Will This Montana Eyesore Keep Growing With The Warmer Weather?

I can't think of a better place to spend the summer than here in Montana.

With beautiful skies, lush green grass, and crystal clear lakes, it's not only one of the most stunning places in the nation, but it's also one of the most popular.  We recently learned that when it comes to summer vacation destinations, two Montana locations are among the most popular in the United States. There's a reason it's called the Last Best Place

However, not everything is perfect here in Big Sky Country.

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As the weather heats up, it seems that some of our pop-up neighborhoods are growing at a pretty quick pace. Bigger cities like Billings, Bozeman, and Missoula are seeing an increase in the homeless population and that's only going to grow with the summer weather.

Having said that, let's talk about Bozeman for a moment.

A popular phrase often used is "Camper's Row".  This refers to a few different areas around the city that consist of people living in RVs, buses, vans, and cars. The truth is, these areas seem to cause mixed feelings when it comes to local residents.

For some, they see no issue with the pop-up neighborhoods while others view them as a tremendous eyesore and aren't sure why the City of Bozeman doesn't do anything about it. Throw in the fact that some of these areas include broken down vehicles, an overflowing dumpster, with trash on the roads and surrounding grounds and a point could be made that possibly the City should do something about it.

Many local residents seem to be growing frustrated with the situation and the lack of response from the City of Bozeman and have been taking to social media to complain about the lack of effort and the increased presence of those around town.

However, not all of those living in these areas are out of staters or unemployed.  In fact, many of them have jobs and are from right here in Montana, the issue is, it's just become too expensive to live in a place like Bozeman.

There are organizations out there that help with the homeless situation here in Bozeman. Family Promise and HRDC both do amazing work and provide services for those that are struggling

What's the solution? The truth is, there probably isn't one that's going to make everyone happy.  So what do you think? Should folks be allowed to set up camp along roads around town?  Let us know by voting in the poll below.