"By the way, How is it that a city can be..." Because it posits itself as a fancy and refined city. (and it does) He mentioned that in the review. Are you dense?
Ralph | | Report Abuse

You sound depressed. Sorry you had a lousy experince.
Catherine | Missoula, MT | Report Abuse

Tom L you seem to be a very happy and contented man. The city is lucky to have you. One question though: How can you continue to live in a city that is "feeble and sanctimonious". By the way, How is it that a city can be...
Edmund | Spring Valley, NV | Report Abuse

At first when I read this all I heard was "I voted for Trump. I hate liberals and I have no idea what it is like to live in a big city." Here's a translation so more of us can hear what Tom L. seems to want to say since it feels important Ultimately, I felt disappointed and lonely in Missoula. I think the truth about Missoula is that it is not what it once was or at least it is not what I hoped it would be today. There is a seemingly concerted effort to attract new people but only those of a certain quality for the end goal of possibly stimulating the economy but the outcome is a change in culture. The transplants seem to be primarily from bigger cities and lack the core value of community connectedness. I do not know if people are really being honest or perhaps previous commentators have not experienced how truly rewarding it is to live where I have lived or at least where I hope to live one day. From my experience the people of Missoula are passionate about issues and that keeps people apart. The city is not a true community. I wish I had the words to describe how good it could be to live in a place where you know and love your neighbors--to be able to go about your day, do your work, and still enjoy the richness of sharing your life with the people around you. I wanted that for Missoula. Instead it's citizens, like in most big cities, are too busy acquiring things and focusing mainly on themselves to participate and contribute to a truly loving community. They measure each other's and their own success with distracting and superficial standards and I do not want to participate with a people group that would look at me and think "He does not shop at Patagonia. He must not be worth the trouble of including and valuing as a member in my social microcosm." It is heart breaking, because I am worth it and so are people like me. What is even more shocking is that I fear they are mismanaging and giving away the communities resources by not monitoring elected officials. The people of Missoula seem to go along with ideas with which I do not agree and I do not think there is anything I can do about it. Missoula is a highly desirable place to live and because of that housing prices are higher than average. The houses are nice but expensive and I am not sure if the sacrifice is worth it. Especially because wages are low compared to surrounding areas or even the national average and it is difficult to get a job you can enjoy. You may not feel as if you fit in unless you value intellectual moralism. Montana's nature is an incredible sanctuary for the soul but the people can be disconnected. Moreover, the financial hardship of having to compete and simultaneously demonstrate worth lends one to trade away fellowship and love. It is scary and stressful to not be able to have confidence in your financial strength and maybe because of that people become obsessed with keeping their resources to themselves and acquiring so much more than they really need. Please, do not hope in Missoula. I was hurt and you may be as well. It turns out survival is hard there and I hope in reality it may not have to be so hard.
Erica | Goleta, CA | Report Abuse

To Dane: West coast cities draw people from everywhere in the world. There are tons of job opportunities, great weather all year round, and a lot of diversity. The reason why the homelessness is so bad can be attributed to 2 main reasons. 1) Homeless people from across the country take greyhound buses to cities that they can survive in year round (aka they won't freeze in winter or die of heat stroke in summer), and 2) There are tons of shelters and programs for homeless people there. The problem is that the needs of these people cannot be met due to the overcrowding, which is a result of the amenities previously mentioned. Crowding triggers competitive housing prices, which price out large swaths of the population. Yes. Coastal and liberal cities have problems, but most of the bad outcomes are not due to policies. Rather, the issue is overcrowding due to people finding those policies to be desirable, as well as the weather, job market, and diversity. As far as pollution goes, Los Angeles is, for example, one of the lowest pollution big cities in the world. The reason? Environmental regulations. On the average day, they have better air quality than Missoula, which is kind of alarming (though I understand that wood burning stoves are the main reason for missoula's pollution, along with large trucks being the norm for drivers, which is understandable given the terrain). Ultimately, my point is that 'voting liberal' is not the problem with the big cities. The problem is population density overwhelming the system. Liberals and conservatives need to find some common ground again. We can't be so polarized. Each side has it's positives and negatives.
transplant | Salt Lake City, UT | Report Abuse

"Tom L you seem to be a very happy and contented man. The city is lucky to have you. One question though: How can you continue to live in a city that is "feeble and sanctimonious". By the way, How is it that a city can be..." This comment makes no sense to me.
Tom L. | | Report Abuse

Y: "I voted for Trump." Me: I did not vote for Trump. "I hate liberals" I don't hate anybody. I'm not irrational. "I have no idea what it is like to live in a big city." I sure do. I know every move that people in big cities make. You can tell those lies but you are only fooling you. Also, not that I voted for Trump; but I'm sure tons of liberals voted for Trump. Yep, it's possible for liberals to vote for Trump just like conservatives. And it's possible for conservatives to vote for Democrat. Seems like somebody here is pretty dumb and a wing-nut. Congratulations on embarrassing yourself, Erica - instead of being passive-aggressive, please try to make a more constructive response next time?
Tom L. | | Report Abuse

Great interview!! Largely accurate from what I've seen!! The west coast continues to move east and pollute and destroy along the way! The saddly ironic part is that they have left the coast because they didn't like what politics has done to destroy everything, yet instead of learning from this and changing for the better, they continue to destroy by voting liberal!!!
Dane | Bainbridge Island, WA | Report Abuse

Great interview!! Largely accurate from what I've seen!! The west coast continues to move east and pollute and destroy along the way! The saddly ironic part is that they have left the coast because they didn't like what politics has done to destroy everything, yet instead of learning from this and changing for the better, they continue to destroy by voting liberal!!!
Dane | Bainbridge Island, WA | Report Abuse

You are so right! Missoula has the highest rate for suicide in the NATION! And the data is hidden if you look on the City of Missoula website..the page does not load! I just had it confirmed that the Church of Satan has a big presence here, bigger than Christians. I have seen Freemasonic trailers in the Fairgrounds which blood red font with black polka dots in the letters..ugly foulness in plain sight. Montana as of 2018 was nominated as worst driver FOUR years in a row. There is a less than 1% vacancy rate that allows a free pass for landlords and property managers to run their real estate into the ground, not even build to code..who cares if you die in the deathtrap they call housing! Socially, you begin to realize folks are xenophobic...if you are not a third generation Montanan..Missoulian, the folks from you have little interest in new friends, unless you can make them a lot of money.
Andrejka | Missoula, MT | Report Abuse