Where to live in Montana? (Missoula, Kalispell: ski resorts, home, construction)

[Dariusz]

Is there any place a 23 year old male with a high school diploma and some college (no degree) can survive and make a descent income? With mountains near the town?

I'm getting sick of the high population in Illinois and need to move somewhere less populated.

Work Experience:
2 years Security Guard (unarmed/armed) - current
3 years Construction (asphalt/seal coating/drywall/roofing)
4 years retail

Skills:
Highly skilled with computers (no degree though)

[JoeJoeMan]

a couple Montana sayings:
"You can't eat the mountains"
"how do you leave montana with a million dollars - come here with two million"

Seriously - if you read around on here you'll find that Montana is pretty well know as not a place to come to make 'decent' money.
Some cities are closer to mountains than others, particularlly in western montana...
But hey you have youth going for you, if you're young single and adventurous, and don't mind scrounging, you can have a good time - but do it in the summer, at least you'll be able to get out and enjoy it then and bring as much money as you can save and enough to get you back home again if things don't work out, which is a recurring theme.
If I might suggest - come out and work for the summer in a resort town, it's ususally easy to find work like that, make friends, and enjoy the summer, plan on going back home for the winter, but if things work out right, stay on.
Good luck

[Montanaman1]

You might investigate Butte.

[Dariusz]

By descent money, I mean enough to live off of. Right now I make 28k a year which is bad for Naperville, Illinois but I can live off of it. I have no plans on starting a family, I'd just like to work, hunt, hike, and relax.

Thanks for the replies.

I'll check out Butte.

[Montanaman1]

I grew up in Joliet, Illinois. It's a nice place to be FROM.

[rickers]

If you're skilled and/or smart you can come here and start your own business, and if you're lucky you can not only make decent money but you can do quite well. Most people who come here to punch the clock working for some big contractor or rock Baron won't be happy with the slave work at crappy pay. I really don't see much of a middle class here, your either rich or poor, you're either are the boss or your a peon. Some areas of Montana are growing so fast that there are opportunities for start up businesses, especially near Missoula and Kalispell.

[Dariusz]

Well I had a successful asphalt & seal coating business 2 years ago but decided to get out of it and be a lazy security guard

I'm not dumb I just hate to be institutionalized (college). I self thought myself for most of my life.


To Montanaman1:

How does Montana compare to the Urban/Suburban areas in Illinois (which I dislike)?
Does it sound like the place for someone who is not a fan of yuppies, groupies, clubbing, and whatever the normal people do here?

[roakie]

Dariusz,

If you like to hunt and fish and hike and love mountains, you should consider somewhere near Salt Lake. This is a hunting, hiking and fishing paradise and you can be up in the mountains in fifteen minutes from anywhere in the city. There are six world-class ski resorts within a half hour, so you can get any number of tourist-type jobs to keep you going. I happen to live in Park City, which is right up in the mountains at 7,000 feet. It is a very wealthy area so as a single guy, you would probably have to live with roomates. However, there are certainly enough tourist jobs to keep you going.

If you don't have to be right up in the mountains, Salt Lake is great for younger people and everyone is into hunting, biking and the outdoors. The University of Utah is right in Salt Lake, so there is a great, young adult population.

[Montanaman1]

Originally Posted by Dariusz

Well I had a successful asphalt & seal coating business 2 years ago but decided to get out of it and be a lazy security guard

I'm not dumb I just hate to be institutionalized (college). I self thought myself for most of my life.


To Montanaman1:

How does Montana compare to the Urban/Suburban areas in Illinois (which I dislike)?
Does it sound like the place for someone who is not a fan of yuppies, groupies, clubbing, and whatever the normal people do here?

Lots of room in Montana. Butte has plenty of room in the outlying areas. Lots of small towns, and friendly people. I'm near Whitehall, east of Butte. Nice small town. You won't find any clubs or groupies here. Bars, yes, in fact lots of bars. Some people love Butte, some hate it. You will have to visit and make up your own mind.

Good Luck

[Dariusz]

Thanks for the replies, I think I'm going to head there on a 'vacation' from work and if I like it I'll be staying :P

I will probably do it in the spring