Pros & Cons
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11/3/2007
PROS: Bozeman is a beautiful town. Surrounded by mountains with easy access to every outdoor activity you could imagine. It's population is just big enough to escape the "small-town" feel, but just small enough to get to know your neighbor.
CONS: While the above mentioned Pros contribute to a positive "quality of life" there are what I consider two major pitfalls: cost-of-living and lack of culture. The cost of living is very high making it impossible for the average Joe to own a home. It definitely either takes a two-earner income or landing one of the few professional jobs that actually pay worth a darn.
The culture here is very narrow-minded. You have your western/cowboy/mountain/outdoor culture and that's about it. And even that is losing it's identity among the strip malls and over-development. I'm from the area(caucasian), but my husband is not, and he stands out as being from a different ethnic background. He says of all the places he has lived (Idaho, California, Utah, Washington, Texas, Billings,MT) that Bozeman is the least accepting of cultural and ethnic differences. Unless you talk to one of the many Californians that have migrated here many of the people in Bozeman are sheltered and narrow-minded. My husband has been employed with three different companies during our time here in Bozeman and all three of them have treated him with very little respect or professionalism. He has experieneced discrimination on many occasions (amongst employees, public service, restaurants, and retail), and I have been witness to it and have been embarrassed and appalled. I'm from Billings, Montana - grew up there and rarely saw such intolerance. You can't ask a native, caucasian Bozemanite if Bozeman is accepting of other cultures and open-minded, because they haven't experienced the other end of it.
Ursala | Bozeman, MT