Polson Montana lies nestled between the shores of Flathead Lake and the peaks of the Mission Mountains. Polson is a part of the Flathead Indian Reservation. Home to roughly 4,000 people in the winter and 8,000 in the summer when thousands of senior citizens flock back from the sunny deserts of Arizona and the cozy resorts of Florida.
Currently, Polson is the bouts of economic depression, like many of the small towns in America. The once thriving downtown, filled with a bookstore, a cd store, countless tourtisty shops, a health food bakery, is now empty, over run by the rebellious kids attending Polson Middle School (PMS) and Polson High School (PHS). Kids searching the streets for someone to buy them alcohol from one of the 4 downtown bars (which will thrive perhaps even more as the rest of the town suffers poverty). Kids thinking their "bad ass," turning street signs to confuse passing drivers.
Polson could still be a nice place to visit. Nice restaurants are still around to gain from the tourist dollars. 4Bs is still around for those from large cities to have a taste of the rustic, truck-stop style dining. The lake is still relatively clean and nice for summer swimming. Ski resorts are only an hour away in any direction. And Glacier National Park is about an hour and a half north.
But for those who call Polson home, there is little more than Town Pump and parties in cow pastures to entertain them. Its a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't recommend living there.