why is every one moving here???? (Billings, Helena: fit in, sales, lease)

[dread_siren]

over the past while I have noticed allot of people from Cali, Washington & Oregon moving to Montana, being from this fine but poverty stricken state I can see the desire for "closer to nature" and small town charm, but really? most of western Montana doesn't even have enough jobs for the locals to pick through... over half of my family are in the Dakota's and Nevada for work. yet I see a new family in the microscopic town of troy at lease monthly... this makes no sense, as most have small children and they end up spending their life savings trying to find work after trying to relocate to a not so friendly (jobless) town.

if logging came back I could see people relocating, we are trying to get even better forest management back here but it is a long and hard journey, esp. since most implants hate logging and wont listen to a "meet in the middle" solution... bumber (yes, I'm a loggers daughter... and yes they had to go out of state to find work now)

sorry if this has come off as a rant (if it has, its not meant to be one, I'm just wondering if there is some bug in the water that makes Montana seem like such a great random idea for middle class families with children to support... though I love my great state our slogan should be

"Montana, a beautiful place to starve"

[MSPLove]

Originally Posted by dread_siren

over the past while I have noticed allot of people from Cali, Washington & Oregon moving to Montana, being from this fine but poverty stricken state I can see the desire for "closer to nature" and small town charm, but really? most of western Montana doesn't even have enough jobs for the locals to pick through... over half of my family are in the Dakota's and Nevada for work. yet I see a new family in the microscopic town of troy at lease monthly... this makes no sense, as most have small children and they end up spending their life savings trying to find work after trying to relocate to a not so friendly (jobless) town.

if logging came back I could see people relocating, we are trying to get even better forest management back here but it is a long and hard journey, esp. since most implants hate logging and wont listen to a "meet in the middle" solution... bumber (yes, I'm a loggers daughter... and yes they had to go out of state to find work now)

sorry if this has come off as a rant (if it has, its not meant to be one, I'm just wondering if there is some bug in the water that makes Montana seem like such a great random idea for middle class families with children to support... though I love my great state our slogan should be

"Montana, a beautiful place to starve"

Good slogan. My two cents - People are caught up in the stereotype. Everyone's looking for their own little bit of paradise. They just get jaded and down in their hectic lives and are looking for a permanent paradise/retreat. And they think of all the brochures they've seen, all the movies they've seen, no sales tax... and they're on their way.

I think this is a great place to take a vacation. Or half of a vacation. But there is really not a lot to offer the average person. The biggest cities aren't really cities at all. They aren't really "Montana" in the sense that people picture Montana. They're just anonymous cities with Wal-Marts, McDonald's, and Subways. Unless they're really outdoorsy and out there every other day or every week... people are kidding themselves. And the no sales tax thing - that's true, but that means they just jack up the price. In other words they're just kind enough to include the tax price for you. lol It's too isolating for trying to raise your kids in the real world. The schools aren't even the greatest. Could be worse, but they're not anything to write home about. I did school in Montana and elsewhere... I felt the quality of my education went down when I came here.

[magoomafoo]

Fantastic thread! So true too. What people don't understand is that with everyone wanting to move to Montana to "get closer to nature" and to "get out of city life" is that with all these people coming, Montana will soon be what they are running from. Just like Troy, Lincoln is experiencing a mass of newcomers. I guess the good thing for us is that after one or two Winters, half move back. This year I'm guessing 3/4's will move back lol

[Threerun]

I moved here becuase I wanted too. I had a choice to stay in 'Wild and Wonderful' West Virginia, accept a job here in Helena, or take a job in Denver.

My wife's family lives in CO (Estes Park and Longmont) so Denver would have been closer, but I'm not exactly a cosmopolatin kinda guy soooooo..

Here I am. Moved here without ever setting foot here. I moved with a job and my wife found a job within 3 months of moving here. We're close enough to family to take long weekends and not deal with airfare.. Or I can hop on a plane and be there in 2 hours.

America is a wonderful place. You can move anywhere you want and pursue life, liberty and happiness.

Why not in Montana? If you want to move, move. If you don't like it, move. If you like it- great..

I like West Virginia- it's wild and rugged and an outdoor paradise. So is Montana. I'm happy.

[magoomafoo]

Nothing wrong with folks wanting to move here. It's the one's who move here wanting to make Montana what they left behind or not being prepared. For those of us who have lived a lifetime here, it's hard to stomach the pop. growth as we have made Montana home and have chose never to leave. For those who come, love it and make it home, great! You are going to find some folks very protective of our great state. You sound like you fit in just fine so we can leave it at that.

[Threerun]

The only thing I would like to change is the breakfast items at Shelly's. Get rid of that stuff they call 'side pork' and make some dang ponhaus.

[magoomafoo]

What are ponhaus? I still love biscuits n gravy with homemade hashbrowns.

[tigergal]

I think what surprises me more are the people who move to another state without a job in place. That thought just gives me a case of the hives!

Yes, we are considering moving to your fair state. In fact, my husband just got called for an on-site interview for a very good job in Billings with a good salary. As to why I want to move there, I ask "Have you ever been in Memphis?" We currently live in the murder/rape capital of the US. We live in a city where everything comes down to an argument about race - all the time - no matter what. We live in a place where the climate is very difficult for my health.

We adore Montana and yes, we've been there in the winter. We've never been in fall, but have been in winter, spring, and summer. We adore turning on the news there and seeing stories about fishing season and town issues that involve zoning or ordinances. It's a vast improvement over the first 18 minutes of a 30 minute newscast filled with murders, children being shot in drive-bys, and car-jackings.

We're wanting to move there because we love that even in your cities, the open spaces aren't that far away. We love that there are opportunities to do outdoorsy things without it being a risk to my health as it is here most months of the year. We love that that the geography is interesting - that the topography is wholly different than anything we see here without having to drive over a thousand miles. We even love that so many out there don't get just how beautifully different Montana is from other parts of the country.

I can promise you this with absolute certainty though: We will never, ever try to turn it into another Memphis. We'd have to be danged fools to try that. We, might, however - if asked nicely - introduce new friends to Memphis BBQ.

[magoomafoo]

mmmmmmm-BBQ

[Threerun]

BBQ- the universally accepted food of the USA.