Californians are arriving in Montana in droves. But they're not welcome.

[Demovictory9]

https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/Californians-moving-to-Montana-exodus-tech-16330335.php

Sasha Vermel had been sewing face masks locked down in her Oakland home for months during the pandemic when her hands gave out. She realized she couldn’t even open a door anymore.

It was the last straw. She’d been out of work as a designer and seamstress since COVID-19 hit, she’d been home-schooling two kids for months and the 2020 wildfire season had been relentless. She went to her husband and asked if he wanted to fly to Missoula, Montana for the weekend and look at houses.

---------------
Many native Montana residents aren’t happy with the amount of out-of-state residents coming in and snapping up homes, and they’re not shy about saying so. Vermel says a friend was harassed at a gas station when she was filling up her car with California plates; Vermel's dad, who lives in town, has had to defend her right to move back to the state.

Still, this has happened before, Vermel pointed out. She remembers growing up and seeing anti-California bumper stickers in the late 1980s. She refuses to get discouraged. “This isn’t new. It's the same old pattern,” she said.

Lauren Craigie and her boyfriend, who moved to Bozeman in April 2020 and both work in tech, don’t say they moved from California when people ask. They mention the states where they grew up — Connecticut and Ohio respectively — and they changed their licenses right away. “Part of me is annoyed that [locals] even care. Why are they special for just being born here? Because I've lived in so many different places, I don't feel like a Californian. That was just part of my life,” Craigie said. “I think I'm still navigating the best way to handle that conversation.”

https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/Californians-moving-to-Montana-exodus-tech-16330335.php

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. I can imagine the type of California refugees that are moving to Montana.

Addition by subtraction for California.

[BradAllison]

2. Unfortunately Montana will suffer

They'll be more like Idaho soon.

[OAITW r.2.0]

3. No doubt.

Can you imagine a population of anti-socialists governing? I can't.

[Mr.Bill]

9. Yeah, the horror

of having your property values increased.

[Withywindle]

15. That actually really does suck for a lot of people

First-time homebuyers in the region especially. And in urban or semi-urban areas where there are rentals, it starts to make rent almost as high as in bigger cities. I know a lot of people in mid-sized cities or big towns who are now having to deal with the same kinds of rents and house prices you used to see only on the coasts and many of them are struggling because wages and jobs don't come close to keeping up. It's really hard on young people especially.

[2naSalit]

35. +1

[OAITW r.2.0]

42. If I read this correctly....and I could be totally wrong.

People migrating to Montana, Idaho, ND, and SD aren't looking for city life. Cheap rural property is their motivation. And, honestly, selling out of San Francisco into a rural real estate is how they can finally get ahead. But the baggage is what you will need to watch.

[jmowreader]

48. I have a different experience

I am an Idaho native. I was born in Mountain Home, attended six different elementary schools by the third grade and finally graduated from St. Maries High School. I moved back in 2010 and live in the Coeur d'Alene-Hayden-Dalton Gardens metroplex.

The Californians aren't moving to the country. They're moving to the cities - CDA and Sandpoint are thick with them. And they're bringing some of California's worst problems, like overcrowding and elevated real estate prices, with them. What they're NOT bringing with them is new jobs, unless you count all the retail that's popping up.

It's to the point where a native Idahoan can't afford to buy a home in this area. We're not showing up at the realtor's with the million bucks we got from selling our California home.

[OAITW r.2.0]

50. Can't imagine what you are going thru....but everyone wants to be where you are.

[joetheman]

66. Ah a taste of what "gentrification" feels like to black inner city dwellers.

Sigh...

[BradAllison]

47. Imagine a next door neighbor who thinks.....

.....their weren't enough Devin Nunes and Darrel Issa's being listened to where they were before?

