Bozeman: is it really that bad anymore?

[mtmuley]

man, Everyone here needs better neighbors. Its not that bad here.

Different perspective I guess. But when we moved to Belgrade 5 years ago from Michigan we were still new parents to a 6 year old autistic boy and learning rapidly. In Grand Rapids Michigan we could not get into a clinic for autism therapy and we were stuck on a waiting list projected at 4 years of waiting. Frankly the autism therapy in Grand Rapids was worthless and extremely over priced. We moved to Bozeman for work, fully expecting little to no services. Within 1 month we got him into a brand new clinic after a evaluation at the main clinic in freakin Anaconda. He has been at that clinic since we moved here ever since and has been thriving. He is even being used as a study because he is the oldest kid there.

It is truly incredible that the service he receives here is far and above better then the service he would of got in a big city with multi-billion dollar medical clinics. It has been a big blessing.

With that said it has grown a ton here. Bought a house at the right time, so we are doing well. The ski hill is just down the road and my kids love skiing. I enjoy hunting/fishing/ outdoor things so I'm all set there. Its a cool place to live.

Perspective is a key word. mtmuley

 

[brockel]

I lived in Ekalaka I feel adopted by the state. lol

I think that has the opposite effect you are wanting

 

[DouglasR]

It looks like they turned the longhorn into a spaceship!

 

[Don Fischer]

I drove trucks out of Missoula about 1973 and made a good number of trips into Bozeman. Nice little town way back then. But that's Montana. I was stationed in Lakeside 1970-1973 and way back then Flathead Lake was being over run with out of state resident's buying up land on the lake and building summer homes. Went back up to Kalispell about 2002, somewhere around there, and growth had murdered the place. No way would I live up there again. Montana's curse is it's a beautiful state! My son was born in Kalispell in 1972 and I've never taken him back up there. Last trip up there I made a trip up to Polebridge and the disappointment in it was overwhelming! The Air Force site looks like hell and didn't even go up the mountain.

 

[Irrelevant]

My big takeaway from this thread is that Bozeman isn't that bad, and still beats most places in the country.

You all forget, in all that whining and complaining, that the rest of the world is still changing even faster.

What you're seeing isn't anything different than anyone else is seeing. It's even less impressive if you go back to the 80's or 90's. Shit you still had working ag ranches in King County then.

 

[RobertD]

What would you say is the cutoff date for moving to Bozeman/Missoula/Kalispell etc "before it was cool"? When the median home price was <$200K?

1875

 

[SwaggyD]

The Buffalo Station opened as a strip club in the spring of maybe 2003 or 2004. It wasn’t planned but I ended up there after an evening of bear hunting in the canyon with friends on the very first night. Packed to get in and long line but it only took 2 beers to realize the only 2 strippers were the worst talent on earth. Within an hour the place was all but empty and my friends, both longtime houndsmen, were comparing the nipples on one their old female hounds, Sassie, to those on one of thr naked dancers. I was only back once after that for a bachelor party. And my standards for cheap entertainment are VERY low.

I went into the Muffalo Station only one time. The first dancer was the valedictorian from my high school 2 years prior to me. Pretty sure she was on a full academic scholarship, must have needed a little spending cash!

 

[Straight Arrow]

I went into the Muffalo Station only one time. The first dancer was the valedictorian from my high school 2 years prior to me. Pretty sure she was on a full academic scholarship, must have needed a little spending cash!

FWIW, demise of the Buffalo Jump occurred after an extremely inebriated customer headed north on Die-Way 191 and head-on crashed, killing innocents driving south. Buffalo Jump was sued, went bankrupt and closed. It was later renovated into a convenience store, restaurant, but nothing worked out, so was closed for a few years. The new owner came along with a pile of money to refurbish and upgrade the facility. It's now called the JUMP and is a good place to dine, or have breakfast or lunch during the day.
One of the principle owners told me of personally removing the dancing poles and assured me that the plan for dancing was live music and cowboy high stepping. That's what's happening now.

