Why Jason is Wrong
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4/8/2017
As someone who recently moved to Kalispell six months ago specifically to raise my family here, I feel compelled to breakdown Jason's review and explain why he's just plain wrong. I don't want people looking to move here to be deterred by his skewed upper-middle-class view of this wonderful gem of a town. His worldview is clearly very small, narrow, and filled with ignorance.
>Kalispell is an unhappy town... Its residents tend to behave like the deer: you see them everywhere, but they are skittish. You constantly ask yourself how people can be so unhappy...I moved here with my family 1+ year ago and only just met my neighbor...
Kalispell is one of the happiest towns I've ever been in, so I believe that people are simply mirroring and matching Jason's sour attitude. I've had multiple people come up to me to say hello, and ask me how I'm doing just while I'm out and about running errands. Everyone is always smiling and waving at each other. I'm an artist, and sometimes while doodling in public, various people will stop just to tell me they love my drawings. I've already met two of my neighbors, and I just moved in to my new rental one week ago! Maybe instead of being weird and judgemental, you should try being more friendly, and people will match you with the same level of friendliness you're showing them. Montanans don't like fake or dishonest people.
>We learned in the past year are that Kalispell has major social issues from multi-generational poverty and substance abuse. There are a lot of drug addicts and alcoholics and children of them. You get the feeling, from meeting the older natives, that it was a much nicer town a few decades ago...
You're a fool if you believe wherever you came from, or wherever you're going, won't have these exact same issues. Meth, and other drugs, plague every single city in America, both big and small. There are alcoholics everywhere you go, there are drug addicts everywhere you go, and GASP, yes, there are poor people everywhere you go too. No city is perfect, and instead of judging others and turning a blind eye, perhaps you should try being a part of the solution instead. Anyone with a brain also knows that every "old native" of any city, all accross America, is going to look at the past with rose-colored glasses. They always go on and on about how the past was better, even if it wasn't, and personally I'm enjoying the newly-developed Kalispell. It has all the modern comforts of a big city while still being a friendly, one-road small town, and that's freakin' awesome.
>...your children will be exposed to the sort of poverty and social issues that in bigger cities you might have been economically segregated from. While this may be more "real" it can be extremely unpleasant and traumatic for your children to participate in it. I'm talking homeless children, children in group homes, kids who have sex at age 10, etc. We were advised the only way to get around the good kids and parents was to put our kids into sports.
I don't even know where to start with this, I was flabbergasted when I read this bit. First of all, unless you want your kids to completely fail at life the moment they move out on their own, they should probably be aware of the social and economical issues of our country. If it's traumatic for your kids to learn that there are poor children, or children with other issues, then what have you even been doing as a parent? Teaching them that everything in the world is rainbows, butterflies, love, and puppies? Are they those kids that get a trophy and a pat on the back when they do even the most minor things? I'm all for protecting children, but making them live a life of pure ignorance is not right, and teaching them to judge and hate others isn't right either. That is not the way to prepare them for adulthood. Yes, there are homeless children in the world, yes, there are kids that don't have parents and have to live in group homes, yes, there are kids that are doing things like drinking and having sex... and these kids exist EVERYWHERE! Do you REALLY think those hoity toity private school kids aren't also smoking herb after school and having sex too? And wow... God forbid your kids have to move their chubby butts and get into a sport or two. If they're lazy nerds, then let them be friends with the other lazy nerdy kids... or were those kids from families that were too "poor" for your tastes? By the way, you do know that as a parent you're allowed to sit in on classes, right? If you wanted SO badly to learn about your child's education, you could have simply done that instead of whining about how there aren't enough parent-teacher meetings.
>Blahblahblah Kalispell isn't friendly and MUH STATISTICS I FOUND ONLINE
Once again, this is just pure baloney. I haven't met one rude person yet in 6 months, I've never seen an openly wasted person in public, and no one I know has killed themselves yet. Just keep on reaching, man.
>I'm not friendly and my kids are probably just as rude and judgemental as me, no one likes us here!
Heh, I wonder why? The rest of his review is just talking about how deer walk around town and guns are cool here, so there's not much else worth commenting on.
Kalispell is an amazing place, and if you grew up in a small town like me (2,000 pop. town in Kentucky), but you prefer the amenities a larger city may hold, then this is the place for you. Rent and housing is cheap, work is easy to find and pays pretty darn well too (for example, an entry-level job at the McDonalds here actually starts people at 9.50), and the air smells SO sweet and delicious. You can see all the stars at night even if you're in the middle of town. The library here is totally awesome. I could go on and on! My husband and I have totally fallen in love with this place, and we're never ever moving somewhere else. Don't let negative reviewers like this guy change your decision to come here. At the very least, I suggest going on a mini-vacation here and checking things out if you're interested in moving to the area... if you're hoity toity like Jason and his family, then perhaps Whitefish, 20 minutes north of Kalispell, would be more your style. Thanks for reading my little ramble/breakdown/review, and happy hunting, everyone!
Sora | Kalispell, MT