[susanr516]

51. It's not that simple

I live in Corpus Christi. There are a lot of people relocating here due to our "cheap" home prices. However, they're getting screwed and those of us who are long-time residents are also getting screwed. Honestly, only the people who are trying to sell their homes get an advantage when property values increase. The rest of us (unless you're 65+ and claim the homestead exemption, which freezes the amount you pay in most property taxes) see no benefit from a property tax increase on our homes.

If you're from CA, I understand that you'd think a 2000 sq. ft. 3 br 2 bath home on a canal on N. Padre Island, priced under 1 million is a real bargain. Nope, it's not. Port Aransas has the highest average home prices in Nueces County, and the median price for a home there was 460K at the end of 2019, which was up 28.7% from the year before. That trend continues.

Couple that with the fact Nueces County is one of the 14 TX counties (out of 254) which are designated as first-tier coastal counties with the highest probabilities of windstorm damage. Windstorm insurance is required here (unless you've paid off your mortgage.) I have a 2200 sq ft house. Latest county appraisal value is $191K. Guess what I pay for homeowner's insurance? Nope, it's more than that. This year, it's $3387.36. Fortunately, my home is on one of the highest bluffs in the county, so I'm not required to purchase flood insurance.

What's happening here is that there are bidding wars going on for desirable properties. Houses on N. Padre Island that go on the market end up in a biding war. I have a realtor friend who said it's not unusual to get 20 offers over the list price the first day an island home is listed.

[DemocraticPatriot]

53. I bought a Michigan house a year ago for $41k

It was a "hud house" foreclosure, but not in very bad shape, really, as many might be.

Now "zillow" says it is worth 69k (the median between the high and low price estimates)


882 square feet, "small" but plenty big enough for me alone, with a full basement.

I think I bought at just the right time, before prices started to recover from the shutdown, and I was a "bargain hunter".

I feel sorry for anyone who needs to buy now. Yes, even when I was shopping there was very little on the market, but I jumped on this one. I liked the location better than the house itself-- and I "bid" a little more than I thought I should have-- but several houses I liked had already been bought from under me..... located on the far edge of my city's north side, and very quiet. I have been slowly repainting the inside and such. Had to put in a new gas water heater (to replace the electric which died fast, and I didn't want anyway)... and needs new and adequate kitchen cupboards and floors, but that's about it...

(wasn't what some folks would consider "move in ready", but I moved in and am living here anyway. A little lazy about some of the improvements I wanted to make, but I have so few visitors... who cares. I spend most of my time in a "legal bedroom" in the basement, where I house my computer and main television-- and this summer, I have not had to run the air conditioning at all, lol)

[Maru Kitteh]

59. Do you think everyone can own property?

What an entitled statement.

I've had one nurse manager and several CNAs who have had to leave Montana because the newly jacked-up property prices mean the homes they were renting for years were sold out from under them. They can't afford to live here now. Less than impressive (read here grubby and aged) 2-bedroom apartments are going for $2000/mo which I'm sure many snobs and people used to markets that demand much more will think is no big deal, but we're talking about single moms making $14/hr. There is no housing to be found and what is available is grossly out of reach.

Late-middle-age and elderly couples who planned responsibly for retirement are having to sell the homes they raised their families in, homes they were born in, because the taxes have gone through the roof. Young couples and families can't afford to buy a first home.

All of this SUCKS for our community, it's having a negative impact on the safety and quality of life of our seniors but thanks for the condescension and the nifty sarcasm emoji. That's awesome. You're cool.

[Mr.Bill]

60. It took me until age 50 and moving to an area where it was affordable.

I lived in Silicon Valley for 30 years and, no, I couldn't afford it there. Don't you dare call me entitled. I'm a retired blue collar worker who never made more than 30K a year and I'm retired in a single wide trailer in a senior park in small town.

And if a nurse manager can't afford a house, that's a wage problem, not a real estate problem. Tell her to move to California she'll make 150-200K a year. My daughter is an RN in management.

