Updated Kalispell review and response to Sora
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9/13/2017
Sora has responded to my frank review of Kalispell from 6/2016 with all the denial and hyperbole of someone who sounds more like a local realtor than a new resident. If she isn't a realtor, then she must be buried in her honeymoon phase somewhere in a nice planned neighborhood.
While my views of Kalispell residents have softened, I stand 100% behind my claim that Kalispell is not Mayberry and that there are many better small towns to raise a family especially if you are used to middle-class suburbia and seek a more positive and energetic social environment.
Many of Sora's claims are absurd, such as Kalispell having cheap housing and good paying jobs. Check the Flathead County school website and see that a local elementary school prestigious office administrator job pays ~$13/hr with insurance costs starting at $300 per month. Surprisingly, you can also earn ~$13/hr cooking at Panda Express. Now take that wage and try to find a 3BR rental in Kalispell. Right now the average 3BR lease (when you can find one) is about $1400/m. If that is affordable to Sora then she probably is better suited to the crepes and art galleries of resort-taxed Whitefish.
There are major social problems in Kalispell. There are 148 registered sex offenders living in town. We came from a middle-class town (we were renters, not rich uppers like Sora assumes) from another state that had FIVE sex offenders living in a city three times the size of Kalispell. Do the math and ask the questions, if you dare...
Our child knows a network of homeless middle- and high-school students who occupy abandoned properties because they want to stay out of the foster care system. Sora will say I made that up.
We finally realized that after having the last four fast food meal orders screwed up (including an epic 20 minute wait at Taco Bell) that the people working there are either retarded or high. I am sorry, but it really is that bad sometimes, and the reasons for it may be painful to admit.
I could go on, but Sora is contradicting facts like the published suicide and alcohol statistics, simply based on her feelings as an "artist" who obviously refuses to see reality even when she runs into it. People like Sora who brush aside statistics should stick to their art and shut up about harsh realities as experienced by those of us who must live in them.
For those who are interested in living in the real Kalispell, I say again this is a great place for a rugged self-starting individualists who adore nature and outdoor activities but are sick of government intrusion. Montana truly is one of the last best places, but just be prepared for months of crappy gray winters and smoky summers in this part of the state.
While people can be friendly, they are not cosmopolitan, which is to expected in a town this size. There just aren't that many here, so it may take a lot of effort and luck to break into a friend group unless you grow up here. Again, society won't automagically prop you up here. You must be a strong individual who pulls his own bootstraps and finds his footing.
What makes Kalispell (and Montana) special is largely about what it is not. If you can forgive its rough edges and carve your own niche, there is no place like it in this country. Nature dominates human culture here. If that appeals to you, then come learn what you are made of as you experience the pros and cons of that beautiful and harsh reality.
But if you happen to be an hysterically optimistic artist who sees no evil, Kalispell truly is paradise. Either way, load up on Vitamin D and beware those drunk drivers.
Jason | Kalispell, MT