Bozeman

Bozeman is a city and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. The 2020 census put Bozeman's population at 53,293, making it the fourth-largest city in Montana. It is the largest micropolitan statistical area in Montana, as well as the third-largest of all Montana's statistical areas. The city is named after John M. Bozemen, who established the Bozemans Trail and was a founder of the town in August 1864. The town became incorporated in April 1883 with a city council form of government, and in January 1922 transitioned to its current city manager/city commission form ofGovernment. The local newspaper is theBozeman Daily Chronicle; the city is served by Bozefort Yellowstone International Airport. It was elected an All-America City in 2001 by the National Civic League, and is the home to Montana State University. It has been called the "Egypt of Montana" for its nickname of the state's first newspaper, the Avant-garde Courier, which was published from 1864 to 1883. In 1866, Nelson Story, a successful Virginia City, Montana, gold miner originally from Ohio, entered the cattle business. Story's cattle formed one of the earliest significant herds in Montana's cattle industry. He later donated land to the state for the establishment of Montana state University. Fort Ellis was established in 1867 by Captain R. S. LaMotte and two companies of the 2nd Cavalry, after the murder of John BoZeman.

History

Bozeman is located in Montana, in the Gallatin Valley. The area was once known as the "Valley of the Flowers" by indigenous people. John Bozeman platted the town in August 1864. The first library was formed in 1872. The city's main cemetery was given to the city by a philanthropist in 1871. Bozemen is home to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Fish Hatchery, later a fish health and technology center. It is also home to Montana State University's Experimental Station, which was established in 1867 after the murder of the town's first mayor. The town's population reached 3,500 in 1883, and 5,000 in 1900. It was named for Gettysburg casualty Colonel Augustus Van Horne Ellis, who was killed in the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. It has been called "The Egypt" of Montana since the early 19th century, when it was known as "The Valley of the flowers" by the indigenous people of the area. The current mayor of Bozemans is John Bowerman, who has served as mayor of the city since 1998 and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Montana, where he is a professor of economics and business. The mayor's office is located at the entrance to Bridger Canyon, at the mouth of Kelly Canyon, on the Montana-Wyoming border. The Bozmans live in an area that was once part of the Crow Nation.

Geography and climate

Bozeman is located at an elevation of 4,820 feet (1,470 m) It is 84 miles (135 km) east of Butte, 125 miles (201 km) west of Billings, and 93 miles (150 km) north of Yellowstone National Park. The highest temperature ever recorded in Bozeman was 105 °F (40.6 °C) on July 31, 1892. The lowest recorded temperature, 43 °f (41.7 °C), occurred on February 8, 1936. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 19.15 square miles (49.60 km²), of which 19.12 sq miles (49.52 km²) is land and 0.03sq miles (0.08 sq km) is water. The city experiences a Humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfb) as it is located in a more humid microclimate setting. It receives significantly higher rainfall than much of the central and eastern parts of the state, up to 24 inches (610 mm) of precipitation annually vs. the 8 to 12 inches (200 to 300 mm) common throughout much of Montana east of the Continental Divide. It has cold, snowy winters and relatively warm summers, though due to elevation, temperature changes from day to night can be significant. In 2019, Bozemen experienced unusually warm and dry temperatures during the month of December. Montana State University campus reported a daily average of 0.20 inches of precipitation for the month.

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 37,280 people, 15,775 households, and 6,900 families residing in the city. There were 17,464 housing units at an average density of 913.4 per square mile (352.7/km²) The racial makeup of the city was 93.6% White, 0.5% African American, 1.1% Native American,1.9% Asian and 0.7% Pacific Islander. The city's median income was $32,156, and the median income for a family was $41,723. About 9.2% of families and 20.2%. of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.8% under age 18 and 4.4% of those age 65 or over. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was2.80. The median age in theCity was 27.2 years, with 16.0% under the age of 18, 33.0%. The city has a population density of 1,949.8 inhabitants per squaremile (752.8/ km²). The city is located on the Mississippi River, which runs through the city's downtown area. It is the only city in the state to have a population of more than 30,000 people, as of the 2010 U.S. census. The population was 27,509 at the time of the 2000 census, with 11,577 housing units.

Government

Bozeman became an incorporated Montana city in April 1883 and adopted a city council form of government. The City Commission is chaired by an elected Mayor. The Bozeman Fire Department responded to approximately 5,000 emergency calls in 2020. There are currently 47 uniformed firefighters at three stations, four engines (one reserve), a ladder truck, a Battalion Chief's truck, 2 brush trucks, a HazMat unit, and 2 Medic Units. The Public Service Department provides engineering, forestry, signs and signals, solid waste, street, vehicle maintenance, water reclamation, water and sewer and water treatment services for the citizens ofBozeman. The Park, Recreation and Cemetery Department maintains public parks throughout the city to include the East Gallatin Recreation Area and conducts recreational programs for the residents of the city. The city is served by a full-time career fire department which is a full time, full-year, volunteer-led fire department. It is the only city in Montana with a mayor and a city commission/city manager form ofgovernment. The citizens adopted the current form of Government on January 1, 1922 with an elected Municipal Judge. These three entities form the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government and form the executive branch of the government for the city of Bozemen. The mayor and city commission are responsible for the day-to-day operations of the City of BoZeman. They are also responsible for budgeting and financial management for the City. They also provide the city with a full range of services such as public services.