[KentuckyWoman]

71. People don't think about what happens to rents when the market inflates.

Eventually the powers that be will blow the market up to the point to blows up again and people will be underwater again.

In my lifetime ... about every 20 years the cycle starts over.

[DenaliDemocrat]

68. Actually it fucking sucks

Had to sell our ranch because of all the “ranchettes” that sprung up around us. Raising cattle is hard. It’s even harder when a bunch of people buying vacation homes drive your property values higher so you cannot afford the taxes. Fuckers stole water too. Lawyers aren’t cheap either.

[Mysterian]

4. Do tell!

What exactly do you imagine about these American citizens lawfully moving to another area of their nation?

[OAITW r.2.0]

6. What I think is....

Last edited Fri Jul 23, 2021, 10:02 PM - Edit history (1)

those going to Montana aren't Zappa disciples. They are people that hate living in a liberal, diverse state and their uptopian ideal is a white, lawless society that they run, democracy be damned.

What do you imagine? A rush of high tech San Francisco coders heading to Montana for the cheap bandwidth?

[msfiddlestix]

18. This 10,000 %

[OAITW r.2.0]

21. Waiting you Mysterian's opinion.....

Let's see if he shares his opinion.

[msfiddlestix]

25. not counting on it...

but you never know...

[Mysterian]

61. How special of you to wait for my response...

I think many people move to Montana for the same reasons I did about five years ago - because they want to live in an area with lots of wide open spaces, low population density, natural beauty, and a cooler climate. I don't think a lot of people move to places because of their political beliefs as their primary motivation. And I certainly don't make simplistic stereotypes, like you do.

[fishwax]

24. I think it's much likelier for economic rather than political reasons

It can be a tough place to make ends meet, given the high cost of living. And if you've done okay for yourself, and managed to buy a home in California, you can sell it in that market for what is a fortune in a place like Montana. You can buy a huge house and retire early, or live off the income of a part-time job.

I'm reminded of the 30s, when Dust Bowl refugees made their way to California. Back then there were many in California who didn't want them, just like Montana natives now; And, in parallel to your own comment, Will Rogers (the Oklahoma humorist who had moved to Hollywood and hit it big well before the economic crisis) quipped that the hordes of Oklahomans moving to California had raised the collective IQ of both states. I don't think Will Rogers was right about that, though California did benefit from the Joads and their ilk; historically it probably did make California more liberal and it certainly made Oklahoma more conservative.

Anxiety about the influx of Californians in Montana and states like it is deeply connected to the concern that such migrants will make Montana more liberal. There is similar concern about migrants from Oregon or from the East Coast, but California is the most common, both because the numbers have always been biggest and because it makes a handy slogan: you can find "Don't Californicate Montana/Wyoming/Utah/Colorado etc." bumper stickers throughout the Mountain West.

I grew up in the Rocky Mountain West, with time and close connections in Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado, so it's a dynamic I'm completely familiar with. I see folks from my hometown on facebook who are clearly right wing, and they're keeping the California bogeyman alive.

As to the politics of it, someone who voted for, say, Schwarzeneger and Whitman in California stands a good chance of voting for Mike Cooney in Montana.

I've known several people who moved from California to the rocky mountain states--both people back when I was growing up and people who, like me, moved away after high school or college but (unlike me) wound up moving back for whatever reason. As a kid, the folks from California or the coast were almost always more liberal than the norm in my hometown. Among my peers, only one of the examples is not at least fairly liberal--that guy is a libertarian who would've held both party candidates in roughly equal contempt. (He moved out of Montana for the Southeast, but I think it was personal and financial things that motivated him in that case, rather than political.)

[Mr.Bill]

29. Most of the Californians I have known who have moved or want to move

to Montana, Idaho, Utah, the Dakotas, etc. are doing it for three reasons.

1. Guns

2. Ammo

3. There's a lot of white people living there.

They sure as hell aren't going there for the weather or high income opportunities.

