newspaper coverage

[grizonbob]

In 20 years Montana's biggest trade area will be Bozeman or Kalispell.

Bozeman or Kalispell?? Based on what?? I hope you aren't going to say tourism.

Based on population trends. According to the US Census, out of Montana's biggest counties, Gallatin and Flathead were the fastest growing from 1990 to 2000, with increases of 34 and 26 percent. Yellowstone was at 14, Missoula at 22, & Cascade at 3. For the period from 2000 to 2001, the growth rates were Gallatin 2.3, Flathead, 2.4, Yellowstone, 0.8, Missoula, 0.5, and Cascade, -1.3. Each of their populations in 2001 were Gallatin, 69,422; Flathead, 69,269; Yellowstone, 130,398; Missoula, 96,303; Cascade, 79,298.

I'm not sure why Missoula has slowed some in growth, compared to the others. I'd guess it is because there are some limits to how much growth can take place in Missoula valley. (by the way, Ravalli has a higher growth rate than any of these--3.4 percent from 2000 to 2001--but it has a longer way to go to catch up, with 37,304 residents. Probably a lot of the Missoula growth is slopping over to Ravalli)

Flathead and Gallatin obviously have a long way to go to catch Yellowstone, but if these trends continue, it will happen some day. I doubt it will actually happen by 2020; I'm not a good enough math person to figure out the projections. But I wouldn't bet against it happening by the middle of the century....

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Who really gives a shit about population trends in 20 or 50 years? just because certain counties were the fast growing in a 2 year span doesn't mean they will be the fastest growing in 10, 5, 2 or 50 years. It's impossible to predict.

 

[billingsgriz]

It would be great, Bob, if you could diplomatically tell your peers at the Gazette that their coverage of the GRIZ more often than not stinks.

There are thousands of GRIZ alum in Billings and the area served by the Gazette in Southcentral and Eastern Montana.

I appreciate your insight and your remarks that there is no internal competition between the Missoulian and the Gazette.

And I also appreciate the fact that the problem isn't on your end, it's at the Gazette.

Why not run the same articles or most of the same articles concerning the GRIZ that run in the Missoulian in the Gazette? I know you don't control the Gazette, Bob, but any help would be much appreciated. You guys do a great job of covering the GRIZ for the Missoulian, it's just too bad that we don't get it here in Billings at all or only days after it appeared in the Missoulian because the interest is most definitely here and I would think better coverage by the Gazette could only help the Gazette's circulation, ad sales, etc.

 

[grizonbob]

Who really gives a shit about population trends in 20 or 50 years? just because certain counties were the fast growing in a 2 year span doesn't mean they will be the fastest growing in 10, 5, 2 or 50 years. It's impossible to predict.

Actually, those growth rates are for 11 years total--from 1990 to 2000, and from 2000 to 2001. Moreover, those growth trends started before 1990. So I think they are somewhat more predictive than you might believe. I don't see much reason to think that Flathead and Gallatin will stop growing--their economies aren't based on something like mining, which eventually peters out. But, agreed that things change. A century ago, many Montanans probably thought Silver Bow would have half a million residents by now.

 

[Agent 00Pike]

. Any idea why George Geise doesn't cover Griz basketball? He used to.

He does cover the Lady Griz from what I've noticed.

 

[billingsgriz]

GOB, while I agree that Kalispell and Missoula will continue to grow and thrive as will Bozeman, none of these three cities is the largest in a several hundred mile radius and that will also tend to put a lid on the growth possibilities for the three.

Spokane is the ugly big sister Missoula has to contend with, Missoula is the same for Kalispell and Bozeman has us here in Billings.

And you don't have people from the panhandle of Idaho flooding into Missoula to go shopping--they have Coeur d' Alene and Spokane already. While some Idahoans do shop in Missoula, Missoula is not the only option for most of them.

For Northern Wyoming, Southcentral Montana, Eastern Montana, and yes, even Western North Dakota, we are their Spokane, we are their Seattle and that is not going to change. When you add it all up, Billings serves a trade area of over 350,000 people that is located in three states and it's growing. Missoula, Kalispell, and Bozeman don't and won't for the forseeable future.

And I know everyone in Western Montana thinks Eastern Montana is dead. While much of Eastern Montana is hurting and losing population, everything from Baker to Plentywood along the North Dakota line is booming due to the high oil and gas prices, and our friends in Northeastern Wyoming are doing as well or better thanks to their coal and coal bed methane. When Gov. Schweitzer was on 60 Minutes recently, he was in the strip-coal mines of Southeastern Montana, which are also booming due to high coal prices. There is a shortage of workers over there, and a lot of people that used to work retail or in a restaurant or bar in Sidney, Glendive, and Miles City have given that up to make $50,000 and up working on an oil or gas rig or in the mines.

