Author: Scott Miller

Read Part 1 here.

Read Part 2 here.

Recently, my wife and I have been looking into a potential job opportunity in Helena. While I haven’t been interviewed yet, it has given us the opportunity to explore what moving back to Montana would look like. We have visited Kalispell, which has grown to be massive compared to what I remember as a young kid. We have stayed in Havre while I working for a couple weeks at the Guard Armory earlier this month, and we stopped in Helena for business and to explore our possible new home. And then we stayed a few days in Great Falls in order to visit family.

When visiting Kalispell, Angie made the observation that it seemed very similar to a nice Canadian town. In other words, it was growing, bustling, and had a good balance between older people and younger people. One of her favourite observations was the fact that it had all the hope and character of a successful Canadian towns, and we could carry a gun! It was that moment I realized that she would make a wonderful Montanan, but perhaps I’m just biased.

We also visited Helena, which had a bustling outdoor mall, lots of beautiful land, and well-kept lawns and seemingly safe areas. I know every town has its bad areas, but nobody can tell me that Helena is in a worse spot than Great Falls.

When we came back to Great Falls, we passed by cops surrounding a house, an ambulance, and a dozen homeless folks in order to get to my mother’s apartment across from the Civic Centre. It was evening, and there were already drunk people galore (it was Friday, admittedly), and a lot of chaos on Central Avenue. It really bummed us out seeing the comparison.

What breaks my heart is the fact of how awesome Great Falls could be. Like I said earlier, it has the most amazing outdoors not even five minutes out of town. There is a legendary river that splits Great Falls in half, a beautiful view of several dams, and Giant Springs park is nothing to underestimate. Great Falls has amazing characteristics.

If we can realize that there is something wrong with Great Falls and make steps to better it, maybe young people like myself will move back to it. In the meantime, however, I have to think about my wife and soon-to-be-born son. As a young adult, husband, and parent, I feel that moving to Great Falls isn’t in the best interests of my family, which is sad. I really want my hometown to grow and be the awesome place it could be!

How do we do that?

First, electing city commissioners that represent the desires of the citizens of the city. To do that, we need to encourage people (young and old) to vote. We need to show people that their vote count. Even my absentee vote way up here in Saskatchewan counts.

“First, electing city commissioners that represent the desires of the citizens of the city. To do that, we need to encourage people (young and old) to vote. We need to show people that their vote count. Even my absentee vote way up here in Saskatchewan counts.”

Second, we need to market our city to businesses, not just non-profits and a slaughterhouse. We want really nice schools and a really awesome bustling downtown? We’re going to need more businesses boosting this city’s worth.

Third, either we need to get our streets safe. Honestly, I have no idea how we do that. I’m not afraid to admit that I’d like your input on how we do that!

Fourth, we need to encourage transparency and further citizen participation in city government decisions. Whether that be at the school district, city commission, or even at some random committee about garbage trucks or something. We need to get involved, and the city needs to realize that they serve the sixty-something thousand people that make Great Falls home before that becomes a fraction of that number.

I am still a proud Montana American, and I am excited to see what the future holds for Great Falls. In Bible College here in Canada, I have had some change some things. From me changing to the fancy British spelling of the word “theatre” to leaving all my guns in Great Falls and adopting the word “eh” as part of my vocabulary (kidding), I have had to make a lot of changes while living up here and respecting the Canadian way of life.

However, when I cross the border and enter America, I arguably must say I’m most excited that I am back in Montana, where I can shoot my guns, fish all I want, hunt all I want, hike all I want, and see some of the most beautiful scenery on Earth. In my opinion, there is almost no place better than Montana. Let’s make it to where there’s no place better than Great Falls.

Part 3 is the conclusion of Scott Miller’s essay.

Read Part 1 here.

When I graduated high school in 2015, I left Great Falls for the Army National Guard, and spent a year in South Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia, before coming back to Montana in 2016. In 2016, I spent a year driving school buses with Big Sky Bus Lines and trying to figure out what to do with my life. After a couple experimental pursuits into a couple different jobs while keeping my job at the bus line, I decided that it was time to go to college. A little before spring in 2017, I met my wife, Angie, who’s from Saskatchewan. Because of our faith, we had a very short courting relationship, and were engaged and married before September of that year. In the meantime, I discovered that the town she was from in Saskatchewan has a bible college that ironically accepts the GI Bill (college assistance from the US Military), and it became a no-brainer.

Not only did I get to spend time with my wife and avoid the year and a half (minimum) it takes to process a green card for her to come to the United States, it let me pursue my faith and desire to go into ministry. Furthermore, it was a way to get out of Great Falls before the Electric City robbed me of my energy. Unlike many of my peers, I wasn’t happy just working until I figure life out, or going to welding school, or smoking pot all day wondering why I was broke: I wanted to do something with my life. Most of the other kids who were ambitious already left for college, the military, or some other reason. I don’t intend to knock on people who want to be welders or figure out their lives. By all means; do it! It just wasn’t for me.

Moving to Canada was a culture shock. Though you may already know, Saskatchewan is only a three-hour drive from Great Falls. I live six and a half hours away. I still have residency in Great Falls, still have an address, and still pay Montana taxes. With my Canadian student visa, I am

also a legal resident in Saskatchewan, and pay taxes up in the “Great North” as well now. I live fifteen minutes away from Moose Jaw, which is half the size of Great Falls but has a very similar industry as Great Falls. It’s a military town (there’s a Canadian Air Force Base), it’s an agriculture centre, it’s a railroad town, and now its also booming because of oil.

