Population growth

I had some deep thoughts as I was driving for many hours. Partly about the differences between Arizona and Montana. Both were settled initially because of mining and then cattle/agriculture. Both have lots of wide open space, a history that is similar and so on.

I think that Montana has more natural resource to offer, with actual rivers with flowing water, more grass and fewer thorny plants and our most unpleasant insect is the Mosquito. But Arizonas population has boomed, with two very large cities (Phoenix and Tucson) and several which rival our "big towns" of Great Falls and Billings.

Why all the industry and growth in Arizona compared to Montana? The most obvious answer is weather. People seem to be more comfortable in the extreme heat of Arizonas summer as opposed to the extreme cold of a Montana winter. Actually, the southern Arizona winter weather is pretty much what I expect during a Montana summer which brings up the old joke: "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in Montana."

Since I am not what you'd call a big fan of cities, I'm all for some more cold and snowy Montana winters. Yay for sub-zero temperatures!!