Ranking Montana's cities - Which Montana city is the best? (Billings: homes, asbestos)

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by Redraven

IMO, the "ambience" of Kalispell is gone. It has spread out all over the place, and "downtown" is no place I want to be.
Columbia Falls has lost all industry (aluminum plant, lumber mills). I wonder how long people can survive selling clothes, groceries, etc. to each other?
Hungry Horse has become mostly a classic "tourist trap". All the taverns are gone, except one. The house I grew up in is gone. The house (shack) I bought years later is gone (good thing!)
Parents are gone.
The people I went to school with 60+ years ago were never really friends, just classmates. Nobody I am interested in visiting.
The USFS campgrounds on the banks of Hungry Horse Reservoir have paved roads now, and many of the campsites are also paved!
Many homes now have to put up with HOAs, and I want nothing to do with them.
"Civilization" has arrived, and not necessarily for the betterment of the communities!


But then, "civilization" is arriving in Billings, as well. There are quite few homeless people downtown, and many street corners have beggars holding cardboard signs. Yet, they are going to spend over a million dollars on a jogging, walking, bicycling trails system. I'm sure it will be nice for those few who use such things, but there is a lot of things that money could be used for to the betterment of the general population, seems to me.

Traffic circles ("roundabouts") seem to be the "in thing" these days. Traffic engineers seem to love them instead of controlled intersections. Maybe they are better, but I try to avoid them.
Ok, enough of that rant...

Billings?

[Redraven]

Originally Posted by nowhereman427

Billings?

Yes, Billings!

I find it interesting that you are apparently located in or near San Francisco. How can you stand to live in that town, and that state.
I sure am glad that my son woke up and moved to Nevada from CA. Now, I never have to go back again.

[freestoneangler]

Originally Posted by SkyLark2019

Would you be willing to elaborate on why you don't like the changes in the Kalispell area? IMO it's still the part of the state where people who want isolation should go, it's not as empty as it was before but it's empty compared to the southern parts of MT.

I love Billings but it might not be for everyone. It's "rough and tough" whereas a lot of people want the scenic cities of the state.

I think the issue with Kalispell is similar to that of a handful of other towns in Montana. That is they become favorite locations for new (and part time) residents who bring their big city habits and politics with them. They drive local property prices beyond what the majority of residents can afford and get offended when long time residents don't adopt their way of thinking.

[alaskaflyer]

The change in Billings has been disappointing. This is highly unscientific, but I have only been a victim of a crime twice in Montana in over twenty years of living there as well as visiting in-between stints of living there, and both times have been in Billings - in the last five years.

[nowhereman427]

How about Marion?

[MikeyMike11]

The rising housing costs and harsh winters should keep most people at bay. I always hate hearing about people having to clean up after others -- littering should be a jailable offence, like in Singapore.

Yes... our median home price is right around $600k, with an $88k jump in the past month. People are escaping the coasts to come here, thinking we are some conservative/liberal paradise in the Great Northern Rocky Mountains. And I also agree about the winters. Brutal! But I don't mind them all in all. It's interesting to watch the turnovers after 1 winter here. You can just look at the people in the grocery store and just know... they ain't gonna make it. Their skin is so soft looking, and they can't wear anything but yoga pants... Many young people are not prepared, many young families are afraid to go outside in the winter, and people who didn't heed the warnings, thinking they should just up and move here without first visiting in the winters... They all drive up the price of real estate, as there are always more people to fill their shoes (homes), and this adds a premium to the housing, as no one wants to lose money.

Can you briefly elaborate on that?

Yea so, Missoula is a little too hippy for me, and I just never got "hooked" on the place. I've been there, maybe 3 dozen times or so. I feel like Missoula is the San Francisco of Montana, while Bozeman is the Los Angeles or New York of Montana.

Butte is run down. Sorry Butte, and I do love ya'll, but I just like seeing nice things around me. If the town took better care of the streets, maybe gave its citizens incentive to improve their living situations, it would be in a stellar location with excellent hunting, wide open spaces, and cold enough to keep out the "permanent tourists", as we call them. Butte is unlike any other place I've been to in the US. The main tourist attraction is a giant pit in the ground.

Billings crime rate is probably the highest in the state. Lots of oil riggers out there too, which I generally avoid. You can see there is a drug problem in many parts of the town. Billings is like the Texas of Montana, with big attitudes, big trucks, big hats. It just gets old for me.

I also wouldn't live in Great Falls. Too much military. I don't need more authoritarians in my life, so I choose to live where I do. Great Falls can be pretty in some spots, but not that pretty in others. I think Bozeman is pretty all over, and I pay for that in real estate tax. My taxes have actually doubled in almost 2 decades. That seems pretty insane for such a small town. For example, I have been looking at property in Hawaii with 1/2 the tax that Bozeman has. The economy in Great Falls revolves around the military, and so if that's not your lifestyle, you might be alienated in the community a bit.

[MikeyMike11]

Originally Posted by nowhereman427

How about Marion?

Far from a big town, some drugs out that way, and pretty, but there are prettier places. If you are looking for quiet, and an hour out of Glacier, it is a nice place. IMO there are better places, like Choteau, Swan River Valley, and others. The northwest corner of Montana is kind of isolated, and I would lump Marion in there.

[Sumerian_Summer]

Originally Posted by alaskaflyer

The change in Billings has been disappointing. This is highly unscientific, but I have only been a victim of a crime twice in Montana in over twenty years of living there as well as visiting in-between stints of living there, and both times have been in Billings - in the last five years.

Might I ask what type of crime? Theft, vehicle break in, or something more serious?

[Sumerian_Summer]

Originally Posted by nowhereman427

How about Marion?

That's a small town, but it's close enough to Kalispell so I guess you could include it as part of the Kalispell area. If you want peace & quiet but not be too far from a city, then Marion might be a good pick.

[MikeyMike11]

Originally Posted by Sumerian_Summer

Might I ask what type of crime? Theft, vehicle break in, or something more serious?

Stabbings, a few murders, drug crimes, lots of property crime. Seems to all be on the rise. If someone is offended by that, I would say they need to face reality at this point, and perhaps work towards a better future for Montana's biggest city.

I have had run ins with the city manager Kukulski, here in Bozeman when he was our city manager. While crime did not go up during his tenure, he wasted an amazing amount of city taxpayer's money on unnecessary things like out-of-state lobbying for causes we did not agree with, and never accomplished much.

Bozeman is a city which mostly runs itself, regardless of what the city admins say. We take care of business here, literally, on our own, and the CoB must listen to what the business leaders say, or they're out. Kukulski was case in point. Ya'll better watch him, and watch how he spends your money, as he already pushed through a large mill levy for first responders, which is now going to pay for office space??? What's that all about, maybe someone from Billings can weigh in on that???