Can't Wait to See'em

[historyfan]

Spent last week in Bozeman and had more free time to chat. My unscientific findings indicate the economy of Billings would be a more promising area to start a business.

Bozeman's economy is limping along. I was surprised by that.

According to the paper, a few big real estate development companies are defaulting or late on property taxes that are used to run schools.

Two friends/owners of established businesses are hoping to hold on until it recovers. Both mentioned downfall of Vann's as indicative of retail climate. Realtors in area are selling foreclosures and short sales instead of regular listings.

Here's an example of what is going on that you can not see- a computer tech guy said he took a 10k salary cut last year to keep his job and was driving a cab to make up the difference so he did not lose his home. He was in his 60's. He felt lucky. His friends have lost their retirement invested in local real estate and the stock market.

Bozeman looks hustle & bustle with traffic but retail store inventories were sparse in places like Schnee's. There are lots of empty storefronts in newer developments.

An electrician said building construction was limited to new rentals for college students and some commercial. The primary housing and secondary housing construction projects are in a holding pattern. Experienced trades people are working for big box stores to get by until things pick it.

[happiness is]

I agree with historyfan.

Bozeman was over heated during the building boom, and it still has not recovered from the crash.
It is still a great place to
live, but financial reality for myself and other baby boomers here is that just getting the mortgage paid and
hanging on to our homes can be a struggle now, and being too old to be hired and too young to retire is
a real problem.

Billings is the only "city" in Montana that has a population and economy that is rather healthy, especially since
it is more diversified and has the up-side of being a place that supplies services to oil and gas development in
North Dakota and eastern Montana.

I don't believe a person should permanently move anywhere without first visiting and spending some time there
in person.

Hope that helps.

H.I.
Bozeman

[CTC]

Originally Posted by historyfan

Spent last week in Bozeman and had more free time to chat. My unscientific findings indicate the economy of Billings would be a more promising area to start a business.

Bozeman's economy is limping along. I was surprised by that.

According to the paper, a few big real estate development companies are defaulting or late on property taxes that are used to run schools.

Two friends/owners of established businesses are hoping to hold on until it recovers. Both mentioned downfall of Vann's as indicative of retail climate. Realtors in area are selling foreclosures and short sales instead of regular listings.

Here's an example of what is going on that you can not see- a computer tech guy said he took a 10k salary cut last year to keep his job and was driving a cab to make up the difference so he did not lose his home. He was in his 60's. He felt lucky. His friends have lost their retirement invested in local real estate and the stock market.

Bozeman looks hustle & bustle with traffic but retail store inventories were sparse in places like Schnee's. There are lots of empty storefronts in newer developments.

An electrician said building construction was limited to new rentals for college students and some commercial. The primary housing and secondary housing construction projects are in a holding pattern. Experienced trades people are working for big box stores to get by until things pick it.

I don't think it is bad as you think-I live in the West village area and there are at least 10-15 new SF houses being built right now within a mile from where I live -I drive by these places every day. I have seen other developments as well. Ground is being broken all around Bozo-including a new Olive Garden, Town Pump and others. Oracle bought Right Now-there are tech jobs listed every day on the job boards.

The new Schnees downtown store IMO is sort of a joke- 1 room for shoes, another for clothing and a few fishing rods etc. The old Schnees was better-just shoes/boots.

Bozeman may be limping along-like most of the US, but it is still much more vibrant and fun place to live than Billings-I have lived in both. ie compare Downtown Billings with Downtown Bozeman-the town which is half the size of Billings has twice as much going on. Not to put down Billings, because we enjoyed our 2-3 years there

Hustle and bustle indicates that there is a pulse. Just sayin'