It seems like every time I head downtown after a fresh snowfall, I spend more time looking for a parking spot than I do actually enjoying the cozy shops. And trust me, after working the early shift at the coffee shop and then hitting the slopes at Bridger for a few runs, a warm scone from a local bakery is a real treat.

But trying to find parking feels like a whole other extreme sport. You circle, you wait, you eye someone’s reverse lights with the intensity of a hawk spotting a field mouse. It just doesn’t make sense to me. We’re a town that builds new fancy condos practically overnight. We’ve got roads going in out near the airport faster than I can pay off my truck.

I remember Mr. Henderson, who’s been here since before I was even born, told me how they used to just park anywhere down Main Street. Said sometimes they’d even tie their horses to a post. Things are obviously different now, with all the cars and trucks. But the spirit, I think, should be the same – easy access to what makes Bozeman, well, Bozeman.

We’ve got world-class skiing, hiking, and scenery. People come from all over for it. And it seems like a big part of that experience is just getting here and enjoying it without a twenty-minute saga trying to park. If we can build chairlifts that whisk people up mountains, surely we can figure out a few more places for everyone to comfortably put their vehicles. It just seems like good sense to me.

Rick Tailgate works two jobs, skis 60 days a year, and believes strongly that his lifestyle is sustainable. His truck payment suggests otherwise.