Butte-Silver Bow? (Missoula, Bozeman, Helena: sex offenders, crime, credit)

[Archy]

Can anyone give me a quick run down on the good & bad points of Butte-Silver Bow?

I am interviewing for a position with the State.
Thanks

[Rickers]

First off don't believe everything this city-data website says about Butte-Silver bow, mainly the fact that there is no such city or town by that name ! There is Butte in Silver bow county Montana. City-Data has two Butte pages and seem to be for the same city but all the data doesn't match up.
Another example is the City-Data page for a town of 900 called Flathead ! It doesn't exist either, Flathead is a Valley, a river system, a lake, and a reservation but there is no town called "Flathead" ! The page for this city shows it to be in two different map locations and lists it to be in Petroleum County ! The page for This fictional town of Butte-Silver Bow says there are no sex offenders there where in fact the page for Butte Montana shows 58. Butte really has 61 sex offenders, 178 violent offenders and 5 who have managed to make it onto the list of violent-sexual offenders.
They have a bad record for water quality monitoring violations, if I lived there I would not trust the water. The whole town is like a mining museum somewhat like Wallace Idaho, only in a more open area rather than a narrow tight canyon like Wallace.

[michael11747]

yea butte is on the bottom of my list for cities to live in, in montana. the only time i go to butte is on st patties day, to watch drunks fight each other. where exactly would you live? in town or out? what is the job? DOT? DOC? those two come to mind...

[bridget52]

Hm. I've lived in Butte for 20 years and can say that it is still not my first choice of places to live. Just the same, it has good and bad points. Lets do some bad, first.
--The Berkley Pit - One of the largest (maybe still THE largest) Super Fund Sites in the country. This is a mining-produced hole in the ground which is filling with toxic water. Look it up on the internet. It's astounding. The solution seems to be to treat the water once the hole fills up, and it WILL fill up.
--Mining is the historic income-source for Butte. There are parts of mountains and even huge parts of the city itself that have been hauled away in the name of mining. The scars are still there and are growing. Since outdoor activities and environmental concerns are very important to me, this has been very bothersome. Just the same, there are lots of people for whom it's not a problem.
--AND, if you don't look in the direction of the mining, the physical surroundings are breathtaking.
--Butte is over a mile high, depending on where you are when you measure. It gets dang cold in winter, but it doesn't last long. A few days ago, we had a low of -37. People ask me how I deal with that. The answer is simple. You stay inside and pre-warm your car if you go out. The other side of this is that rarely gets as hot as other places in the summer! This may change with global warming. We're seeing higher temps than we're used to, for sure.
--Butte has a rich history based on mining. It was once a much larger city than it is now, and historical records of those days are fascinating. Presidents and world leaders visited here at one time.
--Butte still has one of the highest proportions of people of Irish-decent in the country. Irish tradition, history and even speech still effect the people. We have a huge St. Patrick's Day celebration. Enough said about that, though.
--Butte hosts the Montana Irish Festival each August, bringing internationally renouned Irish musicians, dancers, teachers, language workshops and more for 2-3 days of incredible performances, Irish culture and fun. Butte's focus on Irish culture has been so impressive that it has drawn visits from Irish dignitaries and even a visit from the President of Ireland a few years ago!
--Butte also hosts Evil Kinevil days, which I can't say much about because I've never felt compelled to go.
--When we first moved here, my spouse's employer told us that Butte is a wonderful place to live because it's only 5 miles from Montana - a little tongue-in-cheek humor, but true. If you enjoy the outdoors, it's a short distance from a number of incredible places to hike, bike, ski, hunt, fish, climb, etc.
--There are so many other things to talk about that I could take days to say. I'm sure there's somebody else out there who might have more to say. The town is growing slowly as people learn that our housing is cheaper than Helena, Bozeman or Missoula. Small businesses are moving in, which is a very healthy indicator.
--The people here are great - friendly, compassionate, very willing to help others. Butte has a reputation for being a rough town with rough people, and I can't say that's not true but it's also misleading in some ways. The history of mining definitely has had far-reaching effects, and most people from the rest of the state would prefer to put us down, but the truth is that most people who live here for more than 2 years prefer NEVER to leave.

--oh, yeah. One more thing. Since SilverBow County is incorporated, Butte is often referred to as Butte-Silver Bow.

[Timberwolf232]

I've thought about moving to Butte many times, good people, good airport (I've heard rumors that they charge a landing fee, but they have never charged me an extra fee when I've stopped for fuel.)

We cleaned out a shop their a few years back and folks from the homeless shelter came and offered to help for a little beer money or scrap metal to recycle.

Some really good food in Butte also! Pasties and Pork Chops, plus quite a bit of fine dining.

I even rappelled off of the old Touch America building 5 or so years ago to run some transmission line for a company I did some work for.

Watch out for the parking cops though!, they will getcha.

I'm about as Irish as they come, but still haven't made St. Pat's in Butte. One of these years...

Butte's alright in my book.. Way less yuppified than Bozo or Missoula.

[Archy]

I appreciate all the input...Butte sounds like a decent place.
I'll be flying in later this week for the interview, so its good to have an idea of what to look for.

[jufrbo]

I like Butte, and have a question to locals. You say there is a huge Irish presence. I noticed a lot Jewish things while I was there though. Is there also a large Jewish population? Since I've lived in the West my whole life I hadn't been somewhere with so many stars around, and synogauges.

[Timberwolf232]

I noticed a lot of catholic stuff.. Like the huge "Our lady of the rockies." statue up on XL. Can't say I've noticed a synagogue out that way.

[dwightsan]

There is a synagogue and a Jewish Cemetary. Up on the hill are three gorgeous catholic churches still in use and St Lawrence OToole Church which is now a museum, but kept exactly as it was before the Vatican Council II. The Serbian Orthodox Church on Continental has the most beautiful murals I have ever seen. There are innumerable interesting old homes and old buildings to see as well as several historical tours.
I moved here from Missoula three years ago, never having set foot in Butte except for the initial house hunting. I just couldnt pass up my $21,000 house. I am 3 blocks from the grocery store, a laundermat, a cafe, a church, a barber, and 6 blocks from the best credit union. My neighbors are friendly but not nosey. There is some crime but nothing like Missoula. I think one is in more danger at night from stray dogs than from human predators. In a few words I just love Butte. The people are nicer and the air is much better than Missoula.