So I'm standing in line at the gas station yesterday and started chatting up with the woman behind me. She was from out of town (New York) and had been spending the week at a friend's house on Flathead Lake. I love a New Yorker's accent so I engaged her in some conversation.

Her and her husband are thinking about moving here permanently and she had one thing on her mind - do Montanan's treat NY transplants the same way they do to Californian's?

I laughed and told her that I didn't realize that the anti-California sentiment was so high here but last I heard it was a free country.

There are lots of rumors and stories about Californians who moved to Montana and then hastily retreated back. But they are just rumors right? ;)

¶ 8:58 AM

 Mike said...
Rumors? MUHAHAHAHAHA. I don't know about the rest of MT, but in the Missoula area you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a 'Montanafornian.' I have no use for them, but that's just me. Met my wife in NY so can't complain too much about them...but why can't they move here and at least open a good deli?  

 Angela said...
Here in the Bitterroot almost every other person is from California. We just don't publicize it too often...we say we're from somewhere "south of Darby." HA!  

 Jé†Mêçh™ said...
I grew up in the Bitterroot, the pre-californication Bitterroot

It seems to me that most of the people that I grew up with have moved away from the Bitterroot, moved away from Montana altogether. I, myself, have moved away from Montana and now, ironically, live in CALIFORNIA.

Yet with a mass exodus of native Bitterrooters, the Valley has grown by over 200% in the last fifteen years. Many of the die-hard natives have dabbled in the real-estate boom there, creating a community of real-estate agents (the most that I've ever seen in one location).

Montana sells...to outsiders. Outsiders can still see the mystique in Montana. This mystique wore off with the locals many years ago, with the lack of good paying jobs and rising costs of living. Out-of-staters, moving to Montana, bring their money with them, i.e. many of them still have businesses in NY or CA or where ever they are coming from.

Montana is beautiful and I don't blame a single soul for wanting to move there. I hope that someday the growth will bring better paying jobs to Montana and boost the economy there, but until then, California is better for making a living.  

 KarbonKountyMoos said...
In my best Queens accent,

"Rumors?! Are you starting with me?!"  

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