My family was recently on a bike ride headed for St. Patrick hospital when we made the mistake of crossing the California Street bridge rather than Orange Street bridge. It was the middle of the day and I don't think I would ever bike that way again, no matter the time of day, but especially not at night. It's a bit sketch over there, to say the least.

The owners of Strongwater, Missoula's "surf shop for the mountains, recently posted a photo of the California Street bridge on Facebook and addressed some of the problems with the area, which sparked a lot of feedback on their page.

california street bridge
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The post says:

This is California Street Bridge... Downtown Missoula... This is accepted by the city here in Missoula still today in 2016.
This area should be inhabited by kids swimming, fishing & surfing on summer break. Tourists should be walking, floating & fishing this area. Locals should be taking advantage of the natural sand beaches in this area. This area should be an economic advantage to our community. This area should be a beautiful park environment in our Downtown.

Instead it's a Hangout/hideout/dump for sketchy, scary, transient/Bum, child molesting, littering, lurking, drug addict, alcoholics...

If we simply change the environment in a positive way...we can change the value, impact & safety of this area in Downtown Missoula.
Missoula please lets face the river!
‪#‎facetheriver‬‪#‎changeisgood‬ @missouladowntown @visitmissoula @missoula_parks_and_recreation

You can join the conversation on the Strongwater Facebook page.

 

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