the NEXT last best place? (Missoula, Bozeman: transplants, co-op, house)

[calicokate]

Anyone want to give me some advice? Self-employed unmarried 20 something girl here, loves current homebase Bozeman but is last holdout in circle on either moving away or going the marriage and babies route! Plus, the winter grey is doing me in. PLUS, feeling a bit of a small-town career ceiling. Plluuuuss I really (really) cannot afford a house here, ever. A pervasive sense of time to keep on keepin' on has settled in.

Still, I can't help but thinking...is there such a thing as better than beautiful, friendly, uncrowded Montana??

I have loved the sense of community, outdoorsiness, attempts at cultural outlets (I mean, for a town so small...I think we do pretty well with our co-op and cultural center, film festival, etc.), natural splendor, uncrowdedness, safety here. And I've also liked living in my former home bases of Seattle, Portland, Eugene and Ashland for the funky & fun factor (but the first three rain WAAAAY too much and are a bit TOO big and the last one was pretty much Bozeman with more California transplants.) I've lived on the East Coast and miss all the culture but can definitely skip the stress.

So the question...where to? I've considered Boise (is it too boring/religious?) and Denver (cool but too big), Boulder (too $$$!), Bend... I'd like a cool outdoorsy younger town, with a large creative class (important in my field), a funky vibe, and SUN! *really important...need sun.* (otherwise I'd move to Missoula)...and the family's in the West so I'm leaning (but not completely settled on) the West. Things that would be big bonuses: walkability, bike-ability, lots of ethnic/vegetarian/vegan restaurants, hiking trails nearby, pottery studios, that kinda stuff.

I know no place is perfect but where's a good contender I may not have thought of? And no worries if it isn't on Outside Magazine's Top 10 Lists or something...I could go for the next "undiscovered" cool place!

Thank you all.

[NYMTman]

The scenery around Boise is pretty boring IMO. No offense to the people down there but it's no Bozeman to say the least. And yes it is more religious than almost anywhere in Montana. Mormons.

Maybe you should look into the southwestern states? I've heard Taos, NM is cool and funky. Maybe Flagstaff. Anywhere that's "cool" is going to be fairly spendy however.

[NYMTman]

Honestly though, if you ask me it seems like Bozeman is a good place for you. It's not really all that grey compared to most other non-desert areas.

[MaiMorris]

I always thought Bend was really nice, but their economy took a HUGE hit. My friends who lived in Boise said religion is shoved down your throat, though housing is extremely reasonably priced. Have you considered the Spokane/Couer d'Alene area? Quite a few Mormons moved up there, but as far as I know it's not quite as in-your-face as Boise. It's a more scrubby-forest nearby, but relatively close to some really nice areas.

I'm in the Tri-Cities in Eastern Washington.. our culture here is "have another drink!" though it has one of the most stable economies around, but also a lot of gang problems and our housing has gone up considerably higher than Boise. Also it's quite a ways to anything real outdoors, unless you want to buy a boat for the sweltering summers. Boating and drinking... we're the cultural mecca of Eastern Washington. There's cow-tipping and rat-stomping, and there's nothing like a trailer-park party in Finley. Dear LORD, save me...

[calicokate]

Oooh, let me bust out my beer coozy! No, seriously...I barely drink at all (medical reasons). I was worried about Boise being super-LDS. I spent way too much time in Idaho Falls, though, and we considered Boise the hip, evil "they have back rooms in THEIR video stores" side of Idaho.

I know, I know, Bozeman is very sunny compared to many places...but the weather here has honestly changed and there's been 2 days of sun in over the last month...one of them at 10 below. Same deal last winter. Or maybe I'm just losing my MT mojo?

It would be a hard place to leave...but I feel like my time here is just DONE most days, and it might be time to spend the next part of my one little life somewhere else!

[calicokate]

And I'm from Spokane...so always lots of family reasons to visit, but I prolly won't move there.

[MaiMorris]

I don't blame you, I'm not a Spokane fan myself. I took some "Where should I live" quiz online, and Spokane was my number 2. Well it's always a number 2 in my book. A mormon actually told me the church president visited his ward in couer d'alene and told them the reason so many mormons have been moving north in the past decade or two is because when the end arrives, the spokane area will be one of the safe places.

I lived on the kitsap pennisula, and yes, that was a lot of grey, but this winter seems to be pretty grey in my town of almost perpetual sunshine, too. If it's time to move on, move on.. but the grass isn't always greener, and the older I get the more I realize happiness is day to day. Contentedness is long-term.

[calicokate]

The end is arriving? Drat. I hadn't heard.

Thanks for the wisdom...it's very true. The grass isn't greener (but perhaps less, er, covered in snow?). I'm hoping Bozeman is just one cool town...not the only one. But if it is, then yeah, not such a bad place to be stuck.

So throw out your town suggestions...thank you all!

[mtnlady]

I can't belive I'm actually defending Boise, but I've been here 15 years (grew up in Montana) and the religion thing is not that bad. The only place we've found issues is when my kids are trying to make friends, if the kids are LDS (we're not) they pretty much don't want anything to do with us. Otherwise, they pretty much leave you alone.

In terms of Bozeman vs. Boise--don't pick Boise for the scenery. There are mountains to the north, but we are high desert which means we are really dry and desert like, even the mountains are until you go 100 miles north.

That said, it's a great city (about 500k in the metro area) and lots of opportunites that you don't get in Montana. Lots of things to do outdoors, winter can be drab (we have lots of fog and rain) but not usually snow in the city.

[calicokate]

Thanks Mtnlady...so are you happy with Boise over Montana? I feel for your kids...it was the same story growing up in IF. So do you find you're still able to connect with people and have a solid group of friends? I am of course not adverse to befriending the LDS but I kinda know those friendships will only go so deep...and I would probably be hard pressed to find a female friend my age who would have time for hangouts between raising a big family!

How far is it to the woods and mountains in Boise? I don't find the foothills very attractive but I'm glad there's trails there for close-proximity fun. And if you could expound a bit on what kinds of things Boise has to offer that Montana doesn't I'm curious! (I mean, I'm sure it has a lot that we don't but I'm just not sure what!)