[ WP ] Describe your hometown .

No one would ever be accused of describing Roundup as `` booming.'' Ever since its settlement it has been a small community, barely staying afloat in central Montana. It has never had more than one main street. It has never had a streetlight. There are three churches; all different denominations of Christianity. There are 6 bars; all different variations of `` cowboy.'' The people in Roundup are blue collar, hard working and laid back. Maybe too laid back. 
 
 Roundup is dying. Main street is lined with store fronts, but over half are abandoned. There are more houses for sale every day. But, no one every buys. The houses just sit, vacant. The most successful businesses are the gas stations at either end of town, frequented by truckers just passing through. 
 
 The county seat is in Roundup, and only because there are no other real towns in Musselshell County. Other than the family owned grocery store and the jail, it's the only real place to work. Jobs are scarce, forcing the dwindling permanent residents to seek jobs in Billings. Billings is 59 miles and over an hour away in good conditions. But to get to Billings you have to drive one of the most dangerous highways in Montana. In the winter, it could take you three hours to commute. Most of those forced to work in Billings end up just moving there. Leaving more houses to sit empty. 
 
 The majority of the residents that remain in Roundup are elderly. Their ties are that of memories. They remember a time when the town was somewhere to be loved. A community on the brink of an expansion that never quite happened. 
 
 Despite the death of the town looming on the horizon, Roundup is beautiful. There are flower pots every 25 feet on Main street, bursting with petunias and pansies. The women of the Rotary club maintain them with fierce pride. The fire hydrants are brightly painted as funny little men. The daughter of a long-time resident did that on a whim while visiting. There are beautiful, painted murals of historical events that have taken place in Musselshell County on many walls along Main. The town is spotlessly clean; again, the work of the Rotary club. 
 
 But the pride of every resident is the community pool. There are few children in Roundup, but those that are there spend their entire summer swimming in the pool. The town's people have made keeping the pool immaculate and perfect their extreme civil duty. It is the cornerstone of life in Roundup to spend at least a few days basking in the sun near the pool from June to September catching up and discussing future plans for the pool. 
 
 To most, Roundup is just a tiny dot on the Montana map. Even people who have lived in Montana their wholes lives may not know it's there. Driving through or visiting you'd probably be most struck by the feeling of a place being very slowly abandoned. But to those who live there, clinging to their community, it's simply the home they are trying desperately to keep alive.
