Billings, Montana

Life in Billings, Montana, explained by people who’ve lived in Billings:

*Response format = Answer (Your name, How long you’ve lived in Billings)

Billings Favorites

What’s your favorite thing about living in Billings?

Don’t have one. (Birdie, 7 years)
Change of seasons, close to outdoor activities, good restaurants, smaller city compared to where I came from. (Anonymous, 8 years)
Close to family. (Juanita, 9 years)
Scenery. (Anonymous, 14 years)
Great food. (Rennell, 14 years)
Access to amenities. (Beth, 15 years)
The Rims. (Cody, 30 years)
Now that you ask, there is nothing that makes the list. Billings is getting worse every day. (Mike, 30 years)
That I can get away from it. There are some decent concerts, but not much beyond that. (Beau, n/a)

What’s your least favorite thing about living in Billings?

Low lives. (Birdie, 7 years)
Increasing crime and population. (Anonymous, 8 years)
Lack of activities for children and teens. (Juanita, 9 years)
Crime upswing. (Anonymous, 14 years)
Crime. (Rennell, 14 years)
The crime. (Beth, 15 years)
Crime. (Cody, 30 years)
Too many to list. Terrible drivers and lack of traffic control device enforcement may top the list. (Mike, 30 years)
Crime, how filthy the city is and how few take any real pride in it, transients, casinos and bars combined with generally obnoxious people. (Beau, n/a)

What are fun things to do in Billings?

Fish. (Birdie, 7 years)
Eat out, art house cinema, farmers market, hiking the rims, other holiday activities like parades. (Anonymous, 8 years)
Zoo, parks, YMCA, Audubon center. (Juanita, 9 years)
Hiking, biking, concerts, fair. (Anonymous, 14 years)
Movies, concerts, eating out. (Rennell, 14 years)
I enjoy the more natural parks. (Beth, 15 years)
Hiking on the Rims, the Parks. (Cody, 30 years)
Driving away from it. (Mike, 30 years)
Some decent music, but unless you are drinking or stuffing your face not much. As a whole, events in Billings tend to be lackluster and not worth attending. (Beau, n/a)

What’s Billings known for?

Low lives. (Birdie, 7 years)
Biggest city in MT, not really sure. (Anonymous, 8 years)
Bad drivers, rude people, crime. (Juanita, 9 years)
History. (Rennell, 14 years)
Trails, scenery. (Cody, 30 years)
Drunk drivers, drugs, terrible drivers, lack of entertainment, etc. (Mike, 30 years)
Meth, not being sarcastic. Everyone who knows I moved back here joke about that and think I am an idiot and I have little to argue. I love Montana, I do not consider Billings a part of that nor do most people throughout the state. (Beau, n/a)

What’s the crime like in Billings? (hot spot areas, etc.)

Bad. (Birdie, 7 years)
Lots of vehicle thefts. (Anonymous, 8 years)
High. Specific areas and streets. (Juanita, 9 years)
Horribly high lately. It’s getting bad. No where is really safe anymore. (Anonymous, 14 years)
Downtown. (Rennell, 14 years)
Seems to pop up all over – Central/Terry area, north side, south side, heights. (Beth, 15 years)
Growing every day. (Cody, 30 years)
It’s everywhere. Used to be the south side. (Mike, 30 years)
Ridiculous, out of control and the police force is a joke. Everyone has an excuse, bottom line they are ineffective. (Beau, n/a)

Any advice for people moving to Billings?

Lock your cars, we aren’t the small town we were even a few years ago. (Anonymous, 8 years)
Have a good job lined up. If you can visit to line up housing. (Juanita, 9 years)
Lock your doors. Don’t leave anything in your car you don’t want stolen. Explore. Walk around, wander throughout the town. Just be smart about it. (Anonymous, 14 years)
Have patience. (Rennell, 14 years)
There are only about 3 degrees between people. Most of us are from a small town. (Beth, 15 years)
Explore the city. (Cody, 30 years)
Don’t. (Mike, 30 years)
Don’t. (Beau, n/a)

Share an experience you’ve had in Billings (fun, crazy, dangerous, etc.).

How do you think Billings will change over the next 10 years?

Bigger population. Billings west end will almost reach Laurel. (Anonymous, 8 years)
I hope it gets better. (Juanita, 9 years)
More people. (Rennell, 14 years)
More expansion west. (Beth, 15 years)
More people and crime. (Cody, 30 years)
For the worse. Infrastructure isn’t in place but the city keeps growing. Lack of police enforcement will not help. Time to move. (Mike, 30 years)
It will grow, crime will get worse and the community will continue to justify the issues as growing pains. (Beau, n/a)

Any other interesting facts about Billings?