Conrad? (Great Falls, Bozeman, Cascade: homes, to buy, high school)

[jimj]

Originally Posted by melindar930

After reading threads I have to say I am kind of leery to move to Montana. My husband, who grew up there, says it will be great and the people will be nice....but there seems to be a lot of hostility towards newcomers. I guess one thing I have going for me is I married a native who is moving home to help his Dad.

Don't worry about the negative things you read here, people vent and let loose their frustrations at what's happening but where you're looking they will most likely welcome you with open arms since you're obviously not the rich tourist moving to a mc mansion or to develope the area. Worse case you can do what I do, we don't worry anymore what people think or say, if they don't like us that's fine don't bother us then. We were raised properly so we are going to do what we think is the right thing and that's the best we can do. We gave up worrying about everyone else's opinion execpt a trusted few long ago and just consider everyone else gossips.

[melindar930]

I must say I am really looking forward to this move. I am so tired of the get there as fast as you can, hustle and bustle all day every day. I'm ready to slow down and raise my kids in a good place with family close by and hopefully find some good friends to hang out with.

I have begun over the last few months going all organic for produce so I look forward to buying fresh produce instead of from the grocery store.

My motto or goal for the year is 'simplify'. I want to simplify my life and my kids life so they can enjoy being kids and I can enjoy watching it.

I believe we ate at The Keg when we were there last. Is it in the same parking lot as the KFC? Old time restaurant with a bar, to me was very comfortable atmosphere and good food.

[jimj]

Originally Posted by melindar930

I must say I am really looking forward to this move. I am so tired of the get there as fast as you can, hustle and bustle all day every day. I'm ready to slow down and raise my kids in a good place with family close by and hopefully find some good friends to hang out with.

I have begun over the last few months going all organic for produce so I look forward to buying fresh produce instead of from the grocery store.

My motto or goal for the year is 'simplify'. I want to simplify my life and my kids life so they can enjoy being kids and I can enjoy watching it.

I believe we ate at The Keg when we were there last. Is it in the same parking lot as the KFC? Old time restaurant with a bar, to me was very comfortable atmosphere and good food.

If you want good fresh produce I would suggest you build a green house as soon as you get here. Most veggies here are trucked in and not the freshest by the time they get here.

[Sir Charles]

Conrad, Mt. Has A Good Family Atmosphere. Enjoy And Stop Your Worry...

[J-Nine_Builder]

I was born in Conrad and moved to great falls at a young age, I visit every once and a while and it always reminds me of small town values. You know, everyone knows everyone. Most peoples concern in Conrad is of course jobs. It was alot bigger when I lived there, but it seems to thrive. Most people take weekend shopping trips to Great Falls.

Originally Posted by melindar930

After reading threads I have to say I am kind of leery to move to Montana. My husband, who grew up there, says it will be great and the people will be nice....but there seems to be a lot of hostility towards newcomers. I guess one thing I have going for me is I married a native who is moving home to help his Dad.

[air2mud82]

I was born and raised about 30 minutes away (Ft Shaw) and my wife is from just down the road in Power -- one thing to consider is the wind. That reason alone, I don't think we'll ever move back to the area.

[wedding guru]

I have property in Conrad for sale, residential, and city lots zoned B for new move ins, commercial main street. If this might help, I would be glad to visit with you. Conrad is a beautiful town, great schools.

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by jimj

If you want good fresh produce I would suggest you build a green house as soon as you get here. Most veggies here are trucked in and not the freshest by the time they get here.

Maybe that's not always the best, but it's MUCH better than what we see in SoCal... all the GOOD local produce is trucked out of state! Albertson's is the only store where the produce isn't disgusting.

We always had an outdoor veggie garden in Great Falls. Just spade it up, sift out all the quack grass, add some sheep manure, and get to plantin' as soon as it's done freezing at night. And keep some old sheets on hand to cover the tomatoes at night, come fall.

The beans did so well, we about died of green bean poisoning. To this day I still hate green beans!!

Carrots, onions, zucchini, tomatos, peas, rhubarb, rutabagas, and potatos all did well too. Leaf lettuce yes, head lettuce no. Corn did okay but never got really big ears. Strawberries no, gooseberries yes. Probably any other veggie that is edible within 120 days can be counted on for a crop. BTW you can eat the entire califlower plant (roots and all -- the root nodules are tender and good), not just the heads, so if it doesn't mature it's not a total waste.

There was least one apricot in Bozeman that did well (the apricot got its picture in the paper one year, you never saw so much fruit on one tree!) Several kinds of apples grow there too -- used to be a whole grove of "transparent apples" and wild plums down on North Plum St., along with some chokecherry trees and gooseberry bushes.

And of course the world's best cherries grow in NW Montana

And believe it or not, a friend tells me there used to be a lemon tree near the Bozeman high school that was a good producer!! she used to pick and eat one every day walking home from school. -- Citrus grown from seed have a good chance to survive a hard winter; tho citrus grown from rootstock usually can't. We had lemon trees outdoors in Great Falls, grown from seed, tho they stayed small and didn't bloom.

Of course if you're growing fruit or veggies, you'll need to either freeze or can 'em to have during the off season.

[Rickers]

I just moved from the Flathead area to Conrad a few weeks ago. We bought a narrow building downtown on main street with an apartment upstairs. We don't drive anywhere anymore except to go out on weekends for city shopping (GF), or to go fishing/photographing and just tooling about and exploring. There is a restaurant and a bank across the street, the post office is 1/2 block, IGA is 2 blocks. We heat with domestic a natural gas fired hydronic heater with radiators. The building houses us, my machine shop and our brand new gift/jewelry/kayak shop so our commute is simply walking downstairs ! The city office and police station is directly next-door. The building needs a lot of work but we only have to cough up less than $450. per month for only ten years and it's ours, (if our other house stays rented), then our tenants will be buying our building for us !
We are within 75 miles of a few major rivers, dozens of lakes, Glacier Park, The Bob/GB/and Scapegoat Wilderness Complex as well as the Blackfeet Res. Come visit Conrad during Whoop Up Trail Days and Rhubarb festival June 6,7,8.

[Gman2007]

Rickers, we must be neighbors then! I live about a block from you!