Community

Montana State University-Bozeman was ranked #5 on Outside magazine’s list of “40 Best College Towns” in 2003. With roughly 13,000 students, MSU is considered a mid-sized public university with 826 instructional faculty and is the region’s only Carnegie-I-classified research institution—a designation that gives it equal footing with highly prestigious universities like Yale, Harvard, and Johns Hopkins. And, it’s hard not to get hooked on the NCAA Division I sports teams at Montana State University, especially when passions are stirred and all eyes are focused on the annual Bobcat-Grizzly football game.

The folks here in Bozeman and the Gallatin Valley are a unique blend of cowboys, retirees, college students, entrepreneurs, backpackers, and anyone else who loves wide-open spaces and a Rocky Mountain lifestyle. It’s a place where businessmen sit down with farmers at the dinerfor coffee and the weather report; where gourmet cook shop for artisan cheeses from local organic dairies; and where vacationers go on float trips with Bozeman-native fishing guides in the morning and catch an evening performance of Shakespeare in the Parks in the evening. With this many recreational, educational, and cultural opportunities, it’s no surprise that Bozeman is often touted as one of the most appealing towns in the West.