school year started he decided that he couldn't find a house to buy and so he dumped his contract. The clinic hired a person to manage one area in the clinic and he stayed just about a year. He took a job that two others had wanted and were qualified to do that liked living here and wanted to work and live here. Now the physical therapist is leaving, from what I here, it comes on the tails of having his education paid for by the clinic. Some of it probably comes from the comments from newcomers that have been overheard by people that live here the way things are done here are wrong and we live in houses that are junk and we don't have a mall so we don't know how to buy the trendiest things or it is impossible to shop without one. Nobody likes being told that the way they live is wrong and that their house is garbage and that we don't have this and we don't have that. So I guess that maybe some of this attitude comes from being burned by some new people. Now to be honest, over 95% of the population of Colstrip are transplants from other areas. I am one. I still think that it is priceless to be able to hear my daughter say "it's Chad in the garbage truck" when she hear's the garbage truck go by, or to know everyone who lives on my street, even if I don't talk to them on a daily basis. My best friend doesn't live here. I have many people that I know and trust that do live here. I don't talk to them everyday, or go out of my way to say hi if I see them on the other side of the grocery store, but I know each of the checkers names there and can talk to any of them and I don't have to worry if my kids stand a ways away from me when I am checking out. The free membership to the Parks department that has some pretty decent equipment and a great pool and golf course in the summer, is priceless. Yeah, we don't have much for shopping, I do the majority of ours online. We don't have much for night life except for pool or darts at the Super Stop and occasionally a live band. We do have a lot of very good people in my opinion new and old that are a joy to be around and that all contribute to make Colstrip what it is. I know firsthand of 4 very good guys that are all single and not gay. I guess that I am very defensive of anyone insulting the people that I know and have experienced exactly the opposite reaction from of them being very friendly, including the gals at both banks, new & old, the cashiers at the grocery store, new & old, the people at the clothing store, the teachers that I worked around, the people at the clinic, the people at the mine and both power plants.
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Old 12-31-2007, 02:49 PM
 
16 posts, read 59,993 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by A Neighbor View Post
Okay, now you made me smile and laugh! I love your grocery cart line! It is so true. How my husband & I wish that the grocery store could be improved especially the floors & currently the prices. The deal with the carts has been that way for over 15 or 20 years, it was started as a nice customer service, something that a small town grocery store would do. You are never required to tip them, I think that would come as a shock to some of them to be honest. I will agree that the clothing store could use some work. It was supposed to be a store where you could get the basics, like socks, pants, shirts, basic underwear, tights for girls etc. A lot of community members spent a lot of time working to get something here and it is better then not having anything. They do have a board of directors that is always looking for help including people to be on the board and they still have shares for sale.

When it comes to the housing prices, a lot of people who are close to retiring saw that there were a lot of new people coming in that didn't want to live in trailers so they decided that they could try to sell theirs for some $. Some of the people who have come in from outside came in with more money to spend on housing and priced some of the people that had been living here for a while out of the market. So it comes from both sides, new and old. A lot of people wanting to buy and not a lot to chose from= higher prices and then add in people jumping on the selling band wagon, not good for prices. Some of them have been improved better than others and some are exactly the same as when they were built. We lived in the town houses for many years before we bought a house and we looked at a lot of houses and had only put a bid in on one before we got a tip to look at the house we bought. It never hit the market, and we were thankful that we bought it when we did for what we did. I think that the prices are too inflated for the quality of houses. I would say to give it a while and the prices will come down here. I would also suggest to buy an empty lot and put a nice modular on it with a nice size garage. You could do that and spend about the same and it would be new.