[jmowreader]

49. Speaking of 1 and 2

The Californians got the Idaho legislature to make it legal to use ATVs in hunting. The only provision is you have to get off the vehicle before you fire.

Within a year after the law passed, the harvest rates of all of Idaho's major big game animals dropped significantly. Naturally, the Californians started to blame wolves for the decline. I guess the noisy thing you're sitting on had nothing to do with it.

[Celerity]

54. you have to get off the vehicle before you fire

[jmowreader]

57. Oh, come on. That can't be real.

Your artist left out the pack of smokes rolled up in the guy’s sleeve and the bag of Doritos taped to the handlebar.

[OAITW r.2.0]

31. My basic point is, if there are California emigres going to Montana....they ain't liberal progressiv

I live in rural Maine and I think we are seeing an influx of people from Southern NE that are looking for a place that fits their politics. Rural Me, has always been Republican. People moving here are looking for that "don't tread on me" lifestyle. Won't change the fact that more people who move to Southern Me, are probably more liberal and Democratic, though.

[fishwax]

33. my point is: in my experience they actually are

In my experience they aren't moving to Montana for the politics. They're moving there because they're having a hard time making it in California and they have family, friends, and resources in Montana; or they've made something California and expect it to go much farther in Montana. I'm sure there are some who are in some way motivated by opposition to progressive politics, but in my experience that's not the norm.

[OAITW r.2.0]

40. Proof will be in the pudding.

We will know more in 10-20 years...

[Hassin Bin Sober]

34. Yep. Agreed. I see a lot of Texans online whining about Californians bringing their liberal politics

(Most of them are probably wannabe Texans)

[DFW]

58. As far as Dallas goes, they're too late

Our outfit has maybe 500 people worldwide, about 90% of which are in Dallas.

The closest thing to an executive committee we have is made up of a co-chairmanship of one Texan and one Bostonian. The rest of us are (originally) 2 from Seattle, 1 from Brazil, one from Virginia (me), 1 from Florida, and 1 from Michigan. Exactly two, count 'em, Republicans in the group, and one of them (one of the two from Seattle) hasn't voted Republican in many years. Texas Republicans seem pretty odious to some Republicans from other areas.

Department heads (again, to the extent they can be called that) are from England, Minnesota, Germany, Illinois, Mexico, Colorado, New Jersey, and a few others.

Overseas offices, including Switzerland, France, Netherlands, Hong Kong and (soon) Belgium are all run by locals except for Germany (me), although I am station chief for Europe. In the meantime, that has become more of a title, and less a position of great responsibility, though. I allow the European offices a great degree of autonomy. All their expenses, working hours, vacation time, etc. is decided locally, not by me, unless there is a dispute. I think the last one of those was over 20 years ago. I only mention them, since their smooth functioning is one of the reasons that Dallas also functions smoothly, and we have an incredibly low employee turnover. When people move to Dallas to work for us, they tend to stay with us, and that tends to mean more Texas Democrats.

And: we are by no means unique in this.

[2naSalit]

36. Joke's on them...

We don't have cheap bandwidth, we hardly have bandwidth for half the state.

What a lot of those red Californians are doing, aside from driving housing out of reach for the locals and running them out of their homes, they are buying property in the mountains and building stronghold type dwellings, all over the place.

[TheFarseer]

5. Small town people

Don’t want people with big city money buying up all the houses, making everything unaffordable and crowded. It’s not exactly rocket science.

[Journeyman]

12. Same situation happened in Oregon, then Washington, moved over to Idaho, now in Montana . . .

Not hard to understand locals attitudes, when Californians, flush with hyper-inflated home cash, descend on their states and snap up the available homes at prices the locals could never afford. It's gonna leave a nasty taste, no matter how benevolent the locals may wish to be.

[Withywindle]

16. I've seen it in VA and NC too

Driving up property values really screws over a lot of long-time residents and their families, because everything becomes catered to the wealthier residents, and it makes it very difficult for young people who grew up in the region to buy a home at all, or even rent.

