Best Place in Montana for Veterans (Billings, Missoula: best city, crime, home)

[WalterKovacs]

what city in Montana has the highest concentration of veterans?.....best city to find a home with plenty of room between neighbors?(room to hunt, and shoot).....what has everyone's experience been with the various VA clinics?.....any additional info would be appreciated...wife is finishing her undergrad in psych....going to start her masters after the move(possibly online)....would like to work in a corrections or hospital setting...i'll be a former 11b, looking to open a small restaurant in 5 years or so....i've been pretty good with money so won't need a job right off-the-bat, but would like to work part-time in a greasy spoon or may just go to college(if we end up near to one).....any help, is greatly appreciated...

[jasper12]

Helena is where the VAMC hospital is located. The most veterans are located in Billings or Missoula.

[MTSilvertip]

Thank you for you service WalterKovacs

The Veterans in Montana are everywhere, higher concentrations per capita are in many of the smaller towns, but there are good representations in all Montana cities and towns so part is easy to find.

Places to hunt and shoot are everywhere as there is a lot of public ground here, (both state and federal) and shooting ranges are not hard to find. The Block Management system opens a lot of private land to hunting as well.

The Department of Corrections, (state) is headquartered in Helena, but the State Prision is in Deer Lodge.

Small diners are in every town.

Helena has Carroll College and the Vo-Tech for higher education, Deer Lodge is close to Butte where Montana Tech and another Vo-Tech are located.

Deer Lodge is cheaper to live in and not far from Helena for the VA facilities. It has a small PX at Fort Harrison as well, but the main PX is at Malmstrom in Great Falls about 90 miles north of Helena.

As Great Falls has the Air Force Base, it probably has the highest concentration of Veterans, but that is hard to say as Montana has one of the highest concentration of Veterans per capita of any state despite being a long way from major military instillations.

Hope that helps. Good Luck

[WalterKovacs]

thanks all, for the suggestions....we've looked at most towns mentioned....have it narrowed down(sort of) to the flathead, deer lodge or anaconda.....though we'll have to make a trip there upon my discharge to get a boots on the ground feel for things.....in all honesty the weather and the university have made bozeman pretty attractive, but everything i've read (the "boz-angeles" stuff) has made us pause....a lot of the posts on city-data talk about what is essentially the gentrification of montana(the bozeman area in particular).....here in denver, the evidence of the wealthy from out of state moving in and trying to change the culture of the people here is everywhere...i've had my fill of people walking around like commisioned models for rei....lol.....as we live in colorado(came here at the the behest of uncle sam) and fell in love with the winter part of the weather, not-to-mention, good people that can be found in the smaller mountain towns(reminds my wife and i of where we grew up, her in a small town in iowa, me in a town of 700 people in missouri)........we really want to find a place where we can start a family without having to worry about the kind of crime and corruption you find in a city like denver....also we've had enough with the traffic and rudeness here, even after 3 years, i'm still not used to the overwhelming lack of manners and civility(i'm from a part of missouri where you can still say hello when passing a stranger and get one in return, men hold doors open for women, and children call their elders "sir" and "ma'am")..and lets save some bandwidth and not talk about the political climate here in colorado, we'll just say we'd be happier someplace a little more conservative....lol.....again, thanks for your input and any other suggestions or help you may have

[ElkHunter]

Although there is only one VA Hospital in the state, there are several clinics.

Veterans Administration
3687 Veterans Drive
P.O. Box 1500
Fort Harrison, MT 59636-1500
1-877-468-8387

Anaconda
VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic
118 E. 7th Street
Anaconda, MT 59711
Phone: 406-563-6090
Hours: 8:00am - 4:30pm

Billings
VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic
1775 Spring Creek Lane
Billings, Montana 59102
Hours: 8:00 am - 4:30 pm
FAX: 406-373-3520

Bozeman
VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic
300 N. Willson, Suite 703G
Bozeman, MT 59715
Phone: 406-582-5300
Hours: 8:00am - 4:30pm

Cutbank
VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic
Glacier Community Health Center
519 E. Main
Cut Bank, Montana 59427
(406) 873-9047
8 AM - 4:30 PM

Glascow
VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic
630 Second Street South, Suite A
Glasgow, MT 59230
Phone: 406-228-4101
Fax: 406-228-4104
Hours: 8:00 am - 4:30 pm

Glendive
VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic
2000 Montana Avenue
Glendive, MT 59330
Phone: 406-377-4755
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM

Great Falls
VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic
1417 9th Street South
Suite 200 and 300
Great Falls, MT 59405
Phone: 406-791-3200
Toll free: 877-468-8387
8:00am - 4:30pm

Havre
VA Community Based Outreach Clinic
130 13th Street, Suite 1
Havre, MT 59501
To schedule an appointment, call 1-877-468-8387.
To contact the clinic, call (406) 265-4304

Kalispell
VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic
Three Mile Professional BLDG
31 Three Mile Drive, STE 102
Kalispell, MT 59901
Phone: 406-758-2700
Hours: 8:00am - 4:30pm

Lewistown
VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic
629 NE Main, Suite 1
Lewistown, MT 59457
Phone: 406-535-4790
Hours: 8:00 am - 4:30 pm

Miles City
VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic and Community Living Center (CLC)
210 S. Winchester
Miles City, MT 59301
Main Phone: 406-874-5600
Clinic: 406-874-5675
Community Living Center: 406-874-5800
8:00am - 4:30pm

Missoula
VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic
2687 Palmer Street, Suite C
Missoula, MT 59808
406-829-5400 (Clerk/LPN)
8:00am - 4:30pm

[Geo Roam]

Originally Posted by WalterKovacs

thanks all, for the suggestions....we've looked at most towns mentioned....have it narrowed down(sort of) to the flathead, deer lodge or anaconda.....though we'll have to make a trip there upon my discharge to get a boots on the ground feel for things.....in all honesty the weather and the university have made bozeman pretty attractive, but everything i've read (the "boz-angeles" stuff) has made us pause....a lot of the posts on city-data talk about what is essentially the gentrification of montana(the bozeman area in particular).....here in denver, the evidence of the wealthy from out of state moving in and trying to change the culture of the people here is everywhere...i've had my fill of people walking around like commisioned models for rei....lol.....as we live in colorado(came here at the the behest of uncle sam) and fell in love with the winter part of the weather, not-to-mention, good people that can be found in the smaller mountain towns(reminds my wife and i of where we grew up, her in a small town in iowa, me in a town of 700 people in missouri)........we really want to find a place where we can start a family without having to worry about the kind of crime and corruption you find in a city like denver....also we've had enough with the traffic and rudeness here, even after 3 years, i'm still not used to the overwhelming lack of manners and civility(i'm from a part of missouri where you can still say hello when passing a stranger and get one in return, men hold doors open for women, and children call their elders "sir" and "ma'am")..and lets save some bandwidth and not talk about the political climate here in colorado, we'll just say we'd be happier someplace a little more conservative....lol.....again, thanks for your input and any other suggestions or help you may have

might be a bit more libertarian as opposed to conservative in strict political sense. More a "leave me the hell alone FED" type attitude.

As a vet, Great Falls got the initial look, but we ended up in Bozeman. VA clinic as needed in most mid sized towns, Helena up the road 90 minutes to Harrison for the hospital if needed. Harrison also host a commissary day with items trucked in from Malmstrom.

[jasper12]

Anaconda is a nice town. Excellent folks, great diner, strong vet community there. Not so sure about jobs...they have a ski jump, close to Fairmont hot springs, and Butte.

I would move to Anaconda, in a heartbeat.