Moving To Montana? Will You Be Accepted? Montanans Respond.

People from all over the country, especially the west coast are moving to Montana.  Maybe it's the love of the outdoors, or the beauty of the mountains, maybe it's a sense of adventure or the coolness of the culture.  Whatever it is, they're coming at a pretty rapid pace and it doesn't look to be letting up anytime soon.

So, what do Montanans think about all of this? Of course, the feelings are a bit mixed

I was looking through Reddit and found an individual that asked if they would be accepted if they moved here, well as you can imagine,  lots of folks had opinions. The individual wants to move to Montana to get some work experience but had concerns about how locals would treat a "foreigner".

Keep in mind, this individual is from Missouri and not an actual foreign country.

So what words of wisdom did Montanans have for our potential new friend?  Well, as you can imagine, opinions varied. I'll be honest, I had to chuckle a little at some of the comments, especially this one.

"As long as you don't fly a Confederate flag from the bed of a pickup plastered in obsolete election bumper stickers, you're fine"

I'm not sure that trucks, Confederate flags, and obsolete election bumper stickers are just confined to the south. I've seen a few vehicles here in Montana that would make the most devout Southerner burst with pride. However, I certainly understand what the local is saying.

Of course, not everyone went with the backwoods, redneck, muscle shirt, beer gut, prison tattoo example. There was other solid advice that was offered up, like this little nugget right here.

"It depends, do you suck, or are you cool?"

True story. It really does depend. If you move here and embrace the Montana way of life, for the most part, things will be fine.  Oh sure, there will still be the obnoxious online trolls that will talk smack, but those people are weak and really don't matter. Here are some wise words from another local.

"Eh, you should be fine. The bigger issue is people from California or other metro areas coming to buy up property for summer homes. Don’t do that. Otherwise, you should be ok"

So a little heads up to newcomers, the California thing is a little touchy here. In fact, a few locals had a few things to say regarding "Californians". You see, Montanas get a little upset when the towns and places they've lived their whole lives don't look like the towns and places they've lived their whole lives anymore. Here's another regarding California.

"There will always be some animosity, but you aren't from California so it won't be too bad. your bigger problem will be finding housing."

Oh yea, if you plan on moving here, just know housing is ridiculous.  I mean, it's almost criminal what people are selling and renting for. A good rule of thumb, figure out an amount that you would be comfortable paying for a mortgage or rent, then double or triple it.

I know it's a lot of information to process, but I think that if anyone is thinking about moving here, they should probably know what they're getting into.  Having said all of that, it's a remarkable place and the folks here are friendly, kind-hearted, and very generous when they're not fighting with each other according to this local.

"Locals don't even accept other locals tbh everyone really thinks their s!@# doesn't stink so roll the dice and load up."

So let's review shall we?  If you're thinking about moving to Montana, make sure you leave your Confederate Flag where you came from.  Be cool and don't suck. Also, don't be from California, or if you are, you probably should keep that to yourself. Prepare to spend a buttload of money on housing, and when you see locals fighting with other locals, just keep on walking and you should be just fine.