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Probably because, despite its faults, and the abundance of Subaru driving granola suckers, it's the nicest area in the state for people who need to make a living still. Sure, I like Flathead better but I've never been offered a job there.
I'm off in right field politically, but honestly I've found Missoula to be a super friendly town. Let's not give the OP the sense this is Portland or Eugene. It isn't. You're not going to get beat up wearing a MAGA hat by a bunch of masked thugs.
Nicest place to make a living? How so? Are there many good paying jobs that have come up recently?
Quote:
Originally Posted by sylentvoyce
When I was leaving Missoula I had a friend tellme to kill myself because I would never find a better place to live. It was odd. When I asked him if he was joking he said he was serious.
He was born and raised in Missoula and had never left. After I moved to Washington State I convinced him to leave Montana and visit me for a weekend. He expressed genuine surprise that Washington had mountains too. He always believed the only states with mountains was Montana and Alaska.
That's pretty messed up really.
The geographical ignorance always blew my mind. It seemed that the basic understanding was the entire West Coast was California, Idaho was Not Montana, the Southwest was the Desert Region, Utah was Mormonville, Colorado was Liberal Montana, anything east of the Divide as well as the Dakotas and Wyoming were Eastern Montana and everything else was Back East. Mind you a lot of the people I met there made it very clear they hadn't visited half of those places or even seen pictures because they gave the most incorrect descriptions of them and many were places I had actually visited.
Before anyone gets too worked up I will also agree there are obviously some college educated people there who do not match the description of the previous paragraph.
Probably because, despite its faults, and the abundance of Subaru driving granola suckers, it's the nicest area in the state for people who need to make a living still. Sure, I like Flathead better but I've never been offered a job there.
I'm off in right field politically, but honestly I've found Missoula to be a super friendly town. Let's not give the OP the sense this is Portland or Eugene. It isn't. You're not going to get beat up wearing a MAGA hat by a bunch of masked thugs.
I've never lived in Flathead so I cannot attest to the job market there. I always found Missoula to be a tough and limited job market. Primarily due to oversaturation of overeducated college graduates who all have the same starry eyed view of the area.
I don't hate Missoula, I just found that I don't really like it either. Billings has a notable homeless population, but Missoula always had this influx of wannabe violent gang bangers and drug dealers. I know they exist everywhere, but in Missoula, they were just so much more visible. (Not fact, just personal anecdote)
Missoula has really drab winter weather (Not a big problem, just a personal preference)
It has bad inversion which results in some poor weather quality and fire smoke getting trapped in the valley (Researched fact)
And an extreme elitism. Not a bad thing in and of itself, but bad when the elitism attempts to sweep ills under the rug. Such as homelessness (debatable observation), the bad job market (fact), and the high cost of living (fact.)
Missoula is not without its pluses. Ill be the first to admit that. 1. Good scenery, plentiful hiking trails, an adventurous mindset, and dang was it easy to make friends and go on dates.
It truly is a town for the young and transient. I need to see improvement to be sold on the idea that it is any place for the older married working professional.
Nicest place to make a living? How so? Are there many good paying jobs that have come up recently?
That's pretty messed up really.
The geographical ignorance always blew my mind. It seemed that the basic understanding was the entire West Coast was California, Idaho was Not Montana, the Southwest was the Desert Region, Utah was Mormonville, Colorado was Liberal Montana, anything east of the Divide as well as the Dakotas and Wyoming were Eastern Montana and everything else was Back East. Mind you a lot of the people I met there made it very clear they hadn't visited half of those places or even seen pictures because they gave the most incorrect descriptions of them and many were places I had actually visited.
Before anyone gets too worked up I will also agree there are obviously some college educated people there who do not match the description of the previous paragraph.
You'll probably get a personal anecdote as a response. "Well I've always had six figure jobs available to me in Missoula." That's usually how those debates go. Anybody with any knowledge of the state knows that Missoula is one the weakest job markets in the area. (Good jobs that is.)
As for the friend. It was actually quite entertaining. I feel like I introduced my friend to a whole new planet. He was awestruck by how pretty other places can be.
Uh, is Missoula a great job market nationally? No. Is Montana? Nope.
Missoula has tons of high paying jobs in comparison to... I dunno. Lodge Grass. Whitehall. Rocker. Lewistown. Livingston. Hardin. Anaconda. Deer Lodge. Choteau. Dillon. Butte. Columbia Falls. Do you need me to go on?
If you're looking for a high paying job, I just got back from Washington DC and sadly, anyone could walk into $70k/yr there if they have a pulse. Debating what the best job market in Montana is sounds like an instruction manual on picking up a turd from the clean end. Sounds pretty damn stupid.
Uh, is Missoula a great job market nationally? No. Is Montana? Nope.
Missoula has tons of high paying jobs in comparison to... I dunno. Lodge Grass. Whitehall. Rocker. Lewistown. Livingston. Hardin. Anaconda. Deer Lodge. Choteau. Dillon. Butte. Columbia Falls. Do you need me to go on?
If you're looking for a high paying job, I just got back from Washington DC and sadly, anyone could walk into $70k/yr there if they have a pulse. Debating what the best job market in Montana is sounds like an instruction manual on picking up a turd from the clean end. Sounds pretty damn stupid.
Getting fired up? Everybody with a Missoula fetish seems to get fired up easily. I had a brother in law who tried to fist fight me because I said the griz were an awful team. (My sister later divorced him because he started using meth.)