When I drive to Moose Jaw, it seems like everything Great Falls could be. Now, I am not saying it’s perfect. In fact, it has some of the same problems that Great Falls has. There’s still domestic crime, drug problems, and some people can seem complacent. However, what city doesn’t? Everyone can agree with that. However, what Moose Jaw has makes it seem way bigger than it really is:

First, it has a plethora of jobs that pay more than minimum wage. Further, most of them aren’t even college-level jobs! I personally drive a school bus here (like I did in Great Falls) for about $18.00 an hour. If I can get myself on a route this fall, I’d make about $21.00 an hour and have medical benefits, and it’s not even a full-time job! And while there is still jobs that pay minimum wage, there’s a lot more diversity in what jobs there are in Moose Jaw. I have seen a posting for a welder right below a posting for an accountant. I can’t say I have seen that in Great Falls, personally.

Second, there is less crime. Maybe it’s because the homeless shelter is a lot smaller? Not trying to bash the Great Falls Shelter; they seem like wonderful people who are trying to make a difference. Personally, I have served at the homeless shelter in Great Falls, and know the important work they do there. However, my observation is that as soon as the addition to the shelter was built a couple years ago, the homeless population in Great Falls spiked, and with that—crime. Correct me if I’m wrong, as obviously I don’t have any statistics, only my perspective.

Furthermore, Moose Jaw has police checkpoints set up on Fridays and Saturdays in random areas of town in order to battle drunk driving and other illegal acts. Does Great Falls do that?

“Furthermore, Moose Jaw has police checkpoints set up on Fridays and Saturdays in random areas of town in order to battle drunk driving and other illegal acts. Does Great Falls do that?”

Third, it’s growing because new business is permitted to build here. Funnily enough, Regina, a city with a quarter-of-a-million people is only fifty minutes away, while Saskatoon (another two-hundred-fifty thousand people) is two hours up the road. Yet, Moose Jaw is also growing too. Partially, I’m sure it’s because of the oil industry at least partially. Whatever the reason, there are a lot of young people getting careers in Moose Jaw that pay decently and include benefits (not all healthcare is free in Canada).

Lastly, the downtown is bustling with people walking up and down the streets. There are people shopping at “mom-and-pops” and cars honking and cruising up Main Street. Regardless as to why Central Avenue in Great Falls is a ghost town, there are no people walking around shopping at mom-and-pop shops at all, it seems. Maybe it’s because shopping is expensive to most Great Falls residents? Since Moose Jaw has good paying jobs, its people are more excited to pay the extra buck to shop at a mom-and-pop shop instead of Wal-Mart.

Stay tuned for Part 3 of Miller’s essay.

I know many of us have been there when we were young: I can’t wait to leave my hometown! I remember being a young teenager thinking that Great Falls was boring. However, when I turned sixteen, I discovered hunting and fishing—or generally speaking: the outdoors. Suddenly, Great Falls wasn’t so bad. I remember the best part of being in Great Falls was all the recreation that was outside of it. That is still what I consider the most powerful selling point that the Electric City still has: it’s abundance of rural recreation quite literally five minutes out of town.

However, as much as I love hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, and just breathing in the fresh air of prairie or the morning dew in the Highwoods, this isn’t about the outdoors. This is about how I, as a young person, had to decide which was more important to myself and the family that I would have. The outdoors; or a future? As a disclaimer, I would like to state that I don’t always agree with the methods of E-City Beat, and have a few critical critiques. However, I find that E-City Beat has become an effective platform to freely speak the opinions of the public without worrying about offending city government or some other bureaucrat.

I grew up in Great Falls. I remember being six years old when I moved to Stockett, and then seven when we relocated to 2nd Avenue South and ninth in 2003. Back then, I remember playing outside very close to downtown, next to arguably one of the busiest streets in town, and nothing bad really ever happening. Maybe it was because I was eight at the time, but I don’t remember seeing any people tweaking out walking down the street, or dangerous thefts (I’m sure they happened), or any general fear for my life. Again, maybe that was just me being young, but I had pretty protective parents. They didn’t seem too worried, either.

I even remember growing up two blocks from Parkdale and right across the street from Longfellow; an area many consider to be low-income or higher in crime, nowadays. Now, I remember most of my peers not living with both parents (or even no parents), a lot of broken homes, and I remember being bullied quite a bit (mind you, I was a pretty intense Star Wars nerd and even admittedly kind of awkward). While I remember those problems, I don’t remember ever feeling scared for my life or anything out of the ordinary happen.

When I went into middle school, a neighbor just two houses away had their house burn down (the rumor was that it was a meth lab). All I remember is seeing the house burnt, and a bunch of cops in the area with yellow police tape. I remember in middle school discovering who in the neighborhood was dealing meth and who had marijuana. These houses were often times a block away (or even across the street) from Longfellow.

“I remember in middle school discovering who in the neighborhood was dealing meth and who had marijuana. These houses were often times a block away (or even across the street) from Longfellow.”

In High School, I remember seeing a lot more problems. It started getting to where going down the street even at nine at night was a guarantee that we would see drunk people or people sleeping on the street. When I turned eighteen, I was still in my senior year of high school, and my friends and I often stayed out late into the night (as is common in your teens). I remember crime getting progressively worse by the month, it seemed.

One time I had the opportunity to do a drive-along with a GFPD officer. I can’t believe how busy they are during the day. The number of calls they go on made the day fly by. The officer I was with intervened on someone about to jump off the Central Avenue bridge, a stolen cell phone, two goose-chases trying to find people with warrants, several traffic stops, and even a domestic disturbance involving someone tweaking on meth. This is the stuff they dealt with in under ten hours—and that was the day shift in the middle of the week. I can’t imagine what it’s like for them now; not even three years later.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of Miller’s essay.