Montana Influencer Rants About Bozeman and He’s Right

If you’ve been to Bozeman in recent years and thought it looked as if you got lost and stumbled into a gated community in Colorado, you are not alone. Helena influencer, who goes by the handle Just a Dude Named Nicky, put it best in his now-viral TikTok video: Bozeman straight-up gives him “the ick.” And honestly? That’s putting it lightly.

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It WAS a funky college town with personality. Now it is a little more than a Patagonia catalog with valet parking. You can’t even purchase a sandwich in Gallatin County without first stopping to wonder whether your debit card is going to melt. With the $8 matcha lattes, the designer golden doodles, and the person wearing cowboy boots she got at Nordstrom, the whole vibe in Bozeman has gone full snob.

In his video, Nicky goes on about how the place feels more like a resort than a town. Well, he’s not wrong. It’s packed with people who moved here “for the views” who left their respect for locals back in California or Seattle. And long-time Montanans, some of whom grew up here, are being priced out of the homes they grew up in.

And the comments on that video? Gold. "It used to feel like Montana in Bozeman,” one said. Now it feels like Instagram.” Another wrote, “5th generation Montanan and it’s gross what they’re doing to our state.” That’s where we’re at.

WARNING: NSFW (Language)

@justadudenamednicky This whole county gives me the ick! #gallatincounty #bozeman #montana #hurddat ♬ original sound - Just a Dude Named Nicky

The issue is not that people are coming here. It’s not that they’re making new places. It’s that they’re steamrolling what made these places special. Culture? Replaced with cash. Community? Sold to the highest bidder.

So Nicky gets a shoutout for calling a spade a spade. Some of us are still here, still local, and still not impressed.