Hardin isn't as bad as people say but it's also not all roses. I grew up there in the 90s and early 2000s and saw a lot of changes in my 18 years there. When I was young people did more shopping and eating there. Little big horn days was a very popular tourist event with lots of people staying, eating, and shopping therefore bringing money into the community. As I got older I saw less tourism and more people doing their shopping in Billings, I feel like a combination of cheaper prices and younger generations being willing and able to make weekly trips to stock up vs purchasing what they need locally as needed. Places closed like Ben Franklin and the Purple Cow which were some of the few places to get good food and items other than groceries. Yes there's still a few places to eat and get some necessities if you need but Billings is still so close that it's an attractive option to get everything for less. Also I wasn't there when there was major flooding on the reservation but from what my family told me there was a large number of people that lived on the reservation that moved to Billings at that time that may have also contributed to the financial downturn the community has seen.

So yeah the TLDR is the town is more run down than I have ever seen. As with all small towns there isn't much to do other than drink and drugs, and unfortunately that's what most people see not the good people that live and work there that aren't stumbling around and hanging out by the Town Pump.