How the ‘scenery economy’ reinvigorated a Montana town

These days, though, Philipsburg’s historic district is one of the state’s small-town success stories — its buildings restored and bustling, with brightly painted facades that have won national recognition in places like Sunset Magazine. If there’s anywhere in rural Montana that’s managed to make the shift from the mines-and-mills industry of the past to the scenery economy of the New West, it’s here.

Eric Dietrich/Solutions Journalism Network

The ‘scenery economy’ reinvigorates a Montana town