Bozeman’s Latest Growth Has Many Unhappy.

It was recently announced that a new development is planned for Bozeman, which, upon completion, will occupy 34 acres and feature 1 million square feet of building space.

The project, called Bozeman Square, will be built just off 7th and Oak, where the old K-Mart was located.

Now, you would think that folks would be excited about such a project, and many are; however, there are a lot of folks who don't view this as progress. In fact, they think it's anything but.

READ MORE: Check out the plans for Bozeman Square

I grew up in an old railroad town that had seen better days. What was once a town filled with bars and brothels had turned into a blue-collar town where the majority of the folks worked in factories. For years, nothing new came to town, and people would complain.

They would complain that there was nothing for the kids to do. They would complain about how there was nowhere to shop. They would complain that the town was just dying and no one was willing to do anything about it.

Like many people my age, I moved away from that town. A funny thing happened over the years. Some different folks were elected, some investors moved to the area, and all of a sudden, the town was seeing a lot of growth with new businesses. So what did the people do?

They complained that things weren't the way they used to be.

The poet once said, "As a rule, man's a fool. When it's hot, he wants it cool. When it's cool, he wants it hot, never wanting what he's got. Always wanting what is not."

Is Bozeman still growing at a fast pace?

And so it is with Bozeman. It's true, the old Bozeman is gone, and as much as it hurts some folks to hear, it's never coming back. This magical little mountain town has been discovered by Instagram and the rest of the world, and so change will continue to happen.

We can either embrace it or fight it, but we will not stop it.

The good news? There is still plenty of old Bozeman around. There are places like The Western, Kenyon Noble, Miller's Jewelry, Lehrkinds Coca-Cola, and several others that have been part of the community for decades.

Plus, economic growth is good for the community, and more jobs aren't a bad thing. I get it, change is hard. Especially when we view it as something that isn't beneficial to us. However, maybe we need to look at it through a different lens. While we might not necessarily be a fan of the change, will it have a positive effect on the community?

Get our free mobile app

If so, then maybe we should get on board.