Yes those little towns have a bad job market when compared to Missoula. That's why they are still little.
As for the rest of Montana: Helena is still the best for government jobs. Billings is the best for blue collar industry jobs. And... Bozeman is the best overal job market. (Researched fact.)
Anybody can walk into Bozeman and land a 45k per year job in a day. Problem is 45k cant overcome the stupid cost of living there. That's why everybody in the world isn't trying to... wait a minute. Everybody in the world is trying to move to Bozeman. It was like the third fastest growing county in America for two or three years.
Getting fired up? Everybody with a Missoula fetish seems to get fired up easily. I had a brother in law who tried to fist fight me because I said the griz were an awful team. (My sister later divorced him because he started using meth.)
Yes those little towns have a bad job market when compared to Missoula. That's why they are still little.
As for the rest of Montana: Helena is still the best for government jobs. Billings is the best for blue collar industry jobs. And... Bozeman is the best overal job market. (Researched fact.)
Anybody can walk into Bozeman and land a 45k per year job in a day. Problem is 45k cant overcome the stupid cost of living there. That's why everybody in the world isn't trying to... wait a minute. Everybody in the world is trying to move to Bozeman. It was like the third fastest growing county in America for two or three years.
People with a Montana fetish get fired up easily.
Where are these $45k jobs in Bozeman? Not that I'm looking to relocate, just curious. That area has been growing for a long time. When I was in college I always laughed when people would complain about college students causing traffic jams when half of them were Audis and Escalades with county 6 plates. It made me wonder what jobs people had since nobody seemed to work.
By the way, the OP hasn't been back in about two weeks...
No, people that love this state and all that it has get fired up when those that put money above everything else and haunt the Montana board for no reason other than to denigrate it post statements for the sole purpose of showing their hatred of a state that didn't recognize their "greatness".
When you go to college to be a teacher, expect to be paid teacher wages. There aren't special exemptions made just because you believe you're worth more money than any other teacher.
Montana, like every other state, pays government workers the same wage for specific jobs. Some states have a higher scale, some lower. Luckily, you're free to move to those states, like North Dakota that pay more.
Montanans that love this state are passionate about it and don't appreciate those that only haunt this board to run it down.
Where are these $45k jobs in Bozeman? Not that I'm looking to relocate, just curious. That area has been growing for a long time. When I was in college I always laughed when people would complain about college students causing traffic jams when half of them were Audis and Escalades with county 6 plates. It made me wonder what jobs people had since nobody seemed to work.
By the way, the OP hasn't been back in about two weeks...
The jobs are mostly in construction. Since there is so much construction, there is a ton of jobs.
I worked as a probation officer in Bozeman (myself hired in two days along with 3 other people.) And I saw felons coming out of prison landing physically demanding, but well paid jobs, sometimes in a matter of hours.
No, people that love this state and all that it has get fired up when those that put money above everything else and haunt the Montana board for no reason other than to denigrate it post statements for the sole purpose of showing their hatred of a state that didn't recognize their "greatness".
When you go to college to be a teacher, expect to be paid teacher wages. There aren't special exemptions made just because you believe you're worth more money than any other teacher.
Montana, like every other state, pays government workers the same wage for specific jobs. Some states have a higher scale, some lower. Luckily, you're free to move to those states, like North Dakota that pay more.
Montanans that love this state are passionate about it and don't appreciate those that only haunt this board to run it down.
I imagine you are referring to me when you say people who haunt this board. Maybe you're referring to ndak, who knows.
I personally dont hate Montana. I kinda hate Missoula, and I've laid out the reasons for that in a dozen other posts elsewhere on this board.
But, my concern is that Montanans (and more specifically Missoulians) paint the state with rosy colors. People, who live in other states see those rosy colors, then start romanticizing it. Then, they move in, and move out after learning about the job market, winters, drug abuse, suicide rates, and drunk driving rates.
Then, native Montanans make alot of tough comments about those people moving away.
It's a cycle that is cruel. I enjoyed living there when I could take the financial sacrifice and enjoy the outdoors. But when I had kids yes, money did become everything. Because their well being became more important than some romanticized state
Now with my income doubled, my kids are happy and we can visit the state with full control over our itinerary.
I imagine you are referring to me when you say people who haunt this board. Maybe you're referring to ndak, who knows.
I personally dont hate Montana. I kinda hate Missoula, and I've laid out the reasons for that in a dozen other posts elsewhere on this board.
But, my concern is that Montanans (and more specifically Missoulians) paint the state with rosy colors. People, who live in other states see those rosy colors, then start romanticizing it. Then, they move in, and move out after learning about the job market, winters, drug abuse, suicide rates, and drunk driving rates.
Then, native Montanans make alot of tough comments about those people moving away.
It's a cycle that is cruel. I enjoyed living there when I could take the financial sacrifice and enjoy the outdoors. But when I had kids yes, money did become everything. Because their well being became more important than some romanticized state
Now with my income doubled, my kids are happy and we can visit the state with full control over our itinerary.
He's referring to me. He's the textbook example of those with a Montana fetish that has the rose colored glasses on. He managed to make a living and obviously has the money to support somewhat expensive hobbies in order to fully enjoy the quality of life but is completely clueless about how many people do live. He can't handle any criticism of the state and thinks people are actually "blaming Montana. " It's quite comical really.
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