Observations about Bozeman (ski resort, transplants, for sale)

[Milwaukee City]

So after my most recent trip to Bozeman or "Bozo" or "BozeAngeles" I have formulated a few opinions based off my two recent trips here.

First thing we see upon exiting the freeway is 3 homeless people begging for money at the off ramps, and apparently it's such a big problem we noticed garbage bags near the freeway full of garbage. Then driving into town we noticed graffiti, on buildings and overpasses. Now graffiti in Milwaukee is very common but to see it in a small town of Bozeman was surprising or a huge disappointment along with the meandering beggars.

Then we noticed a lot of Meth billboards and signs telling people to keep off of meth? didn't know you needed a billboard for that but anyways. The roads were not in good shape both in terms of snow plowing, I take it you don't use salt around here? The conditions of the roads were like being back in the city of Milwaukee which is not good. Don't y'all have high taxes to pay for roads and alleys to be paved better?

Traffic, based on traffic alone you'd think you were in a city the size of 300K not 60K. Maybe the city has outgrown the layout which is probably still operating at 1990's level back when Bozeman had 23,000 people.

All the houses and building look like they are from the same color sheet, earth-toney-hippie-coastie browns, oranges, tans, shale, black, shades of dark or faded colors. And they all use the same metal siding and roofing. Plus the cheapest house for sale is 500K which calling it a tear-down is putting it mildly.

At the parking lot of the Safeway I noticed not a single car on both sides of the aisle had Montana plates, wow do you guys have the transplants living here. I also noticed people living out of their cars, jacked up off road vans and apparently that's a legal thing here. They just let you live in your car or van, whole streets that looked like van livers parked on them.

Now it's not all doom and gloom, great restaurants for a small town, a ton of unique stores that cater to just about every thing in life. Need a pottery-brewery-tattoo-artist gallery they got 6 of them. Great places to shop and eat way above any city of similar size. Now I did hear people complain there wasn't a great restaurant scene here but they must be the coasties I was referring to earlier or I just don't need much.

Being only an hour from what I consider the best ski resort in the country is fantastic. Downtown Bozeman is only 20 min away from the first trail head into the mountains is also a huge plus. The scenery is great around here and the wildlife is fantastic.

While Bozeman is great for a lot of people and I can't argue with the facts of 20,000 people here in 1980 to over 60,000 in 2024, people have voted with their feet and love Bozeman and Bozeman sees no slowdown what-so-ever. It's just too packed and crazy for me. Why move to the mountains just to live in a densely packed town anyways. Also all the new homes seems to be built on a 5,000 sq foot plot with no yard or 1 garage, seems strange for a set of people that seem to love the outdoors. I guess that's what they mean when they say outdoorsy is different than being outside-y. If I would ever move to Montana it wouldn't be next to all the citidiots from the coast aka "coasties".

Best of luck Bozeman! I'll never live there but it's like NYC; it's a great place to visit.

[NDak15]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

So after my most recent trip to Bozeman or "Bozo" or "BozeAngeles" I have formulated a few opinions based off my two recent trips here.

First thing we see upon exiting the freeway is 3 homeless people begging for money at the off ramps, and apparently it's such a big problem we noticed garbage bags near the freeway full of garbage. Then driving into town we noticed graffiti, on buildings and overpasses. Now graffiti in Milwaukee is very common but to see it in a small town of Bozeman was surprising or a huge disappointment along with the meandering beggars.

Then we noticed a lot of Meth billboards and signs telling people to keep off of meth? didn't know you needed a billboard for that but anyways. The roads were not in good shape both in terms of snow plowing, I take it you don't use salt around here? The conditions of the roads were like being back in the city of Milwaukee which is not good. Don't y'all have high taxes to pay for roads and alleys to be paved better?

Traffic, based on traffic alone you'd think you were in a city the size of 300K not 60K. Maybe the city has outgrown the layout which is probably still operating at 1990's level back when Bozeman had 23,000 people.

All the houses and building look like they are from the same color sheet, earth-toney-hippie-coastie browns, oranges, tans, shale, black, shades of dark or faded colors. And they all use the same metal siding and roofing. Plus the cheapest house for sale is 500K which calling it a tear-down is putting it mildly.

At the parking lot of the Safeway I noticed not a single car on both sides of the aisle had Montana plates, wow do you guys have the transplants living here. I also noticed people living out of their cars, jacked up off road vans and apparently that's a legal thing here. They just let you live in your car or van, whole streets that looked like van livers parked on them.

Now it's not all doom and gloom, great restaurants for a small town, a ton of unique stores that cater to just about every thing in life. Need a pottery-brewery-tattoo-artist gallery they got 6 of them. Great places to shop and eat way above any city of similar size. Now I did hear people complain there wasn't a great restaurant scene here but they must be the coasties I was referring to earlier or I just don't need much.

