Kalispell, wildfires, air quality, winters (Missoula, Whitefish: low income, for sale, condos)

[bluebird39]

Hi there,

I was wandering how summer and winter air quality is there in Kalispell? Is there a lot of smoke from fires typically? Do you have winter inversions? How short are the winter days? Is there snow cover all winter, or does it get mostly rain? Are you pretty limited travel-wise in the winter, or is it easy to get to bigger cities? Is there a good year-round population there, or does the city dry up? Is tourist season horrible? Are the schools and health care good there?

We've lived in S Oregon, and N Michigan, and noticed a job opening in Kalispell. I really miss the PNW but want to be able to rise a family on one income. Are there many SAHM's there? Can you get a house less than 200,000? Are taxes and utilities high there? OR had no sales tax, but high income tax. MI has sales tax, but low income tax. I actually think the latter is better. MI exempts food and medicine from sales tax, and as long as you don't buy a ton of stuff the burden is lower, IMO. Are property taxes high there?

Thanks.

[rickers]

You can never tell how the weather is going to be because it varies way too much from year to year, same with the smoke, nobody has a crystal ball and the forcasters are often way wrong !
Unless you already have bundles of money, or you bring a high income job with you, it would be very dificult to pay off a house with income from a local job. The squeeze is on big time in the Flathead area !

[bluebird39]

Hmmm... which place is cheaper, Missoula or Kalispell? DH is in wildland fire management, so he'd have an good job, but the government pays its employees mainly in benefits, not salary, so it's increasingly hard for folks like us to live out West. Last year, they flew him and many of his co-workers (in Michigan) out to fight fires in the West. How crazy is that? Plus, with his 24/7 on-call schedule during fire seaason, it's nearly impossible for me to work (we have young kids). BTW, they don't get ANY $ compensation as wildland fire fighters to be on-call 24/7, like many other fire fighters.

Is it Kalispell in general that's high priced, or Montana overall?

[jimj]

Depends what you consider high priced. Montana prices have gone up quite a bit in the last few years but as of now there are deals to be had around Kalispell. As a matter of reference one of my neighbors (25 yrs old) works for the forest service in glacier on the road crew and he's doing ok, he just finished building his own house and has a new baby. As for Missoula or Kalispell, I prefer Kalispell area. I just went to Missoula yesterday and after spending the day am glad I live here.
Take a look at nmar.com or realtor.com and look at both areas for prices and then decide how small of an area you want to live in. Take a look at both local papers, dailyinterlake.com or missoulian.com and check the crime logs and local stories for some idea of what goes on around here. Let us know if there are more questions....

[grannymontanny]

Originally Posted by bluebird39

Hmmm... which place is cheaper, Missoula or Kalispell? DH is in wildland fire management, so he'd have an good job, but the government pays its employees mainly in benefits, not salary, so it's increasingly hard for folks like us to live out West. Last year, they flew him and many of his co-workers (in Michigan) out to fight fires in the West. How crazy is that? Plus, with his 24/7 on-call schedule during fire seaason, it's nearly impossible for me to work (we have young kids). BTW, they don't get ANY $ compensation as wildland fire fighters to be on-call 24/7, like many other fire fighters.

Is it Kalispell in general that's high priced, or Montana overall?

Go with Kalispell or one of the close by smaller towns,you will be glad you did.

[bigtrees]

How expensive it is all depends on your perspective and financial situation. The cost of housing depends a lot of what your needs are (in terms of a house).

You can check out the local MLS listing for housing prices. In my opinion, Whitefish is as expensive as Seattle and Kalispell is a little cheaper than Whitefish. I personally consider both to be more expensive that I would like for a single income family, but many familiies do make it there on one income. A lot that depends on what you would like to live in - smaller, older homes sell less than newer, larger homes and there is a BIG difference in price between a small old house compared to a newer big house. Just my opinion.

Taxes are an important consideration, but I wouldn't get too hung up on them as they are relatively small compared to your income. Property taxes are less than a lot of states but many people in Montana say they are expensive. You do have income tax as you mentioned. It's still probaby less taxes than Washington (where I currently live) but more than some other places. I don't think it's unreasonable but they do add up. There are a lot of condos for sale for less than 200k and some are pretty nice.

Smoke can be a problem in the summer, but not necessarily from the fires in Montana. Smoke can drift over from Washington or even China and get stuck in the Flathead Valley (no kidding). You don't have smog or other air pollution and you'll generally consider the air to be clean. Once in a while it does smell like a campfire everywhere and you may want to take a vacation then, but of course, DH will be busy working those times.

[bluebird39]

"DH will be busy working those times"

That's for sure! I used to take the kids down to New Orleans during the worst part of fire season to get away from the smoke. No one wants to go to New Orleans then becasue of the horrible heat and hurricane season, so the tickets are cheap. (my family lives there)

Thanks for your reply. DH decided not to apply for the job, so I guess we're staying in MI for now. We're hoping to take a long road trip out West this summer when the kids get done with school, and explore Montana and Norhtern Idaho, as well as visit friends and family still in Oregon, and Wyoming. I hope I can see Montana for the first time with my eyes. DH fought fire in the Bob Marshall wilderness many years ago, and has traveled all over the West and Alaska fighting fires all of these year. I doubt there's a state he hasn't been to out West.