A Montana Migration That Reflects the American Spirit

I too moved to Montana 30 years ago, only to find myself in Irvine four years ago to start graduate school, and I think I can answer the unasked question in Jim Robbins’ article (“Circling the Welcome Wagons,” Nov. 26). Why don’t Californians “get” the lifestyle of Montana? It’s simply a matter of speed.

I have since been back to Montana twice, and both times I found myself shaking my head at the 35 mph speed limits, the lack of a long yellow light, the way people walk so slowly, the incredibly cheap rents--and then I realized something. I had become used to the pace of California. I had become used to driving in the far left lane, speeding up to beat the yellow, going as quickly as possible from place to place. I had even become inured to the cost of housing: I was starting to think half a million for a condo in Costa Mesa wasn’t bad, and I was thrilled for a friend who found an apartment for less than a grand.

Perhaps it’s simply a matter of wanting to slow down and smell the roses, but until the Californian expats living in Montana learn to live at a slower pace, there are going to be issues. I, for one, hope to move back there someday. And no offense to anyone here, but I hope you stay right where you are.

Melissa Bruninga-Matteau

Irvine

More than a half-century ago, I was born in Southern California. We lived not far from downtown, and our house was in a postwar tract, nestled beside farms and dairies. There were fields, treehouses and bamboo forests. Great owls, tree frogs and horned lizards were abundant. SoCal was a pretty nice place to live before it was paved over by transplants seeking “a better life.”

My apologies, Mr. Robbins, but I might be more sympathetic if the desire to migrate was not such an integral part of Americana. And if you were among the original inhabitants of your great state.

Dan Jensen

San Clemente

I was born and raised along the Gulf Coast. Robbins’ reference to the Rocky Mountain West as the Third Coast is not only insulting but inaccurate. To ignore an entire region and overlook its economic expansion in favor of only the East and the West reflects the disease many out here suffer: seeing only media centers as the regions that count. The United States does have a Third Coast. It’s called the Gulf Coast.

Philip Mayor

Los Angeles

Your piece on western Montana took me back. I was born there. The summers were heavenly; the winters were killers. The older people in our family couldn’t take below-freezing temperatures. But I could. At age 15, I folded and delivered the Butte Daily Post with gloves off. We departed for California in 1937 when Butte’s temperature dropped briefly to 50 below.

Tedd Thomey

Long Beach