The Most Influential City in Montana and in New Hampshire (best, cost)

[g500]

Two similarly-populated states that have a handful of small cities, none of which appear to definitively "rise to the top" above the others in terms of influence, importance, and center/hub of activity, at a glance. However, some of you may know more about the inner dynamics of these states

How the poll works: choose one city for EACH Montana and New Hampshire. The city you choose for each state is the one that you think reflects the qualities of being the overall most influential city in said state.

I could have done separate polls for each state, but I figured I would lump them together and get an overall opinion. Mostly because I was worried separate polls for each state might not generate enough interest or discussion, given how small and similar sized these cities are. This is a pretty nuanced debate, really "splitting hairs" here.

Define city however you like in this case. I prefer urban area population, though, personally. Though that presents a serious problem in NH's case given how close many of these cities are. So I sort of use my own modified urban area definition.

FWIW I feel like these two states do have *some* similarities. Libertarian tendencies. Bordering Canada. Similar populations (NH is much more dense). Mountains (Montana's are obviously much larger, but NH has the highest peak east of the Mississippi River with Mt. Washington - 6,288.3 ft (1,916.7 m)). Collection of similar sized small metros.

Anyway, without further ado, please feel free to vote and discuss. What is the most influential city in overall terms of socioeconomic, political, cultural influences in each state? Obviously since these cities are small, they may not really rise to national prominence. I feel like you do hear about Billings, MT being referenced rarely in pop culture though.

Please do feel free to vote and discuss.

Thanks!

Edit: I forgot to include an Other option for each state. So if you think the answer is Other, please feel free to comment your desired response.

Edit 2: I did not include Derry, NH because I figured it would get lumped with, or overshadowed by, either Nashua or Manchester. In hindsight, I should have included it as a separate poll option.

Edit 3: Turns out there are a bunch of other options for NH I omitted. Littleton, Londonderry, Merrimack, Laconia, Exeter, Rochester. I mean, I guess I should have included more poll options. NH is a really complex/unique state. Lot of small cities and towns that are very close to each other, yet distinct in many ways. So, yeah I may have way oversimplified this. I am used to lumping and combining cities together, which may not really apply so well for NH. Plus, to further complicate things, large parts of NH and its cities are drawn into the Greater Boston gravity well / sphere of influence.

[BostonBornMassMade]

Manchester NH easily.

[Champ le monstre du lac]

For NH in raw numbers and civic amenities, Manchester does lead the pack by a good measure. It's the only city in northern New England that exceeds 100K (pop 115k in 2020). Manch has the state's only real commercial airport of notable size, a downtown arena and minor league ballpark, the nightlife has more of a buzz as of late, and is the only city in NH with any real urban grit. Nashua probably has more retail, but that city feels a lot more like extended suburban Mass and doesn't really influence the rest of the state in any meaningful way.

Manchester is an old mill town, but it doesn't really have a lot of blight and was not left to rot and much of the old mill infrastructure has been restored and repurposed. That said it can come off as a very average or utilitarian kind of city. It doesn't have a big tourist draw.

Portsmouth has a big tourist draw for out of state visitors and is more on the radar as the nice city to visit in the state. It's got the New England colonial seaport aesthetic set on a beautiful rocky harbor and tourists would likely find more to do in Portsmouth. Though the city wouldn't look out of place in Maine or Mass, and is a bit of an anomaly for New Hampshire.

[odurandina]

i spent the summer in Red Lodge, MT.
started with The Flood of the ages.
But, overall, blessed beyond imagination at the edge of the Beartooths. .
The Beartooth's surpass Yellowstone by that much.
Moose? Yes. Surprise mountain lion/ bear encounters? Yes, yes.
Then again. Not surprising.
Big fat trout? yes. big cuthroats.

Bozeman & Missoula are also amazing.
But, Red Lodge all the way.

[TheTimidBlueBars]

Maybe Bozeman for MT, just because it's common to fly in there en route to Yellowstone (the airport is even called Bozeman-Yellowstone).

As a migration destination, the one I hear talked about the most is Missoula. One of my little brother's friends just randomly moved there for a job at the Costco warehouse.

[MarketStEl]

I think one could say there was a time when Butte was the most influential city in Montana (ISTR that it once had a population of more than 100,000 residents), but the industry that supports it was also eating it away.

But I think that there's no question about Manchester being New Hampshire's most important city. It's also home to the only newspaper that circulates statewide, the Union Leader, and the only commercial TV station licensed to the state, WMUR-TV (ABC, channel 9).

New Hampshire's political culture I found fascinating. It's the only state in the Union with no broad-based statewide tax (sales or income), and any New Hampshire politician who even suggests either commits career suicide. The Union Leader is famously conservative, and there's no real left-leaning equal (neither the Nashua Telegraph nor the Concord Monitor in the state capital circulate much beyond their localities). It also has the largest state legislature in the United States, with a 400-member House of Representatives; that means that, in some parts of the state but maybe not Manchester, you quite likely know one if not more of your state representatives personally.

And, of course, it fiercely guards its first-in-the-nation presidential primary status, an outgrowth of it having originally been held on Town Meeting Day in early March. New Hampshire Public Radio (based in Concord, with stations around the state) produced a very good podcast taking a critical look at this called "Stranglehold."

[masssachoicetts]

how Manchester over Portsmouth?

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by masssachoicetts

how Manchester over Portsmouth?

Did you read the two responses giving details about New Hampshire's largest city (and the largest city in all of northern New England) on this thread?

I will grant that Portsmouth has it all over Manchester in the charm department, but it doesn't exert the kind of influence on the state's politics or public life that Manchester does.

[g500]

Originally Posted by masssachoicetts

how Manchester over Portsmouth?

I suppose it is because Manchester is the largest city and focal point/hub of the state of NH, in many regards. In fact, I mostly expected Manchester to win for NH, but wanted to conduct this poll to confirm my thoughts. For the NH part of the poll, the NH cities are all listed in the general order I expected them to go, by importance. Other posters (above) have provided some great insight about NH. Portsmouth was a neat surprise, getting a few votes nonetheless. It has a fascinatingly old history (1653) as a port city right next to the Atlantic coast.

With Montana, however, I just looked at a map and put the cities in a general geographic order, starting with Billings. I did not put them in order of expected importance because I really was not sure what order they would go. I mean, I thought Billings might win, but then I really was not sure who would receive the second most tally of votes among Helena, Missoula, Bozeman, and Butte. It appears Helena has earned a soft #2 spot though. Montana appears to be much less decisive of a state as NH. As a city nerd, I honestly had never heard of either Great Falls or Miles City ever, prior to doing this thread/poll, and I only included these two so that each state would have seven city options in the poll.

I appreciate everyone’s insight and participation in the poll. Thanks again!

[Turnerbro]

Missoula and Manchester would be my best guess.