Best Life Magazine recently published an article where they researched and created a list of "The 100 Best Places to Raise a Family." Guess what city was #3?
My hometown, Billings, Montana!
I always thought Billings was a great place to grow up, but I have to admit, this surprised me! So many people think Montana is full of nothing but small, rural towns with nothing to offer. This article makes me so proud that someone is recognizing Billings for what a great place it is. I always felt it was just a small enough town to feel cozy in, but large enough (the largest city in Montana, actually, at 100,000 people) that there were things to do. Billings also felt very safe and clean to me, and if you love any kind of outdoor sports and activities, its the place to be. I went to a newer high school where I feel I got a great education and where there were good teachers that I remain friends with to this day. The church members there were wonderful, and we were lucky enough to have an LDS temple built in Billings and dedicated when I was a senior. I was also fortunate to live in a beautiful neighborhood on the quieter end of town, one mile outside city limits. People had one-acre yards, there was no traffic, and the sunsets were some of the most beautiful I ever remember seeing. I'll never forget all the evenings I spent sitting on our trampoline watching the sun go down.
This article made me realize what a lucky girl I was to be raised in a good town...though my parents no longer live in Billings, I miss going there and will always have a special affection for the place where I grew up!
If you want to see the rest of the top 100, here's the link to the article.
At the bottom of the article is another link, "Video: Best cities to raise kids," where you can watch Al Roker interviewing one of the editors of Best Life Magazine about the top 7 cities. So crazy that my little hometown in Montana is up there along with places like San Diego, California and Honolulu, Hawaii!
6 comments:
Dido! I loved growing up there. Good to see your cute family. I'm blog surfing tonight and am finding a few people I used to know. How fun!
I loved coming and visiting you guys when you lived there! I wish we could have done it more often! Billings is a great place.
why hello! i do remember you! i think its so fun to see the people you knew or barely knew as adults with their little families! i love it! who would of known where we all would of end up. you have such a cute boy!! and a beautiful home! iam so glad you wrote me, i will tell michael you said hi, he will be glad to hear how you are doing.
I went and looked at the article. I was a little surprised that there wasn't a single city from Utah on the list. I will have you know that I currently live in Columbia, SC and it was in the top 10 WORST cities. Most of the cities on the list are on the South. You gotta love it. GO BILLINGS!!
I have to admit Billings is a great place to grow up. I am surprised it is #3 on the list. I often go out and drive around our old neighborhood. That was such a awesome place to grow up. I hope one day Jake and I will be able to have a place like that for our kids. I often think about all of the fun summer days we had together. You were my bestest friend:)
Yay for B,MT! It suprises me a little too...though I love Billings!
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