And, 45 miles to the west of Billings, sits the Stillwater Mine, the only platinum and palladium mine in this hemisphere. The Stillwater miners also make excellent $, and a lot of that also finds its way into the Billings area economy.

And when the folks in Cody, Powell, Greybull, Worland, Lovell, Thermopolis, Sheridan, Buffalo and Gillette, Wyoming go shopping or are referred to a doctor specialist, their Spokane and Seattle is Billings. Bozeman is too far away, plus there is this big chunk of land called Yellowstone National Park they would have to cross to get to Bozeman, and Billings has bigger and better hospitals, retail restaurants, etc. (As much as I hate to admit it, MSU is a big advantage for Bozeman with its School of Engineering, and that's why Bozeman landed the new Sikorsky helicopter component plant and Billings didn't.)

Due to its unique geographic situation, Billings and Yellowstone County will continue to be the largest population centers in Montana indefinitely. Economists like Paul Polzin of UM will tell you that once a city reaches 100,000, the city's growth becomes self-sustaining and feeds on itself. Well, Billings is there.

 

[grizonbob]

What are you? An officer with the Billings Chamber of Commerce? Just kidding. You make a pretty good case for Billings. I think it will continue to grow slower than some of those places in western MT I mentioned, but it should keep growing, especially with the energy resources it has near it. I never spent much time there, but it seemed like a nice place.

 

[CerealCityGriz]

It makes me remember that living in Anaconda for ten years that we had to drive all the way to Bozeman to go to Target.

 

[billings_poke]

In 20 years Montana's biggest trade area will be Bozeman or Kalispell.

Bozeman or Kalispell?? Based on what?? I hope you aren't going to say tourism.

Based on population trends. According to the US Census, out of Montana's biggest counties, Gallatin and Flathead were the fastest growing from 1990 to 2000, with increases of 34 and 26 percent. Yellowstone was at 14, Missoula at 22, & Cascade at 3. For the period from 2000 to 2001, the growth rates were Gallatin 2.3, Flathead, 2.4, Yellowstone, 0.8, Missoula, 0.5, and Cascade, -1.3. Each of their populations in 2001 were Gallatin, 69,422; Flathead, 69,269; Yellowstone, 130,398; Missoula, 96,303; Cascade, 79,298.

Flathead and Gallatin obviously have a long way to go to catch Yellowstone, but if these trends continue, it will happen some day. I doubt it will actually happen by 2020; I'm not a good enough math person to figure out the projections. But I wouldn't bet against it happening by the middle of the century....

I like looking at real people numbers instead so If we assume the percentages hold over the next ten years you will see these population increases.

Yellowstone 130,398 x 14% = 18,255
Flathead 69,269 x 26% = 18,009
Gallatin 69,422 x 34% = 23, 603
Missoula 96,303 x22% = 21,186

Flathead is not gaining on anyone but missoula and gallatin are so the next 30 years will be interesting for population distribution in the state.

 

[Seven]

If you recall when Fritz worked for the Gazette, he covered both Cats and Griz football games and some basketball. Basically, he tried to cover equal games in the regular season and the postseason games.

However, when he left the paper for the Missoulian the Gazette didn't fill his job. They instead promoted from within and basically stopped their own UM and MSU coverage with exception of the Cat-Griz game.

I think its kind of a shame that they don't have writers for both teams. Realistically, a writer could make the drive to Bozeman, while another could be based in Missoula, but that cost $$$$ and newspapers aren't going to spend the dough when they can have a sister paper give them the story.

 

[grizonbob]

I think they know they can't do Griz stuff any better than the Missoulian and, since they are part of the same chain and can get the Missoulian stories ASAP, it doesn't make a lot of sense for them to devote one of their sports positions to covering UM. MSU is a little different story, since they can't get Chronicle feeds and Bozeman is closer.

 

[billingsgriz]

What would help, bob, is if they would run the same stories the missoulian does on the GRIZ--that's all the Gazette would have to do.

The problem is--they don't run most of them and when they do, it's only a day or two, sometimes a week or two if it's a column--after the Missoulian runs them.

And no, I don't work for the Billings Chamber of Commerce. Your comments did make me laugh though! :laugh: I actually liked living in Missoula a lot better than Billings--a lot more hot college girls to date as opposed to Billings where there are a lot more MLF's with 2-3 kids to date, plus I love the U, the Clark Fork flowing right through town, the mountains being right outside your back door, and Missoula's proximity to Flathead and Glacier.

Billings has it going on, though, and I don't think most Montanans from Bozeman west realize the unique position Billings occupies in this region as a major trade center and medical center. I like to call Billings Montana's financial capital because Wells Fargo, First Interstate, and US Bank all have their state headquarters here or in First Interstate's case, their corporate headquarters.