Moving to Montana- around Kalispell (Missoula, Whitefish: foreclosed, rental, mobile home)

[memomfive]

Originally Posted by magoomafoo

You are going to fit in just fine-Have you looked at Hungry Horse? There are lots of small towns in the valley you could check out. I have a friend from Kansas, came to Montana then had to move back to Kansas. She misses Montana something terrible.

It's nice to hear someone say they think we'll fit in. I sure hope so, but at the same time that depends on what we're fitting into. I'm sorry to hear about your friend. That's not easy living in one place, but wanting to be somewhere else. And Kansas has nothing on Montana! Who knows maybe you'll end up with another friend from Kansas.

[montygarlic]

Originally Posted by memomfive

Is there any area west of the Rocky mountains that anyone thinks could be a good place to live? By the way, I don't mind driving an hour to get to a good naturopathic doctor if I have to & since we homeschool we don't need to worry about being close to schools, just a place my husband can work.

Check out: Somers, Bigfork, Polson and Ronan.

You may find more affordable housing, places out-of-town, and none that are too far to drive for jobs in Kalispell or Missoula (if you must). Plains and Thompson Falls in Sanders County would offer similar opportunities PLUS they have better overall weather patterns.

You'll do fine so long as you are willing to work hard at getting settled in and understand that it'll take a little while to improve your circumstances to where they are entirely satisfactory.

Good Luck!

mg

[grannymontanny]

or sanders county

[memomfive]

Is there much job opportunity in Sanders county?

[magoomafoo]

What's that little town outside of Kalispell? Kila? Not much of a town but quaint and close to the conveniences of Kalispell.

[memomfive]

I would take quaint any day. If it wasn't for needing a job, we'd move off in the middle of no where. Well, not completely, but just a little.

[FL2MT]

Originally Posted by memomfive

..... As for moving to Hungry Horse, Coram, or Martin city I'll have to pass. If I'm correct, that's on the east side of the Rocky's & the weather over there would be a little much for our family.....

Actually they're all on the west side, just a few miles from C. Falls on US-2 before you get to Glacier Nat'l Park.
martin city, mt - Google Maps

[memomfive]

Originally Posted by FL2MT

Actually they're all on the west side, just a few miles from C. Falls on US-2 before you get to Glacier Nat'l Park.
martin city, mt - Google Maps

Thank you for the correction. My husband knew where they were, but I'm still learning.

[Jbechtel]

I was going to say, your family has an uphill battle moving anywhere with five kids, but it's been done before. Kansas is a beautiful state and I always enjoyed the people there.

You haven't mentioned if your husband is in the machinest union as a certified tech. If he is, he could get into a mechanics job with the car dealerships in the Kalispell area. They pay well in Montana, the same as Kansas.

I'm sure you know about the expensive places to live in Colorado because Kansans go there quite often for vacations. A lot have settled there, too. In your part of the country people look up to the rocky mountain states as a panacia like NY'ers look at California, and that's fine. It's been that way for generations. But the people in the lower rockies are not familiar with the expensive areas here in Montana because the money here is more recent, and is not advertised like Colorado.

It's incredible the money the state of Colorado spends on advertising itself! 1% of the GNP of the US! Why do you think so many people in Kansas know about Telluride or Breckenridge, Co., or any other place?

The Kalispell area is one of these places minus the advertising. If we had a large airport like Denver has, it would happen in Montana, also.

[bongo403]

If you homeschool your kids, you shouldn't completely discount the Missoula area. There are several nice little towns within commuting distance of Missoula that don't share Missoula's liberal bent, and things might be less expensive there. Alberton comes to mind, or maybe Drummond (a little farther, but still considered commutable by many). Missoula would have a better job base, they have lots of naturopaths, and there are a lot of families in the area that homeschool that you could occasionally attend events with - but you would be far enough away and in another county to not feel like you are in the middle of Missoula's liberalism.