THE TRUTH: Is Missoula a Good Place to Live?

The short answer is yes— unless you're thinking about moving here, in which case I'll tell you Missoula is a post-apocalyptic hellscape uninhabitable by civilized lifeforms. I joke, but there really is some uneasiness about the idea of more people moving in because of the way our housing prices have skyrocketed since the pandemic-housing boom. Last September I even wrote an open letter to Missoulians waiting for the housing market to crash. But if you really want to know, here's the pros and cons of living in Missoula, starting with the cons:

Housing Prices

Like I mentioned above, the housing prices are much higher than they used to be. Like, I know the "too damn high meme" is ancient now, but this situation warrants it to such a degree that the urge to use it is excruciating.

Cuisine

I in no way mean to offend the hardworking chefs, cooks and other restaurant-industry people in Missoula. It's not that there's no great food here, just that there's not the kind of variety you see in other cities. Fortunately I think our restaurants are improving, there's a lot of places I regularly visit that are relatively new.

Winter

Yes, it does get cold here. We were all brutally reminded of that during the last cold snap. The silver lining is that there's lots of fun things to do in Missoula even during our coldest months.

--------------------------Now for the pros--------------------------

Community

There's a shared feeling of Missoula pride that I absolutely adore. With the size our city is you can think of community as sort of a collection of smaller communities that overlap, and each of them is kind and welcoming.

The University of Montana

I'm a Grizzly alumni so I'm speaking from experience. I learned so much during my time there, and going to Griz games is a total blast.

The River

Whether I'm on a tube floating it or just admiring its beauty, I never take the Clark Fork River for granted. Here's a list of times Missoula was recognized for its awesomeness.