Young family wants to move to Kalispel from S florida (Billings: for sale, apartment)

[NDak15]

Originally Posted by Agaj

Thank you so much everyone! What is the deal with those oil patches? Where is that and how much do they pay? Those winters are scaring us a little.. I have lived in Europe before ( near Baltic sea) and my husband lived 3 years in New Hampshire, where winters are pretty bad also. Is there a lot of sunshine during winters and how long do they last?

The oil patches are a long ways away from Kalispell. If you are going to look for jobs there you will probably want to look further east in the state in places like Billings, Laurel, Miles City, or Glendive. I think for the most part they pay well. I would say expect snow anywhere in the state from about late October to early May. I have seen snow every month except July in Montana and while people will always point that out, in all but the highest elevations that is the exception rather than the rule to get snow in the summer. In the eastern parts of the state there is more sunshine in the winter than in areas in the western part like Kalispell or Missoula, which are surrounded by mountains that can form their own weather patterns. Those areas are pretty gray in the winter. If you can afford it I highly recommend trying to visit in the winter to see if you can handle it.

[Agaj]

By " bad" I meant cold and snowy I guess I used that word because winters in Florida are not " bad ".

[Threerun]

I don't consider Helena winters 'bad', but I moved here from WV where we had heavy wet snows and frequent gray, cloudy, moist 'in your bones' cold. I find winter here refreshing and it makes me feel alive and eager to go out and snowshoe, play, etc..

However I've met several people describe it as long, biting and unforgiving.

No one but you can decide if that's good or bad.

[lunapath]

I think it was three years ago that it snowed in June, but maybe four.

It's only mid-August and it's not what I would consider hot, summer weather. I'm already wearing jeans and thinking of retiring my flip-flops for the season, but during mid-day when the sun is out, it's still plenty warm.

Winters are long and the nights are short. If you have any issues with 'Winter Blues', it will be worse here -- I know a lot of people who use UV/sun lamps (myself included). And it is cloudy for the most of winter. With the inversions, the clouds just stack up against the mountains and stay there (which actually makes it a bit warmer). But that doesn't mean that there are never sunny days during the winter.

It's certainly cold here, but not like the mid-western winters I grew up in. There's no, or little, humidity, so you don't get the 'moist in your bones' cold that Threerun mentioned (in WV). It's also not as windy as Eastern Montana (and the Great Plains in general), so that cuts a bit of the chill, too.

To me, the biggest thing is that the snow is guaranteed, and it's deep. They don't salt the roads, they chip them (they're starting to do that now), which, in my opinion, is good and bad. It's better for your car, but the roads aren't completely clear until nature does the work. Road infrastructure and maintenance in Kalispell is joke, anyway. If you've never driven in snow, or you live outside of a town get a four-wheel drive and cross your fingers for a short driveway.

tl; dr: Winters are cold and long, but hardly the worst in the nation, expect a lot of snow.

[Threerun]

You know after the smoke filled summer, I'm looking forward to winter! Some of the crisp, clear air in your nose.... It's like tonic!

[Agaj]

Smoke filled summer?!!!!

[lunapath]

Yes, from the wildfires. I dunno, though, it thought it was a pretty mild summer, as far as the smoke goes.

[Agaj]

Thanks everyone for all the info! We have some friends in Whitefish and they have nothing but good things to say about this place so I guess we will give it a try! After all , we wont know if we dont try : )

[NorthwestResident]

Originally Posted by Agaj

We are a young family with 3 children. We cant stand living in s florida so we decided to move. We want to raise our kids in more conservative, family oriented place. We love outdoors and nature and want our kids to experience it as well. My husband is a general contractor with tons of experience and an outstanding resume/ qualifications. What are the chances of him finding a job there? Can we survive on one income? How are the winters ? Thank you so much for all your help!

Kalispell is a Good town to live in Except a few things... Schools!

Just a warning but Kalispell has very Overcrowded schools, While it has 26000 Peoples living here it still has very Overcrowded Schools, The High school Took care of the problem by opening a second(Flathead has 1700 while Glacier has 1200 which is a combination of 3000 High school Students). FHS has added 400 Kids over hte 4 Years, But Beyond the High Schools (Middle schools, Pre-schools and Elementary) We have a Overcrowdedness Problems/Issues that that we need to take care of and fix mainly kindergartens but even First, Second and third grades classes as well. This Year the Student Enrolment from kindergarten to High school Combined will be Largest it has ever been in Kalispell School district 5 History. There will be more kids in Kalispell Public schools then ever. And this year there will be more kindergartens in the Kalispell public schools then there has even been in the District history. they have gained 700 over the last 10 years. The Enrolment has gone up 2 percent every yea since 2007, It has gotten so bad that the school District had to tell parents from two of the most overcrowded Elementary Schools that they need to move their child to another Elementary school to help decrease Overcrowdedness. .

I am related to Two kindergarten Teachers and last Year one had 23 kindergartens in their class and the other had 25 in their class.

[briebo1]

No - there is very little sunshine in the winters which is why I left the state. Billings does get more sunshine than most of the rest of the state - but the winters are long and extremely cold (below 0 is a norm). The warmest city in the winter is Missoula - but it is very gloomy. Regardless of where you choose in MT the winter is 5+ months long and cold as hell. MT winters make the NE look mild. I work in the oil and gas industry and the work in that is in what is called the "highline" which are towns that sit on HWY 2 from the center of MT east and pretty much all of eastern MT - east of Billings (however these are some of the coldest areas in the state). As a person in this industry and raised by a father in it don't move to a town for work generated by the oil and gas industry - it booms and busts and areas will experience job booms and in a matter of years go silent - best to travel to the work and situate yourself in a place you like. And the highline and eastern MT are majority elderly populations and other than the momentary oil boom still struggle with empty storefronts and bad economies.