On to where this attitude that you are feeling may have come from. It probably started 3 years ago when the plant, mine, school, & clinic started hiring more frequently. There were several mine & plant positions open and a lot of very qualified locals who had been living here for quite a while or who had come back to live here because they wanted to live here applied for them. They were passed over because a mine in WA had closed and our mine & plant choose to hire a lot of these people, and now many of them have left. The school hired a person, he accepted a contract, two weeks before the school year started he decided that he couldn't find a house to buy and so he dumped his contract. The clinic hired a person to manage one area in the clinic and he stayed just about a year. He took a job that two others had wanted and were qualified to do that liked living here and wanted to work and live here. Now the physical therapist is leaving, from what I here, it comes on the tails of having his education paid for by the clinic. Some of it probably comes from the comments from newcomers that have been overheard by people that live here the way things are done here are wrong and we live in houses that are junk and we don't have a mall so we don't know how to buy the trendiest things or it is impossible to shop without one. Nobody likes being told that the way they live is wrong and that their house is garbage and that we don't have this and we don't have that. So I guess that maybe some of this attitude comes from being burned by some new people. Now to be honest, over 95% of the population of Colstrip are transplants from other areas. I am one. I still think that it is priceless to be able to hear my daughter say "it's Chad in the garbage truck" when she hear's the garbage truck go by, or to know everyone who lives on my street, even if I don't talk to them on a daily basis. My best friend doesn't live here. I have many people that I know and trust that do live here. I don't talk to them everyday, or go out of my way to say hi if I see them on the other side of the grocery store, but I know each of the checkers names there and can talk to any of them and I don't have to worry if my kids stand a ways away from me when I am checking out. The free membership to the Parks department that has some pretty decent equipment and a great pool and golf course in the summer, is priceless. Yeah, we don't have much for shopping, I do the majority of ours online. We don't have much for night life except for pool or darts at the Super Stop and occasionally a live band. We do have a lot of very good people in my opinion new and old that are a joy to be around and that all contribute to make Colstrip what it is. I know firsthand of 4 very good guys that are all single and not gay. I guess that I am very defensive of anyone insulting the people that I know and have experienced exactly the opposite reaction from of them being very friendly, including the gals at both banks, new & old, the cashiers at the grocery store, new & old, the people at the clothing store, the teachers that I worked around, the people at the clinic, the people at the mine and both power plants.
I am simply stating that "I" feel that some of the people should be a little bit nicer to the newcomers and maybe they wouldn't want to leave. Alot of people in different towns KNOW the bankers, cashiers, retailers, etc... that doens't change the fact that they need to be nice to all. I believe that we should treat people the way that we would like to be treated, no matter if you are a newcomer or have lived here for years. I was taught to speak when spoken to. It is hard enough to move where you don't know anyone, little lone try to make friends. Maybe at some of these meetings, this should be brought up as this sounds like a huge issue here. Why is everyone leaving? It isn't because of the unlevel floors at the IGA
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Old 12-31-2007, 09:33 PM
 
92 posts, read 387,155 times
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I think that the answer to why everyone is leaving is a pretty complex one. There are those who don't like the looks of Colstrip and can't or don't want to find a place to live here that would suit them. Then there are those that can't afford to live here because they don't have a stable job that pays well which causes them undue stress on their financial situation, between gas & groceries it is kinda expensive. Then there are those who don't like living in the middle of BFE, and Colstrip is exactly that, 2 hours to Billings, 1.5 to Hardin or Miles City, .5 to Lame Deer or Forsyth. Then there are those who want a night life and like I said before, there is one but not much of one. Then there are those that got transferred to other areas of their company, for example PPL has many different locations in MT that are all pretty nice and offer a lot more amenities than Colstrip does and the Mine has a place in ND that they have transferred employees to. Then there are those that the Husband likes the outdoors that Colstrip offers, but the Wife hates it and the fact that there is virtually non-existent shopping except for groceries, flowers, and a limited line of clothing. Then there are those who had no intention of staying for more than a couple of years to begin with, one of the heads of PPL fits this description, he put in his two years and he is leaving, kinda sad as he is a very nice person.

I guess that I am lucky, my Husband & I enjoy doing almost everything together whether it be fishing on the surge pond or the tongue res. year round or hunting for deer, antelope or elk or woodworking in our garage or cooking in our kitchen (which someday will be a gourmet one if we get our way with the remodeling). Having kids and being on Shift work has kind of put a damper on our outside life. Most of our friends in town with kids or without work a different shift than he does so it limits the time we have to spend with them and then if you are in the middle of a project you choose to finish that instead of spending time with your friends. And sadly this goes for relatives as well, my brother has only been here 3 times since we moved here almost 6 years ago and he only lives in Billings, and it hasn't been from the lack of an invitation. We only get over to my parents or his about once a month and almost every time his brother has come to town he was working. I think that the last time we were at a bar-b-q with people our age was over 1.5 years ago, but it isn't because we haven't tried to get together, it's just that the schedules didn't allow it. And now I feel really bad that it has been that long and I think that we're going to have to make a point of getting it done this summer.

