Young family in Missoula? (Charlo, Alberton: ski resorts, for sale, low crime)

[kayakera]

Hi all,

My husband and I are trying to figure out where we'd like to move. I'm 25, he's 33 and we have a 2 year old son. We currently live in Western North Carolina in a tiny town, and are ready for a change. We were thinking either Missoula or Bend, OR. Any thoughts on these two? We are both avid whitewater kayakers, snowboarders, hikers, etc. I want to live somewhere that's much bigger than the town we live in now, has coffee shops, shopping, movie theatre, etc., good schools, low crime, decent housing prices, a decent job market. The dream, huh? Currently, I manage a whitewater rafting/kayaking company, and my husband builds houses. We want to be somewhere where there are other young families such as ourselves and the people are friendly and open.

Any suggestions?

[Higgsy]

I work in both Missoula and Bend frequently so I have some opinions of both. They are both nice areas but I would suggest Bend over Missoula for the following reasons. The high desert in Oregon is wonderful for skiing, hiking, golfing, and many outdoor activities. Obviously it is also closer to the ocean than Missoula. Oregon has one of the best coastlines in the nation, especially up towards Cannon Beach. The weather is great as well for the majority of the year as Bend boasts of having 300 days of sunshine per year. The people seem to be friendly enough in both places, but when I work in Missoula I notice more complaining about people relocating there. The forest fires in the Missoula area can put a damper on the summer months with the smell of smoke in the air. Missoula is a nice area though and it has a good variety of restaurants, and outdoor activities also. I just enjoy the Bend area when I am there more than Missoula.

[jimj]

We used to live in Charlotte and moved here from there. I would suggest looking at the flathead due to the amount of rafting companies that run out of glacier park and access to 2 ski resorts. Building here is going pretty well and they are always looking for good people. We looked at bend as well but the prices drove us out not to mention that OR is one of the most liberal if it moves tax it places I've ever seen. If you like to fish,hunt,snowboard,raft,hike,ride horses etc that this is the place. If you really want something to do, the Polebridge Merchantile is for sale just outside glacier park and is a going business that sells some of the best baked goods you'll find in MT. They're even offering training to whomever buys it. Whomever buys it is pretty much buying a town and an icon of nw montana. Check the link below. BTW, I don't have any interest in "the merc" other than I'd love to be able to own it!

Polebridge Montana

[kayakera]

Thanks for the information you two. What a hard decision to make!

[delta07]

I'm glad I stumbled on this thread, as my husband and I are considering a move to either Bend or Missoula ourselves. We just got back from a trip to Missoula and had a really great time. We skied two days at Snowbowl, the local ski hill. It was a blast!!! Very down to earth, low key atmosphere, and cheap compared to Colorado ski areas.

We will be taking a trip to Bend next month to see it as well. We have never been to Bend before, while we have visited Missoula for almost 10 years. Missoula is definately more affordable from what I hear. It is certainly a difficult decision and one that we will be making soon as well.

[JoeJoeMan]

After a year or so you'll probably want to leave Missoula. I base that on what I've seen with alot of my friends and people I've known that have moved/lived here.
Sooner or later most, not all, just most, people want out. The mountain views wear off and reality, mostly financial reality, sets in. There is a constant turnover of people moving in and out of missoula and montana in general. Older and wealthier people seem to do better and stay around, probably because they don't need to work.

That's why there are montana jokes like......."How do you leave montana with a million dollars"................"come here with two(million)"

[jimj]

Don't forget "poverty with a view"! We looked at Bend but couldn't live with the state constantly taking your money to give it to someone else and the policies of "anything anyone wants to do is just fine" no matter what it is. Heck, Missoula is right wing conservative compared to Oregon IMO. We also had some issues with the costs to live there, expensive by any standards.

[JoeJoeMan]

"poverty with a view"!

I like that one, haven't heard it before.....

wow I though Missoula had a corner on attracting the 'beautiful' people.
Sounds like maybe they should rename it to "Bendover". And you can take that anyway up want - and ahh no pun intended

[jimj]

Originally Posted by JoeJoeMan

I like that one, haven't heard it before.....

wow I though Missoula had a corner on attracting the 'beautiful' people.
Sounds like maybe they should rename it to "Bendover". And you can take that anyway up want - and ahh no pun intended

Beleive it or not I've heard it called just that before... Especially when tax time comes or you go to pay for a house

[Greybear]

Originally Posted by kayakera

We are both avid whitewater kayakers, snowboarders, hikers, etc. I want to live somewhere that's much bigger than the town we live in now, has coffee shops, shopping, movie theatre, etc., good schools, low crime, decent housing prices, a decent job market.

I lived in missoula for 25 years, I had to move due to the lousy job market. Housing is also relatively expensive.

But it sounds like you may like it there. Missoula has the Clark fork river that runs right through town, and recently a 'kayak park' has been added right in downtown! upstream is the Milltown dam which is in the process of being torn down and there is some thoughts for a kayak park there as well. Also, within 10 minutes or so of Missoula is the Blackfoot river, Bitteroot river, and Rock creek. Down stream is the Alberton gorge which has great whitewater. Missoula houses the University of Montana, so your boy can spend his entire education in one town (before he has to go out of state to find a real job like I did). Also, there are several Wilderness areas near by.

As the sayin' goes: Californians are ex-Montanans, and Montanans are ex-Californians