Student with family transferring to Montana?

[Heraclid]

If you are living in Bozeman stay away from Management Associates. I lived in Bozeman from 2000 to 2005 and I found the town to be anti-student. This is in regards to landlords and with jobs. If you have a place to keep your pets in North Dakota I would recommend you do that and live in graduate housing and try to work on campus. As others have said, the cost of living in Bozeman is high as well. I hate to write something so negative, but this was my experience. That being said, MSU is a good school.

Negative is fine - need to know these things.

I guess if I'm brutally honest, I'd rather not live in a college town after I'm done with school (more liberal, partying, etc.). I can sort of empathize with their position - the landlords probably know they tend to trash the place (especially if mom and dad are paying for it), and they don't always make the best employees.

Hopefully since we don't scream student (twice their age, married couple, etc.), it would be different, I don't know?

I have seen this same thing said in regards to Management Associates probably on two or three other occasions while scouring these threads, but thanks for drilling it into my head, because I was mentioning this to my wife and forgot their name when I tried to say who it was.

Another problem with the home in ND is there would be nothing for my autistic brother-in-law there. I do have relatives there, but I really don't know if they'd be up for watching him (or if I'd necessarily want them to... just sayin'). Free housing would be great, but means she needs a job there, then what do we do with him... me commuting the whole time (in the winter?)... was really only looking to use the house as a very temporary thing.

[MTSilvertip]

Sounds to me like you have a solid grasp of the situation and what you want to do, so Good For you

There are several small towns close to Bozeman away from the parties and are cheaper to live in as well.
Belgrade is kind of Bozeman lite, only 8 miles outside of town, Manhattan is a very small town, but a lot of good people, very laid back and only about 15 miles from town.

Amsterdam and Churchill are super little farm communities, or Springhill to the north, (that is more of an area than a town), or there are several areas outside of Four Corners that are very nice.

I would strongly look in these areas for rentals as they would probably be more amenable to pets, not far from town and medical services, and have a super slow pace of life that would be great for your Brother in Law. Good people live in those places, he would be safe, and as most folks know each other in towns that small, (except Belgrade), if something did happen you would probably have help close by.

Good Luck and I hope you can find a place where your family can be together

[Mt-7]

Originally Posted by Heraclid

I am wondering if I would want to move twice, that would be the deciding factor for me. I am also thinking that there are more jobs in ND and you could do online for now, having free housing is money in the bank, good luck!

When it comes to the part of ND I'm talking about, not so much. It's too bad Dad didn't grow up in Bismarck! The farm house is not in the west part of the state where the current boom is, and it's not close to any large towns or cities. It's a tiny town and not a lot of jobs (if any). And we'd need two of them at least. It's not somewhere I can transfer to with one of my current jobs, and the idea is to hopefully get us all in the same place quickly, not be hours apart over the course of several semesters. It is 3 and 4 hours from NDSU and UND, respectively.

I don't know how many of the relevant courses would be available online at different institutions, but I much prefer classes in person and don't think what I'm doing lends itself well to that sort of learning, as much of it would be hands-on, in-the-field sort of stuff.

Sure, I hear ya, just worried about jobs for you both, still good luck!

[NDak15]

There are several small towns close to Bozeman away from the parties and are cheaper to live in as well.
Belgrade is kind of Bozeman lite, only 8 miles outside of town, Manhattan is a very small town, but a lot of good people, very laid back and only about 15 miles from town.

Amsterdam and Churchill are super little farm communities, or Springhill to the north, (that is more of an area than a town), or there are several areas outside of Four Corners that are very nice.

These are good places. Four Corners in particular is nice.

[CTC]

Originally Posted by flyingcat2k

I would hope that you have read other postings and learned that Bozangeles has attrocious costs of living and wages are depressed. The economy largely consists of MSU and remittances from Bozeman people working in the oil patch. The financial industry in Montana is centered in Billings and Kalispell so your wife would probably not have much luck finding decent employment.

If I were in your shoes, I would work in ND for a while to gain residency and attend NDSU or UND. You have the hard part done already, a place to live. The MSU program isn't as highly rated as you think and you and your wife are much more likely to be employed in ND than Bozeman. What you want to do is also a lowly paid position, but nice work if you can get employed. Don't pay astronomical sums of money for that degree.

Not everyone here is a Bozeman hater-read some of my posts about Bozeman- I live here and have a very positive view of the place.

[jasper12]

Renting with pets. In Bozeman. Good luck. Rent is high in Bozeman. Pets? Forget it.

My daughter goes to MSU, jobs are tough to find there...usually jobs go to "insiders"...strong network connections. Who knows your Mom, or who goes to church with your brother...

Bozeman can be a tough town for newcomers who are not rich.

[Heraclid]

Jasper12, it doesn't seem all that bad. Everyone I've dealt with there thus far has been very nice and goes out of their way to help. After broadening my horizons a little, I've found plenty of rentals that take pets. Many of them with more square feet than we have now for about the same money (and sometimes a good bit less). We'll be in church from the get-go, so maybe that will help.

CTC, I've probably seen them, but I will make an effort to look them up and make sure... thanks!

[Lilzac]

We are a family from Canada looking to come down to Billings for a holiday thought I would try and find some home school supplies when I am in Billings is there any advice on where to look

[flyingcat2k]

The easy place is Yellow Bus on King Park Drive, not on King Ave but just off of King Ave. I checked the website and it looks like they carry an expanded selection of the kinds of workbooks you'd find at Barnes and Noble. Barnes and Noble also has some workbooks.

If you are looking for full blown curriculum to get through a school year, you may want to try Mardel.com, the religious sister of Hobby Lobby, who specializes in homeschooling and bibles. Most of them have a Christian religious bent, don't know if you want that, but they do sell secular curriculum for reading and physical sciences. I haven't looked at the biological ones in the stores in OK, largely because I'm sure they carry just the one view but I haven't verified that myself. Unfortunately, the nearest store to MT is in Littleton, CO.