So here is my New Years resolution for what it's worth. I will be better at saying hi to everyone that I see and will work on getting to know and not be rude to more of the new people here.
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Old 01-01-2008, 06:59 AM
 
16 posts, read 59,993 times
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Originally Posted by A Neighbor View Post
I think that the answer to why everyone is leaving is a pretty complex one. There are those who don't like the looks of Colstrip and can't or don't want to find a place to live here that would suit them. Then there are those that can't afford to live here because they don't have a stable job that pays well which causes them undue stress on their financial situation, between gas & groceries it is kinda expensive. Then there are those who don't like living in the middle of BFE, and Colstrip is exactly that, 2 hours to Billings, 1.5 to Hardin or Miles City, .5 to Lame Deer or Forsyth. Then there are those who want a night life and like I said before, there is one but not much of one. Then there are those that got transferred to other areas of their company, for example PPL has many different locations in MT that are all pretty nice and offer a lot more amenities than Colstrip does and the Mine has a place in ND that they have transferred employees to. Then there are those that the Husband likes the outdoors that Colstrip offers, but the Wife hates it and the fact that there is virtually non-existent shopping except for groceries, flowers, and a limited line of clothing. Then there are those who had no intention of staying for more than a couple of years to begin with, one of the heads of PPL fits this description, he put in his two years and he is leaving, kinda sad as he is a very nice person.

I guess that I am lucky, my Husband & I enjoy doing almost everything together whether it be fishing on the surge pond or the tongue res. year round or hunting for deer, antelope or elk or woodworking in our garage or cooking in our kitchen (which someday will be a gourmet one if we get our way with the remodeling). Having kids and being on Shift work has kind of put a damper on our outside life. Most of our friends in town with kids or without work a different shift than he does so it limits the time we have to spend with them and then if you are in the middle of a project you choose to finish that instead of spending time with your friends. And sadly this goes for relatives as well, my brother has only been here 3 times since we moved here almost 6 years ago and he only lives in Billings, and it hasn't been from the lack of an invitation. We only get over to my parents or his about once a month and almost every time his brother has come to town he was working. I think that the last time we were at a bar-b-q with people our age was over 1.5 years ago, but it isn't because we haven't tried to get together, it's just that the schedules didn't allow it. And now I feel really bad that it has been that long and I think that we're going to have to make a point of getting it done this summer.

So here is my New Years resolution for what it's worth. I will be better at saying hi to everyone that I see and will work on getting to know and not be rude to more of the new people here.
Very well put. I really think that your New Years resolution speaks for itself. Perhaps a newcomer just might have second thoughts about the Colstrip community due to your kindness. My husband likes to hunt as well, but says that if ever I am not happy, we will relocate. There are not alot of jobs out there, I am thankful that he has a good one.
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Old 01-01-2008, 07:07 AM
 
16 posts, read 59,993 times
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Originally Posted by hopscotch11 View Post
Very well put. I really think that your New Years resolution speaks for itself. Perhaps a newcomer just might have second thoughts about the Colstrip community due to your kindness. My husband likes to hunt as well, but says that if ever I am not happy, we will relocate. There are not alot of jobs out there, I am thankful that he has a good one.
As far as relatives and friends, I try very hard to make sure that I am never to busy for that, no matter how far away. I fly back home to see my family and friends every chance I can. Some have been here as well. I do prefer to go there because we can actually get dressed up, go shopping, go out and have a nice dinner and not have to drive 2 hours to do so. The ones that visit ask me how in the world I can live here. I am still asking myself the same question.
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Old 01-01-2008, 07:59 AM
 
Location: LEAVING CD
22,974 posts, read 26,909,086 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hopscotch11 View Post
As far as relatives and friends, I try very hard to make sure that I am never to busy for that, no matter how far away. I fly back home to see my family and friends every chance I can. Some have been here as well. I do prefer to go there because we can actually get dressed up, go shopping, go out and have a nice dinner and not have to drive 2 hours to do so. The ones that visit ask me how in the world I can live here. I am still asking myself the same question.
We ask ourselves that weekly and then go outside and look around at the beauty.... Then it blows and snows and we ask again....
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