Disappointed in Missoula... What other cities might I like better? (Kalispell: live in, activities)

[IdaClaire]

When I first moved to Missoula, my first thought was that the town seemed a bit more run-down than what I was expecting, no disrespect to Missoulians, because I love the town overall. I grew up in Virginia and spent time in Charlottesville, and that was what I thought Missoula might resemble. Instead, the architecture seemed to be sort of... haphazard, I guess. The hillsides were covered with a lot of split levels and tract houses. I lived downtown off Higgins, and there were some cute, older homes there. There are some cute, older neighborhoods, but the growth seems to be a bit out of control.

Helena has a more historic feel, and Bozeman seems to have more attractive architecture. Tiny Red Lodge was one of my favorite places, and Livingston was nice as well.

The other Missoula feature I noticed right away was the temperature inversions, which filled the valley with smog.

Other than that, Missoula was a fun place to live. I was looking for a base town from which to have outdoor adventures, and it served that purpose well. We frequently took trips to the Bitterroots and Sapphires, and up to Seeley Lake. Missoula also is milder in the winter than Bozeman.

I'm probably one of the people that make JoeJoeMan an angry, bitter kind of guy, but it doesn't bother me, as I had a wonderful stay in Montana. I also worked my butt off, working for minimum wage on the graveyard shift at MiniMart and cleaning hotel rooms. I wasn't a trust fund kid, and jobs were not plentiful in Missoula in the early 90's. I don't know what the economy is like there now, but we had people PhDs who had to work in bicycle shops.

I like frou-frou Montana. Sue me. I also liked the "old school" Montana where the natives live. I could probably be happy just about anywhere.

[JoeJoeMan]

idaclarie wrote

I'm probably one of the people that make JoeJoeMan an angry, bitter kind of guy,

There is no need to resort to name calling, as I'm not angry or bitter, I just disagree with you, so for that I'm called angry and bitter.....such name calling reflects badly on your character not mine.
But maybe I can read something into your character as you have taken the liberty of reading something into mine.........
If you were attracted to Missoula, you probably are bascially liberal, meaing you are a liberal, as such jumping to conclusions that other people are angry and bitter when they don't agree with you, would fall right in line with typical liberal behavior.
Notice I told you what I thought of you WITHOUT calling you names.....that is what rational, calm and civil people do, take a lesson from it, it will serve you well in life.
And the best of luck to you,

[Blake2502]

Thanks for all the responses and suggestions! I wish we'd had more time to check out more cities. We did see Hamilton, and liked it, but unfortunately we'll need a bigger city to find work. Maybe on a next trip we'll head East a bit and see some more places.

[IdaClaire]

Originally Posted by JoeJoeMan

idaclarie wrote


There is no need to resort to name calling, as I'm not angry or bitter, I just disagree with you, so for that I'm called angry and bitter.....such name calling reflects badly on your character not mine.
But maybe I can read something into your character as you have taken the liberty of reading something into mine........

Hey, sorry if it seemed like I was insulting you, but almost every post I have read by you has come off as angry. I just would hate to be so miserable about the inevitable direction my home state is taking when there's really nothing to be done about it.

If you were attracted to Missoula, you probably are bascially liberal, meaing you are a liberal, as such jumping to conclusions that other people are angry and bitter when they don't agree with you, would fall right in line with typical liberal behavior.

What do politics have to do with any of this? I am also attracted to conservative Utah, the Black Hills of South Dakota and the Wind River Range area of Wyoming. Landscapes and geography don't vote. And I can get along with people of all political persuasions. Some of the people in Missoula who were kindest to me were die-hard conservative natives. One of them used to bring me antelope and elk jerky all the time.

I'm not sure noticing that posts have an angry tone is representative of liberal or conservative politics.

[bluebird39]

Hi there,

I've never even set foot in Montana, but lived in Oregon for 15+ years. One thing you may not realize is that the West is very new, compared to Vermont or Virginia. There just plain isn't any old, "European" towns there. There are very few historic places, and rare charming old houses. Old farm or ranch houses, yes, beautifult scenery, certainly, but in general the West is going to be made up of homes and cities that are very new and "mass produced". It's only been in recent times that many Western towns have been able to grow as fast as they are, thus even more fast slap-together homes, and tons of mobile homes. It's just different. HTH.

