Reviews & Comments
Bozeman, MT
You better have a great job -
9/26/2009 Bozeman is a beautiful town. There is quite a bit of culture here. There are lots of outdoor activities. I went to college at Montana State and got a good education. However, this town is not a good place to live.
For starters, the cost of living is high. Rental in most apartments is what most people pay for house payments in most towns. There is lots of job competition here as college students tend to hang out years after they graduate looking for a job. The traffic here is horrible because there was no planning and the infrastructure was not built for the size population the town has. People here usually drive well under the speed limit. I also might add that people here are some the rudest I have encountered ANYWHERE in the US.
Bozeman has a good university. However, if you come here to college be warned the town is very anti-student. You will need to stay on campus to work and live. Businesses will often not hire students and landlords will either not rent to them or treat them like second-class citizens.
Rock Springs, WY
Nice town but not for everyone, especially the fai -
9/12/2009Rock Springs will grow on you. It is a big city (about 20,000) by Wyoming standards. There are a few chain stores and a small mall. Wal-Mart is the main place to shop though. The people are welcoming. Be aware, this town is ISOLATED. Green River is sort of a nearby bedroom community, but otherwise you have to go more than 100 miles to Rawlins or Evanston which have close to 10,000 people. It is also located in high desert which takes some people some getting used to as it is mostly sage brush and very rocky. It is very dry and can be difficult and expensive to maintain a green lawn. We also get both climate extremes. The night life is also lacking for the most part. However, in about two and a half hours you can get to Salt Lake City if you need civilization. Most of the land around here is public and many people partake in dirt biking and four wheeling. The Flaming Gorge Reservoir is also nearby.
Casper, WY
Hub of Wyoming -
8/23/2009Casper is a nice town. The people are friendly for the most part and are very accepting of outsiders. They do not care where you are from as long as you work hard and don't have a bad attitude. The cost of living is reasonable and there are decent jobs to be had, although the majority of them are mining-related. The town has lots of big box stores and a very nice mall (one of only three in the state). Casper is the "big city" of Wyoming and so many events happen there. There are lots of outdoor activities as well. There is small ski resort on Casper Mountain, camping is available there, fishing on the Platte River, and there are some reservoirs nearby where you can have motorboats. Hunting is also readily available, especially for antelope and deer. The only negatives:
* Long, cold winters
* Very windy (not uncommon to have 60mph+ for days at a time)
* Not a good singles scene, particularly for men (many more men than women, this is all over Wyoming)
* Isolated (aside from Glenrock (approx. 25 miles away, pop. 2,371)and Douglas (approx 50 miles way pop. 5,675)it is a minimum of 1.5 to 2 hours to other towns. The next closest city is Cheyenne at about 175 miles away.
The only reason I left was due to a lay-off.
Bozeman, MT
Scenery isn't everything -
8/23/2009I went to Montana State University. It is a good college, and I would recommend it to anyone. However,that is the only reason to live in Bozeman. If you come to college, you would be wise to live and work on campus the entire time. Here is why:
Bozeman has an insanely high cost of living. Keep in mind that most people are working very low-paying jobs and working 2 or 3 of them. If you are a college student, you will have a hard time finding a job off campus, most people will not hire students. Job competition is fierce because many students hang around town years after they graduate.
Unless you are making a minimum of $100,000 a year, you will probably never afford a home in Bozeman, maybe in Belgrade, probably in Manhattan or Three Forks. Renting is also very expensive. Most rentals cost as much as a house payment in most cities. Many of the landlords in town are horrible slumlords. Most will not rent to college students and many of those that do are some of the worst slumlords. I knew people who had property that ended up being condemned.
In general, the people in Bozeman are very unfriendly. Many of them have a better-than-thou attitude about themselves and have no basic manners. As mentioned above, the town has a very anti-student attitude.
Traffic is also obscene for a town this size. There was absolutely no planning and the growth is concentrated on one street that in a matter of 10 years has had almost every big box store imaginable built on it. People usually drive well under the speed limit and there is traffic every hour of the day as many people living here are trust fund babies who don't work.
Bozeman is a beautiful town, it is nice to visit, but I would recommend only doing that. As a single person it was bad enough, I cannot imagine what it would be like to raise a family there.
Missoula, MT
Great place to visit -
8/23/2009Missoula is a great place to visit. There are plenty of services for tourists and it is in a beautiful location.The people are friendly. However, those services provide the majority of the jobs. Very few jobs are to be had in town that will pay more than $10 an hour. Many, many University of Montana graduates have flooded the job market and are competing for the few good ones and working at lots of the low-paying ones. The cost of living is high. Due to the high cost of living and the shortage of good jobs, many people are renting at a high cost. While I didn't have a problem finding a place, it can be tough. The people are friendly but many are very close-mined, and this is a trait to be found all across western Montana. They believe they are in the best place in the world and if you are from outside of there they will not accept you. They will constantly tell you how lucky you are to live there even though wages in Montana are some of the lowest in the nation. I cannot speak for the University since I didn't graduate from there.