[msfiddlestix]

19. Exactly

:hattip;

[keithsw]

14. Well than

Stop selling your land. People kill me, the land is for sale so people buy it. Do they think a dog is going to buy it?

[TheFarseer]

28. I haven't sold anything

But I get your point. As someone from a farming community who will someday have farm land, it annoys the hell out of me when farmers sell off an acre for a quick buck so some dipstick can pretend they're a rancher or farmer or whatever the hell they're trying to pretend. They want to live a simple life out in the middle of the country, but they have to commute all the way into town for their office job and they're turning the rural area into an urban area. From my parent's farm, there used to be only 1 house that we could see in any direction. Now there's a f**K load of houses. It's like we live in Chandler AZ or some s#!t. But that's just my opinion. It's still a free country!

[msfiddlestix]

32. I've been yammering about this issue for decades, here in Northern California.

I remember back in the late 80's early 90's there seemed to be this super spike in rents and a severe decrease in affordable rentals (houses/apts) working wages remained quite stagnate.

CEO salary increases on the other hand were staggering.

It has not balanced out yet, and in fact just a report this evening of the local home values were spiking, which always means driving away medium to low wage income populations.

And there is more housing development being approved by planning commissioners in the middle of the worst drought year we've had in these past few years, which were also drought years but just not as bad as it is now.

just mind boggling.

[Wingus Dingus]

7. I wonder what is ultimately supposed to happen to working class and middle class people

in areas like this--the people who work in necessary but lower paid jobs who HAVE to live within commuting distance? Where are all the regular people supposed to go? Trailer parks?

[2naSalit]

37. That or go camp in the woods.

[Bobstandard]

8. There are very few MT natives

The Montana population has grown tremendously in the last 20 years. Many of the ‘’locals’ vibing new arrivals are new arrivals themselves. Mainly white and male? Now there’s a surprise

It’s true though that the economic profile of the state has changed. But who’s responsible for that? The old families with big landholdings have given up ranching for land development, ie subdividing their land snd selling it to better off auslanders. So look to your neighbors if you want to know who’s screwing up Montana

And then cancel that vacation to California, Florida, or Hawaii. Otherwise, count yourself a hypocrite

And didn’t you elect total carpet baggers as Governor and Senator?

[hunter]

67. My grandfather fled Montana when he was sixteen.

He didn't want to be a rancher or a miner.

Eventually he joined the Army Air Corp and landed in California where he met my grandma.

His siblings all left Montana as well.

Then his parents sold everything and followed their youngest son to Michigan.

I'm guessing none of them got along with these Montana "natives."

Air quotes because two of my wife's grandparents were largely Native to the U.S. Southwest and looked it. Their ancestors were not treated well by "native" white Americans and ended up fleeing to the Mexican side of the new border.

My wife's grandparents returned to their native lands later as "immigrant" farm workers. My father-in-law was born in a tent in a labor camp near a small farm my parents later owned.

My Montana grandfather lost his shit when he learned I was marrying, in his words, "a Mexican girl" and he boycotted our wedding. Men in his White Wild West family simply didn't do that.

To his credit he got over it.

I like to mock white "native" Westerners 'cause I am one. My last immigrant ancestor was a mail order bride to Salt Lake City back when the Mormons were recruiting in Scandinavia. She didn't much like sharing a husband and ran off with a monogamous surveyor who was passing through town. They established a homestead, which the government was then handing out preferentially to non-Mormons in hopes of diluting that church's political power.

[Enter stage left]

10. Bozeman is a incredibly beautiful college town...

that leans far left.

If all of Montana was like that, I could move there too.

[msfiddlestix]

22. I've been entertaining the notion, that progressives and liberals might

give consideration to moving to "red" states for political and economic reasons.

sort of selfish, and self centered, and has the potential of setting down liberal roots, which would offer a bit of balance but ymmv.