Education

The Bozeman Public School District operates two high schools and eight elementary schools. The district also operates the Bridger Alternative Program to serve "at-risk" secondary students. Mount Ellis Academy is a co-educational boarding high school (grades 9 through 12) affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Montana State University is home to the state's largest university. MSU set a new fall enrollment record in the fall of 2018, at a total of 16,902 students on campus. The school district operates two middle schools and two elementary schools, Emily Dickinson Elementary School and Hawthorne Elementary School. The former Emerson Elementary School is now a cultural community center, and Willson School is still owned by the school district and houses a number of school district offices. It is also home to Headwaters Academy, the flagship campus of the Montana state University System, which has more than 16,000 students. It was founded by the Seventh Day Adventists in the early 20th century and is located near the campus of Montana State. It has been named after the founder of the church, who was a member of the local community in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The town's nickname is "Bozeman" which means "the town of the hills" or "the mountains" in German. It also means "budapest" in English, which is the name of a town in the U.S. state of Montana. The city's motto is "The Town of the Rockies" which is a reference to the town's location.

In popular culture

The Bozeman area has served as a filming site for a number of films, including The Wildest Dream, A River Runs Through It, A Plumm Summer and Amazing Grace and Chuck. The members of the noise rock group Steel Pole Bath Tub are originally from BoZeman, and wrote a song titled "Bozeman" on their third album, The Miracle of Sound in Motion. The 1980s hard rock band Vixen also featured a formerBozeman resident, Janet Gardner, as lead singer. The city was the fictional site of Earth's first contact with an alien species (the Vulcans) on April 5, 2063, as recounted in the film Star Trek: First Contact, though the movie was not filmed in Montana. The Big Bang Theory is featured in an episode where Sheldon Cooper briefly moves to Bozemen. It is also featured and mentioned in some episodes of CSI: NY, as the hometown of the character Lindsay Monroe. On March 5, 2009, an early morning explosion destroyed three buildings in the historic downtown area. The blast occurred about 8:15 a.m. and prompted the evacuation of a two-block area. Investigators found the cause of the explosion to be a leak in a gas line that led to a business that was destroyed in the blast. Business owners and local residents later filed major lawsuits against Northwestern Energy, the company in charge of the gas line. Most of the lawsuits against the energy company were settled in June of the same year.

Transportation

Bozeman straddles east-west Interstate 90 and is approximately 85 miles (137 km) east of northsouth Interstate 15 in Butte, Montana. The city was last served by passenger rail in 1979 by the North Coast Hiawatha at Bozeman Depot. Montana Rail Link, a privately held Class II railroad that connects Spokane, Washington, with Huntley, Montana, provides freight rail service. Bozemen has operated a free public bus system called Streamline since 2006. The Gallatin Big Sky Transportation District has operated the Skyline bus service between BoZeman and Big Sky since December 2006. One of the three major regional airports serving southwest Montana isBozeman Yellowstone International Airport west of Bozemans. It primarily serves travelers to Bozamans, Big Sky, West Yellowstone and Yellowstone National Park. A smaller commercial airport is located in West Yellowstone, 90 mi (140 km) south of BoZemans, which is the only other major airport in the state. It is located on the outskirts of Belgrade, Montana and is 90 mi from Bozumans. The airport is one of the largest in the U.S. and has a passenger capacity of more than 100,000 passengers per day. It also has a cargo capacity of over 50,000 passenger and cargo vehicles. It has a runway that can accommodate up to 1,000 Boeing 747s and 767s. It was built in the 1930s and is the largest commercial airport in Montana.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Bozeman, Gallatin County, Montana = 31.4. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 52. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 81. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Bozeman = 3.8 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 53,293 individuals with a median age of 30.3 age the population grows by 39.42% in Bozeman, Gallatin County, Montana population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 2,554.43 residents per square mile of area (986.26/km²). There are average 2.29 people per household in the 15,416 households with an average household income of $43,921 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 4.90% of the available work force and has dropped -0.71% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 33.68%. The number of physicians in Bozeman per 100,000 population = 222.5.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Bozeman = 18.3 inches and the annual snowfall = 84.5 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 111. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 188. 81 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 11.8 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 74, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Bozeman, Gallatin County, Montana which are owned by the occupant = 41.75%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 21 years with median home cost = $266,900 and home appreciation of -1.96%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $10.25 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $4,652 per student. There are 12.1 students for each teacher in the school, 414 students for each Librarian and 492 students for each Counselor. 4.70% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 33.82% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 15.55% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).