Infrastructure Around Missoula (Billings, Great Falls, Bozeman: rental, new house, schools)

[EndersDrift]

I've figured out what I want to do with my life and found University of Montana - Missoula and Texas State University both have good programs for my goals and I should be able to get accepted to both, and hopefully offered a T.A. and funds to attend. I doubt I'd go without a considerable amount of funding especially since these are out of state schools I'd have to be paying.

I think I'd rather live in Missoula but want to know a bit more about it. I'm debating because Missoula doesn't have rolling admissions and Texas State does so debating on how to do the applications.

How is the internet service like at UMontana? If I live off campus what can I expect?

What about cell phone service? How far outside of Missoula can I realistically expect to get a signal and of the major providers do you all recommend a particular one? I'm currently on T-Mobile with an unlocked android I own.

What's the Medical like? Are services decent to good there? Is most everything done at the hospital or are there ample private practices as well? How about Dental too? What about Physical Therapy? Is there any medical facilities and growth in this industry there? The field I'm looking at getting into is health related so in addition to knowing in case I get sick I'm also asking for that reason.

My goal is a Masters of Exercise Science followed by a Doctorate of Physical Therapy and then work in the Rocky Mountain Region or at one of the Military Academies - West Point would be amazing.

Thanks,
Ender

[bongo403]

Unless your needs in any of these areas are significantly different than the average college student, I think you'll find services adequate in all areas.

Originally Posted by EndersDrift

How is the internet service like at UMontana? If I live off campus what can I expect?

I can't speak specifically for campus, since it's been years since I've been a student, but I'm sure the admissions office could give you that information. As for off-campus, anywhere in Missoula and most of the surrounding communities will have Cable and/or DSL broadband available. We don't have the super-fast Fiber Optic readily available yet, but even at my house 12 miles out of town I get a very reliable 8 Mbps download speeds.

Originally Posted by EndersDrift

What about cell phone service? How far outside of Missoula can I realistically expect to get a signal and of the major providers do you all recommend a particular one? I'm currently on T-Mobile with an unlocked android I own.

Again, service is very reliable in town and the surrounding communities. Coverage along the major highways in and out of town is also very good. Because we're in the mountains, there will always be some dead spots, but if you're worried about coverage in the populated or heavily traveled areas, there isn't much concern. 3G isn't as reliable out of town, but you'll still do fine in most of the established communities. Verizon is the most popular national carrier, and Droids are very common. AT&T and the iPone are newcomers to Montana, within about the last year. T-Mobile isn't available here.

Originally Posted by EndersDrift

What's the Medical like? Are services decent to good there? Is most everything done at the hospital or are there ample private practices as well? How about Dental too? What about Physical Therapy? Is there any medical facilities and growth in this industry there? The field I'm looking at getting into is health related so in addition to knowing in case I get sick I'm also asking for that reason.

Missoula has two big hospitals. One, St. Pats, has an internationally recognized heart institute, and a regional trauma center. Community Medical Center is the regional provider for neo-natal services. There are plenty of clinics and private practices as well. Physical therapy, dental, chiropractic, and natural/holistic care are all readily available as well. Unless you suffer from something extremely rare or unusual, you'll find everything you need here. Also, the University has a pretty decent health center for students where they can get any routine and basic care (including dental) at a very low cost.

[Sobefobik]

I'm also considering a move to Missoula or Bozeman. Who is the broadband provider in both places? Do you have Comcast? I work from home and a reliable and fast internet connection is vital.

[24522]

Originally Posted by Sobefobik

I'm also considering a move to Missoula or Bozeman. Who is the broadband provider in both places? Do you have Comcast? I work from home and a reliable and fast internet connection is vital.

Optimum (a division of Cablevision) covers both cities.
High Speed Internet › Services › Optimum West

I can't speak for recent history, but before Bresnan Communications sold the properties to Cablevision, there was a lot of work done to improve the quality of the cable plant and network. I know several of the engineers that are still there and there is a lot of talent and knowledge, so I can't imagine that it's not still at least as good if not better than you'd find in most major markets.

[Sobefobik]

Originally Posted by 24522

Optimum (a division of Cablevision) covers both cities.
High Speed Internet › Services › Optimum West

I can't speak for recent history, but before Bresnan Communications sold the properties to Cablevision, there was a lot of work done to improve the quality of the cable plant and network. I know several of the engineers that are still there and there is a lot of talent and knowledge, so I can't imagine that it's not still at least as good if not better than you'd find in most major markets.

Thanks! Do you ever hear of outages or people complaining of disconnects? Right now I live in Portland, OR. Comcast services us right now. For the most part it's pretty good, but the problem is when you move into a new house. Many times the lines are totally degraded, and they'll have to come out and rewire everything. But once that's all fixed it works pretty smoothly.

Also, is there DSL there? Which company provides that?

[Space Cowboy]

Missoula and much of MT is basically a collection small wooden shacks in the forest. All medical, technological and health needs must be found in Washington or Canada. Just kidding man, you would do fine with all of the above items in Missoula. The medical, dental (try Bitterroot Dental) and other options are well developed in that city. There are several internet options to sample, and you wouldn't have a problem finding decent wireless internet for a rental off-campus. Or you can steal it from your neighbors, who are most likely college students as well! (I kid, I kid)

In terms of cellphone coverage, it can be spotty in the more rural areas of MT outside of the cities. But you'd be fine anywhere in or within 40-60 miles of Missoula, with some exceptions.

I do know that U of Montana has pretty well known and apparently decent Physical Therapy program, although I'm not sure how it fares at the graduate and doctorate level. In terms of industry opportunities, you would definitely have more options in Texas simply because it's a more populated state. There is a large hospital in Missoula, but the largest concentration of medical services in the state are probably in Great Falls or Billings, similar sized or larger cities in other parts of the state. I'm not sure if medical is a huge growth industry in Montana, but that field is growing nationwide in any event due to aging Baby Boomers, etc.
And last, but not least, Missoula is a beautiful and fun town! I would guess you will enjoy living there, but take your time and make the best decision for you!

[Space Cowboy]

Also, for Sobefobik, I believe that Optimum and Qwest both provide DSL internet. Either way, it's most certainly available in Missoula from a few providers.

[happiness is]

I use Qwest in Bozeman for wireless internet.
They offer high speed service.
They have a new name, CenturyLink.
Here is their web site.
CenturyLink | Local Provider of High Speed Internet, Phone, Mobile & TV Services

hope that helps,

H.I.
Bozeman

[Sobefobik]

Thanks all. Unfortunately I need to be hard-wired for work. Wireless alone won't do. It looks, though, like Optimum West offers that service.

[MontanaGyrl]

I have cable internet from Optimum and have been extremely pleased with it. Fast, and almost no outages. Good customer service, too. Not affiliated with the company in any way, etc.

I used to have DSL through Qwest years ago and it was awful -- the service would drop out like clockwork every day around 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Whenever I would call to try and get it resolved, Qwest would blame the wiring in my old house. But amazingly enough, I knew people in brand-new places across town that had the same problems.