Unfortunately, it seems mostly an option for the wealthy class, who seem only care about tax cuts.

[Enter stage left]

30. We're full time RV'ers that have been looking for a place to buy a lot...

and stay during the "good" parts of the year in that area.

We're not ready to make that decision right now (swore we'd look for 10 years, just going on 7), but Bozeman is someplace I could easily spend spring to fall in.

We don't like the cold, so would still go to Arizona, New Mexico, Southern Cal in the winter.

But, that said, please take a look at Bozeman. We can't wait to go back.

[msfiddlestix]

38. sounds like you're enjoying an interesting and adventuresome life!

[Enter stage left]

41. Thank you, we are.

[2naSalit]

39. Bozeman is full...

All those nice, big, open fields to the west are full of houses and apartment complexes. And more under construction all the way out past Jackrabbit Road to Gallatin Gateway and it won't be long before there are solid housing developments all the way up to the bottom of Trail Creek.

I never liked the place, been passing through there since 1975, would never live there by choice.

[Enter stage left]

43. different strokes for different folks...

It's still a beautiful town, that leans left.

[Spider Jerusalem]

11. Bet the Sioux, Crow, et al felt/feel the same way about these "Montana natives" (n/t)

[Hekate]

13. First lesson from the Oregon influx years ago: change your license plates before moving your car...

…so your new neighbors never have a chance to see the old plates before seeing you. Second lesson: never, ever, tell your new neighbors and colleagues what a great deal you got on your new local house. Expect to hear that people don't want their state “Californicated.”

[Hortensis]

73. :) For sure.

[Initech]

17. So there will be no dental floss for anyone?

[msongs]

20. buy a dozen guns, 2 pickup trucks, drink beer til u pass out every night nt

[gldstwmn]

23. Home prices are exorbitant. The cell phone service can be spotty at best.

Their infrastructure isn't ready for this.

[A HERETIC I AM]

26. Here's an interesting video by a Montanan about moving to Montana

They get WINTER in Montana. So if you buy a house on a piece of land out in the country, be prepared to be cut off from civilization for days if not a couple weeks at a time.

Not every road is plowed regularly and what seems like a gorgeous place to live in a lovely valley somewhere is actually a 90 mile round trip to the Safeway.

[LaMouffette]

27. This Montana animosity toward Californians is nothing new. We moved to MT about 20 years ago

and we quickly picked up on it. We moved here from Texas, not California, but still felt it would behoove us to get our new license plates quickly.

Back then, the resentment came from the idea that the rich Californians were moving here and driving up housing prices. Now, I think that it's compounded by the idea that every Californian is a liberal Democrat.

But, please, if you are a California liberal Democrat and are thinking of moving to Montana, JUST DO IT! WE NEED YOU!

Bozeman is very Democrat friendly and so is beautiful, beautiful Missoula.

[OAITW r.2.0]

44. Funny story.

I moved up to Dexter, Me. back in the 80's. Joined the Planning board in the 90's. Had locals ask me. "Where you from?" Cuz I was (and always will be) an outsider. My kids, born here, will never experience that.

[LaMouffette]

62. Sounds like small-town Montana! Not that Missoula or Bozeman are huge metropolises, but as medium-

sized cities, they tend to be more welcoming. But when you go to towns of fewer than 1,000 in Montana, they are not the warmest toward outsiders. Once you hit the 20-year-residency mark, they start to warm up to you!

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

75. Almost came

I had a job interview at the university back in '98. I would have been coming from Texas with my New York wife and newborn son. My in-laws would have not been happy. My wife and I had driven through parts of Montana on our road-trip honeymoon so we had a small idea of what to expect.

We ended up going to Michigan instead.

I sometimes think about what might have been.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

45. We moved to Colorado (from Arizona) in 1987.

Husband's job.