Being only an hour from what I consider the best ski resort in the country is fantastic. Downtown Bozeman is only 20 min away from the first trail head into the mountains is also a huge plus. The scenery is great around here and the wildlife is fantastic.

While Bozeman is great for a lot of people and I can't argue with the facts of 20,000 people here in 1980 to over 60,000 in 2024, people have voted with their feet and love Bozeman and Bozeman sees no slowdown what-so-ever. It's just too packed and crazy for me. Why move to the mountains just to live in a densely packed town anyways. Also all the new homes seems to be built on a 5,000 sq foot plot with no yard or 1 garage, seems strange for a set of people that seem to love the outdoors. I guess that's what they mean when they say outdoorsy is different than being outside-y. If I would ever move to Montana it wouldn't be next to all the citidiots from the coast aka "coasties".

Best of luck Bozeman! I'll never live there but it's like NYC; it's a great place to visit.

Traffic was even worse when I lived there in the early 2000s during its initial growth. It's very sad to see what that town turned into.

[Shuffler]

Nice writeup, OP - that about nails it for every single 'pretty place with amenities' in MT.

Fun to visit, not so much fun to live with 24/7/365 after the novelty wears off.

[Threerun]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

So after my most recent trip to Bozeman or "Bozo" or "BozeAngeles" I have formulated a few opinions based off my two recent trips here.

First thing we see upon exiting the freeway is 3 homeless people begging for money at the off ramps, and apparently it's such a big problem we noticed garbage bags near the freeway full of garbage. Then driving into town we noticed graffiti, on buildings and overpasses. Now graffiti in Milwaukee is very common but to see it in a small town of Bozeman was surprising or a huge disappointment along with the meandering beggars. Yes there are homeless in Montana. In Bozeman there are a lot of working homeless as well. There's a general lack affordable housing in and around the most popular places in Montana.

Then we noticed a lot of Meth billboards and signs telling people to keep off of meth? didn't know you needed a billboard for that but anyways. The roads were not in good shape both in terms of snow plowing, I take it you don't use salt around here? The conditions of the roads were like being back in the city of Milwaukee which is not good. Don't y'all have high taxes to pay for roads and alleys to be paved better?Thank the Lord we don't use salt or liquid chloride OTHER than on some bridges and overpasses. Count yourself blessed if you have no drug problems in your city/state.

Traffic, based on traffic alone you'd think you were in a city the size of 300K not 60K. Maybe the city has outgrown the layout which is probably still operating at 1990's level back when Bozeman had 23,000 people. Come in the summer during tourist season. You ain't seen nothing yet.

All the houses and building look like they are from the same color sheet, earth-toney-hippie-coastie browns, oranges, tans, shale, black, shades of dark or faded colors. And they all use the same metal siding and roofing. Plus the cheapest house for sale is 500K which calling it a tear-down is putting it mildly. Yup. New construction isn't everyone's cup of tea. There are older parts of town with some great older homes, but alas a lot of rich out of staters buy them out and either demo them or 'renovate' to fit the modern chic Western motif. Or turn them into VRBO's

At the parking lot of the Safeway I noticed not a single car on both sides of the aisle had Montana plates, wow do you guys have the transplants living here. I also noticed people living out of their cars, jacked up off road vans and apparently that's a legal thing here. They just let you live in your car or van, whole streets that looked like van livers parked on them.See first response.

Now it's not all doom and gloom, great restaurants for a small town, a ton of unique stores that cater to just about every thing in life. Need a pottery-brewery-tattoo-artist gallery they got 6 of them. Great places to shop and eat way above any city of similar size. Now I did hear people complain there wasn't a great restaurant scene here but they must be the coasties I was referring to earlier or I just don't need much.Roost Fried Chicken. *drops mic*

Being only an hour from what I consider the best ski resort in the country is fantastic. Downtown Bozeman is only 20 min away from the first trail head into the mountains is also a huge plus. The scenery is great around here and the wildlife is fantastic. Yup why people are flocking. And it's a college town.

While Bozeman is great for a lot of people and I can't argue with the facts of 20,000 people here in 1980 to over 60,000 in 2024, people have voted with their feet and love Bozeman and Bozeman sees no slowdown what-so-ever. It's just too packed and crazy for me. Why move to the mountains just to live in a densely packed town anyways. Also all the new homes seems to be built on a 5,000 sq foot plot with no yard or 1 garage, seems strange for a set of people that seem to love the outdoors. I guess that's what they mean when they say outdoorsy is different than being outside-y. If I would ever move to Montana it wouldn't be next to all the citidiots from the coast aka "coasties". Which is why we don't live in Bozeman. My 23yo daughter, however, loves it.

Best of luck Bozeman! I'll never live there but it's like NYC; it's a great place to visit.

See responses in red above.