That being said, the culture there, or at least the "older West" is, or used to be, a very self-sufficient, roots-in-the-outdoors type people. Most Westerners (Which I consider myself to be, even though I grew up in the deep South) dislike big cities and are much more at home in front of a camp fire. It's not the city that Westerners appreciate, but the land. Good luck!

[JoeJoeMan]

Originally Posted by JoeJoeMan
idaclarie wrote


There is no need to resort to name calling, as I'm not angry or bitter, I just disagree with you, so for that I'm called angry and bitter.....such name calling reflects badly on your character not mine.
But maybe I can read something into your character as you have taken the liberty of reading something into mine........

Idaclarie responded
Hey, sorry if it seemed like I was insulting you, but almost every post I have read by you has come off as angry. I just would hate to be so miserable about the inevitable direction my home state is taking when there's really nothing to be done about it.

It doesn't 'seem' like it - you were and now your trying to back peddle out of it.
And you may not like it because others such as myself open up their mouth when bad things are befallen the places and things around them that they have come to love. Sorry maybe you sit there and take it but I don't - I say what's on my mind - And if the raping of a landscape or a peson for that matter makes some people angry - you should actually be glad that some people take serious issue with it.

And my reference as being a 'liberal' has NOTHING TO DO with politics, liberalism is a state of mind, reflect the way some people think and view the world, so nix the reference to politics.

Actually I think you, idaclaire and dangerousdan are the ones that are angry, angry at what I say, so you 'project' that I must be angry too......
It's a typical human behavior, what you are doing - you get angry and then try to degrade the other person's argument by saying they are angry, - sorry try that on someone else who hasn't seen that little trick before.
Once again the best to you in your little world, such as it is, and keep the name calling to yourself, it just will make you look bad in life.

[GiftShoppeGuy]

Originally Posted by jimj

Even though I kind of choke while I write this I have to agree with JoeJoe and giftshop, having lived in the south and been all over the north they are correct, there really is no "class" neighborhoods here. I miss the farm house style, brick cape cod style, country style etc.

.......

Please do, visit Great Falls or Helena sometime......

Great Falls has some 1880-1920 turn of the century brownstones that would blow your doors off, and Helena does too.

Traditional housing??... Ah yes....... Country style exudes from most of our buildings over here. Oh sure, we do get the occasional Stucko (styrofoam or extruded polystyrene), around here... but most prefer real building materials over the foo-foo stuff.

I'll snap some pics for you..... you'll see...... The real Montana exists mostly east of the CD these days...

[jimj]

Cool, I have only driven by Helena and Great Falls so I must admit I haven't looked around there much. I can tell you that in this part of the state they are too busy trying to mimic what they think the "old west" looked like I guess for tourists?

[orygun]

Originally Posted by bluebird39

I've never even set foot in Montana, but lived in Oregon for 15+ years. One thing you may not realize is that the West is very new, compared to Vermont or Virginia. There just plain isn't any old, "European" towns there. There are very few historic places, and rare charming old houses.

That being said, the culture there, or at least the "older West" is, or used to be, a very self-sufficient, roots-in-the-outdoors type people. Most Westerners (Which I consider myself to be, even though I grew up in the deep South) dislike big cities and are much more at home in front of a camp fire. It's not the city that Westerners appreciate, but the land. Good luck!

Very well put!!! I couldn't have said it better myself. Lived in Oregon for 19 years and Montana for over one year. (currently in Spokane and heading back to Big Sky Country ASAP!) Though I have found Spokane to have more older homes and a historic city than anywhere in Oregon or Montana so the poster might consider this town. Living in Montana isn't about cute historic towns though there must be a few little ones. It's about the land, the scenery, the western lifestyle. I think that is what people usually come for.

[katfzl]

I could be wrong but I think one of the reasons you don't see brick homes in the west is because of earthquakes... Anyway, I am from Missoula and funny thing, I hated it when I grew up there. It is very shi-shi and popular now, and even though I like it and miss it, I don't think it is quite what people imagine it is... Helena is a pretty town. I actually liked Oregon and Idaho more than Montana, but Mt is where I grew up, and it's home. I have lots of friends in Missoula, and do miss it. The West, and Montana in particular, is different in so many ways than the south or east.