Before the Buffalo Jump was a strip club, it had been Heap's Cheese Factory for decades. My wife had worked there in the retail end which sold Wilcoxon's ice cream and popular fresh cheese curds. Later when it was a strip joint, our grandkids would drive by with friends and parents to ski Big Sky and they would tell them," Our Nanny used to work there!"

 

[RobertD]

Have to say the Buffalo Jump is a top tier name for a beer joint

 

[4ohSick]

Dont think it was one of those. I was building my house up by the hospital, and staying at the Ranch House (roach house) motel. It wasn't far from there. All the old buildings in that area were torn down and replaced years ago, likely including the restaurant's building. It was mostly outdoor dining if memory serves, and I ate there often that spring. It was close to and across the street from Heeb's grocery. Is that store still around?
MacKenzie River Pizza downtown was new and good back then, and ate there too. Went downhill fast for some reason, probably after they started franchising it.

The Garage? Mostly barbecue/burgers? No longer around, but it was when I was in college 2010-15; not as divey as the Scoop (may it RIP) or the other distinguished members of the barmuda triangle, but nobody would've mistaken it for a fine dining establishment.

 

[Straight Arrow]

The Garage? Mostly barbecue/burgers? No longer around

Actually it's part of a different restaurant, but still has the outdoor seating on East Main and good burgers and other fare. I think the same metal outdoor furniture is still there.

 

[sclancy27]

Bozeman was still okay until the mid 2010's, the change from 2016 till now is horrifying. About the only things I care about in Bozeman is The Roost. Although, the women on that campus are outstanding, a warm September day brings back the memories...I haven't been to a place that rivals it, maybe Spring Break Daytona Beach.

 

[Bambistew]

Worse places to live than Bozeman, for sure... It sure has changed a lot, but so has everywhere in MT. I sure hope MT doesn't go the way the CO Front Range population explosion went, but its heading that way. Too much land left to develop in Bozeman and surrounding valley. No stopping it, IMO.

My choice would be Butte if I had to move back to MT, or somewhere in western WY.

Not much of a boom happening here in AK. For me this is what MT was like when I was growing up. Still tons of open spaces, hardly anyone using them (outside a few popular places). Its crazy how many endless miles of solitude a guy can find here in a short drive, and dive in off the highway. In 10 years of hunting caribou off the highway. I can count on one hand the number of hunters I've seen in the field where I was hunting.

 

[BigHornRam]

The Garage? Mostly barbecue/burgers? No longer around, but it was when I was in college 2010-15; not as divey as the Scoop (may it RIP) or the other distinguished members of the barmuda triangle, but nobody would've mistaken it for a fine dining establishment.

The menu was Spaghetti, barbecue chicken and ribs, and something weird like an eggplant dish. Also a barbecue vegetable plate. Think they closed down in the early 2000's. The spaghetti was a huge plate full for around $4.00. Good food when you were working outdoors all day.

 

[KB_]

Perspective is a key word. mtmuley

Agreed.

 

[noisy]

I moved to Montana in 1983 and yes I've seen lots of changes over the years. However, it didn't really start to depress me until the past couple years and the massive influx of remote workers due to covid. It was already happening, but the pandemic accelerated it by 1,000 percent. Probably the saddest part for me is that my kids will likely never be able to afford to live here. Maybe if they move to Rudyard or something (where my wife and I spent two years), but still. I try not to think about it.

 

[Bulldog0156]

Bozeman: was it ever that good?

 

[texwest44]

Depends on what anyone's bar for BS is. For me, it's somewhere in the middle. It's easily one of my least favorite Montana towns, but I'd prefer it over a lot of other places outside of the state. I just moved onto the Flathead reservation, and while they have their own idiosyncrasies, I certainly have been enjoying the generally peaceful atmosphere of the area. Cheap beer, lots of unique local business and culture, light traffic, and some killer internet. Something to say when your town is beat out by the rez.

 

[antlerradar]

Something to say when your town is beat out by the rez.

Lodge Grass is not going to beat out Bozeman.

 

[Hem]

Lodge Grass is not going to beat out Bozeman.

They got game though...b-ball.