A year or so later there was a huge influx of people from California, who bid up housing prices enormously. We actually moved and sold our home in Boulder at the very beginning of that bid up. Had we stayed there six months longer our home would have gone for double what it did. I hate to tell you what it's currently worth.

I currently live in Santa Fe, New Mexico, long considered too expensive for ordinary mortals. Trust me, it's not. But recently, the housing bid-up means that my current home is worth a whole lot more than I paid for it. I'm not about to sell, mainly because I like my little place and hope to stay here a lot longer. I'm grateful I bought when I did, back in 2009.

In the early 1970s there was a weird shortage of actual money, which meant that people trying to buy homes often couldn't because the banks simply didn't have the cash available to complete the financing. I was not in the home buying market myself at that time, so it's possible I have something wrong here, but I had various co-workers trying to buy homes who were frantically scrambling to do so.

It does seem as though every decade or so there's some kind of huge barrier to buying.

We were trying to buy a home when balloon payments were in vogue, and actually got out of a house purchase because we decided that the balloon payment was far too risky.

[leftyladyfrommo]

46. Same in Washington. My brother lives in Spokane .

Real estate prices are thru the roof .

[DemocraticPatriot]

52. We'll turn Montana blue yet!

Another 3 electoral votes could make the difference in a future election.

Montanans don't like it? TOUGH SHIT! It's a "free country" isn't it?

LOL

And California has plenty of voters to spare.

[LaMouffette]

63. That's the spirit! I hope it happens in my lifetime.

I mean, heck, if it could happen in Arizona in 2020, it could happen in MT, too.

[DemocraticPatriot]

69. Montana has managed to keep one Democratic senator for a while,

(Jon Testor, first elected in the anti-Iraq-war wave of 2006)...


I do believe Montana is the rural/mountain state with the largest Democratic congtingent, per capita... and our best chance for a "flip" among all those states in the foreseeable future.

If the GOP continues its descent into fascism and stupidity, I think the national party should make a real effort in Montana in the next presidential election, if not before. I'm sure lots of people in Helena would like to see President Joe Biden in person...

Yes?

[LaMouffette]

72. Yes, I do believe there is a good chance for us to go blue. And I keep forgetting to include Helena,

but they elected a Black, Liberian-born refugee for mayor, which was a wonderful surprise. I hope Collins wins reelection in November.

And I have faith in Montanans in general, too. You're right that we have Jon Tester and we had Steve Bullock until he termed out and then there was Brian Schweitzer (who I wish would run against Daines for Senate next time around).

I think Montanans are more likely to judge people for who they are, rather than on their party, at least they did, before Trumpism infected the state.

And yes, a visit from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris would be very welcome, at least to us Dems.

[Klaralven]

55. I don't think there is a shortage of land to build on east of Great Falls

Have some relatives that live south of the Missouri Breaks. Seems like pretty open country.

[GusBob]

56. This is nothing new

People been fighting over land and out of staters in Montana since before the cattle trails got plowed under

Want to have some fun in a masochistic kinda way? Find a Montana hunting social media platform
Or any outdoor forum and post something like

‘’Hey I’m from (any other state they are all more liberal than Montana) and I want to come and hunt Elk and fish for trout, can anyone give me some info”

Oh man the replies!

[ansible]

70. What's new is California-levels of insanely unaffordable housing happening to other states

Anyone who doesn't understand why Californians are hated is blind

[Red Mountain]

64. I think we're seeing

another great migration driven by internet connectivity.

Land that's worth anything for a purpose is going to go up in value.

[Tarc]

65. So eventually we'll flip another state blue?

Sounds like a plan.

[appalachiablue]

74. 2 movies from the early 90s helped

promote awareness of Montana, the outdoor beauty & remote lifestyle-

- 'A River Runs Through It' (1992)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_River_Runs_Through_It_(film)


- 'Legends of the Fall' (1994)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legends_of_the_Fall