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Gallatin County ‘best place’ in Rockies

When it comes to healthy living and small business creation, Gallatin County is the best place in the Rockies, according to a study released this week.

The county also earned an A for overall "vibrancy and vitality," and was No. 8 in terms of "arts, culture and employment in the ‘creative class,’" the Colorado College researchers determined.

By SCOTT McMILLION, Chronicle Staff Writer

http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2004/05/06/news/01stateorockiesbzbigs.txt

Only Lewis and Clark County earned a better overall grade in Montana, an A+.

The study, entitled "2004 State of the Rockies Report Card," looked at all 280 counties in eight Rocky Mountain states. Using mostly federal data from a variety of sources, researchers analyzed 15 indicators and ranked the counties on cultural, demographic, economic and environmental characteristics.

Throughout the region, it found a wide diversity of economic conditions, the fastest growth in the nation and lots of cultural changes.

"Nature has not been equally generous to every county in the Rockies," the report’s authors noted, but deficiencies can be overcome.

"Often, the efforts of residents to form and maintain vibrant communities more than offset any deficiencies nature may have dealt areas around the West," they wrote.

While some areas are thriving, many Montana counties, especially those in the state’s northern and eastern reaches, are foundering and earned grades of D or F in the report.

Gallatin County’s top grade for healthy conditions was based on three things: zero pounds per capita of toxic chemicals released annually; only 7 percent of adults ranked their health as "poor to fair"; and the average life expectancy is 78.9 years.

The report only identified the top 10 counties in that category, and Madison County, at No. 6, was the only other Montana county to make the cut.

For small business creation, Gallatin led all counties with 179 percent growth between 1980 and 2001 in the number of firms with less than 10 employees. Flathead was in third place, the only other Montana county on that list.

Gallatin was the only Montana county to make the top 10 in arts and culture.

In terms of "top quality of public land," Park County was 10th in the region. However, that number might be a mistake, since the report maintains the county contains 834,000 acres of national park land and only 103,00 acres of national forest land. It seems those numbers were transposed in the compilation, which is important because national park lands earned more points than national forest lands.

Teton County, Wyo, was No. 1 in that category and Flathead County was No. 8.

In terms of education, the study placed Fergus County at No. 2 and Park County as sixth in a category called "the best places for kids in the Rockies." That category looked at student/teacher ratios and per student expenditures. Yellowstone County was fifth among "metro" counties.

In terms of "balanced employment," Flathead was first, Gallatin was fourth and Ravalli was eighth. Those counties have been the fastest growing in Montana.

For an overall grade on the most "livable" counties, the state’s most populated counties didn’t do so well: Yellowstone earned a C, Missoula earned a D+ and Cascade earned an F-.

But in the mid-size counties, Lewis and Clark earned an A+, Gallatin earned an A, Ravalli earned an A-, while Park earned a C+

For rural counties, Jefferson earned an A+ and Stillwater earned an A, while Madison and Sweet Grass both earned a B.

The full report can be viewed at http://www.coloradocollege.edu/stateoftherockies

Scott McMillion is at [email protected]

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