What City is Better? Reddit Users Compare Bozeman to Missoula

Bozeman and Missoula are two of Montana's most populated cities. Missoula is home to the University of Montana, and Montana State University is in Bozeman. The Cat-Griz rivalry has divided many Montanans since it began in 1897.

When it comes to determining which city is better, I'll admit that I'm a little bias since I live in the Bozeman area, and root for the Bobcats.

On a Bozeman Reddit thread, u/ambivalenttentacool asked the question below;

I’m an 18 year old kid born and raised in Boise, ID, and I’ve (almost) made up my mind about going to U of M in Missoula. My parents lived in Missoula for some time, and they, as well as I both have a fondness for it due to the fact that it feels a lot like Boise, the cities have a lot in common. However, I’ve had many experiences in which people ask where I’m thinking of going, and they say something along the lines of “oh that’s awesome, Missoula is great, but have you ever heard of/been to Bozeman? I took a short visit to Bozeman recently for the first time and generally liked the city although I am not familiar with it at all. What are your thoughts on this? Why do people keep inferring that Bozeman is better? Thanks in advance.

Reddit users were quick to respond to the question and offer some insight.

KeegorTheDestroyer claims that Missoula is better and responded to the question saying;

As someone who attended both schools and lived in both cities for a couple years each, my pick is Missoula.

Missoula feels more like a city to me. Bozeman feels more like a bloated small town with mostly new development everywhere. The "downtown" is just one street basically. Missoula has some taller buildings and a more city-feeling downtown. And downtown is right on the river as well.

Missoula has more nightlife/entertainment (obviously pre-covid). I used to go to awesome shows multiple times a week in Missoula. In Bozeman I was lucky if I got one good one a month.

Missoula is prettier to me. The river running right through the middle of the city, the campus is MUCH prettier than MSU (and it's the state arboretum with over 100 different kinds of trees), and the mountains RIGHT on the edge of town. Don't get me wrong, Bozeman is pretty too, but Missoula will always be my preference.

If you are going into forestry or related majors, UM is the way to go. I only transferred to MSU because I switched to engineering. Hope this helps, and I really don't think you could go wrong with either one.

B_Huxley added;

I’m from Missoula, lived in Boise for school and the start of my career. Family lives in Bozeman. So I’ve been around all three quite a bit over the years and this is by far the best comparison I’ve read. I’d highly recommend Missoula over Bozeman any day especially for someone coming from Boise.

shabangbamboom says that the skiing is a lot better in Bozeman.

The skiing is way better in Bozeman if you want to really shred hard. That's a priority for a fair portion of Bozemanites. If you ski casually, you'll be happy with either. The paddling scene is a little cooler in Missoula if that's your jam.

Bozeman is booming. This comes with pros and cons- it's super easy to find labor jobs in Bozeman eg construction, landscaping. New businesses are popping up all the time and it feels very exciting and like a boom-town. But also traffic, sprawling developments, expensive housing, lots of competition between businesses, and everything getting ever more crowded.

I don't actually know for sure (I haven't lived there) but Missoula seems kind of lower-key and chiller than Bozeman, whereas Bozeman has a high-strung feeling from all the newcomers and tourists all the time.

What city do you think is better? Vote in the pole below and let us know your thoughts.