Questions About Missoula (Great Falls, Kalispell, Havre: apartment, rent, home)

[LjCdAb1123]

My boyfriend and I are extremely interested in moving to Missoula. We are from a small town in central New York, but are looking for a bigger population where there are more things to do (we are 21 and find ourselves bored here!). We love the outdoors and are also interested in different volunteering positions. We are definitely used to cold long winters and mild summers, and we wouldn't want it any other way. I have a few questions about the area though.
For one, I understand the wages are not as good as some areas, but how bad are they? I will most likely be able to transfer in my current position, but he works construction and we are worried about him finding a decent job with a similar wage (11.00/ hour where we live now).
Also, how difficult is it to find a decent apartment in a good area? We have looked in the Missoulian at the classifieds, but it is difficult without seeing. I noticed the monthly rent is WAY less than it would be here, so I want to make sure we aren't living in a dump! Also, utilities tend to be included which never happens around here.
Unfortunately, we don't think we will be able to come check out the area before we moved because my job may require me to transfer too quickly. Any info would be greatly appreciated as we are very excited about this new place!!!

[GiftShoppeGuy]

Originally Posted by LjCdAb1123

My boyfriend and I are extremely interested in moving to Missoula. We are from a small town in central New York, but are looking for a bigger population where there are more things to do (we are 21 and find ourselves bored here!). We love the outdoors and are also interested in different volunteering positions. We are definitely used to cold long winters and mild summers, and we wouldn't want it any other way. I have a few questions about the area though.
For one, I understand the wages are not as good as some areas, but how bad are they? I will most likely be able to transfer in my current position, but he works construction and we are worried about him finding a decent job with a similar wage (11.00/ hour where we live now).
Also, how difficult is it to find a decent apartment in a good area? We have looked in the Missoulian at the classifieds, but it is difficult without seeing. I noticed the monthly rent is WAY less than it would be here, so I want to make sure we aren't living in a dump! Also, utilities tend to be included which never happens around here.
Unfortunately, we don't think we will be able to come check out the area before we moved because my job may require me to transfer too quickly. Any info would be greatly appreciated as we are very excited about this new place!!!

Missoula is a single man's town, full of young folks, parties, and late nights.
The population has exploded over there in the past 15 or so years, and drugs are on the increase. Folks move up from California to keep their teens from joining gangs, only to have their own teens start their own gangs when they get here (Missoula).

This is a very unfortunate state of affairs for Missoula and for me, it's sad to see. I lived there for 20 some odd years, before fleeing to Great Falls.... yup, I'm a true blue flatlander now.
I was born and raised in Montana, and I've had the unfortunate experience of having to watch western Montana turn in to one of the most crowded places in the state.
All along the SR93 is explosive growth. From Kalispell to Sula Pass.... If you are going to come over to live in Missoula, you better come quick, because the Big Sky isn't as big as it used to be over there. I never, in a million years, thought they could stuff as much into that little Missoula valley as they have over the years.....

Housing may not be that easy to find there, as it is a college town (University of Montana) and it gets pretty tight there when everyone comes back from summer break.

Of course, you could buy a house... maybe down past Stevensville, just so you could have some breathing room after work... oh, but then, you would have to commute on the SR93 two lane up to florence...... leaving for work an hour early just to make it on time......

Don't get me wrong here...... Montana is a great place to live overall...... I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Oh, and one more thing......

Q. What do you get when you fail your drivers test 5 times in a row in Montana?...

A. #4 licenseplates

a little humor for all of my Montana neighbors out there...heh heh

[MHT]

Missoula is a great town. It has grown a lot over the last 20 years but our friends who live there love it. I am from MT and graduated from the U of M. There seems to be plenty of housing there - according to our friend who is in property management. If you have to move quickly contact one of the property management places and talk to someone. They will be able to help you.

There is lots to do in Missoula. Outdoors and the university always has things going on. There are baseball games, concerts in the parks, etc.

Wages are similar to what you have now. Some jobs pay more, some less. Check with the employment center and check the classifieds in the newspaper.

Good luck!

[Dan6200alt]

Wow. I loved living in Missoula (actually lived in Lolo). Its a great town and I presume it has only gotten better in the last few years. Its not perfect in that you probably will experience some housing issues and possibly some job issues for your boyfriend. (although he may not have a problem-even if he does, theres other jobs) Consider these as minor bumps in making what will be a great life experience. Those things won't make much of a difference when you look back after a few years and reflect on all the great things about living there. Keep researching, and TRY to do a quick visit (its worth at least one of you flying out if at all possible), but I think you'd really like it. At your ages, what do you have to lose? Good luck.

[abanderson]

My family and I moved her 7 years ago. We've loved it so much. This is my first time living out of the state of ID. We couldn't have picked a better community. Fortunately, we bought our home just before the prices went through the roof. But as far as renting goes, I agree with MHT find a property mgmt firm to help. This is a wonderful place to grow as a young couple - tons of interesting groups to be involved with.

Also, as far as commuting goes - I've had rare occurance when it drives me crazy(ex. I have to go on Reserve street). I choose to live close to downtown and I choose to shop downtown, eat downtown, etc. Traffic isn't horrible there!

Good Luck

[limonata]

I'm from Missoula, now going to school in Seattle, and my advice would be to visit first. I love Missoula, but it might not be what you're expecting. In general, people are nice, pretty liberal and jobs don't pay as much (but rent isn't as expensive). If you like the outdoors, you'll love MT, but if you're expecting cowboys, go to the eastern part of the state.
As for your question about rent- no, the places are probably nice, just cheap. My mother is renting a nice, spacious 4 bedroom 2 bathroom house, on a corner lot, for the same price I pay in seattle for a horrid little 2 bedroom apartment built by an architecture dropout on a revenge spree.
Good luck finding a job (yes, you might need it...)

[orygun]

We moved here from Oregon in March and have learned a lot. I do ok as an RN as for wages though I did take a $5/hour cut to move here. From what I hear and see many other wages are very low in comparison to the cost of living here. I live south of town in the Bitterroot Valley and it is booming. It's still all cheaper than Oregon but many jobs pay poorly. Though a co-worker mentioned her husband making $13/hour doing construction of some kind. In general, I think many jobs pay less than $10/hour, but if you can find the right job you might do fine. Housing is going to be a lot less than New York. I don't think there are many really bad parts of Missoula to worry about. Keep your rent low and you could do ok.

[GiftShoppeGuy]

Originally Posted by orygun

We moved here from Oregon in March and have learned a lot. I do ok as an RN as for wages though I did take a $5/hour cut to move here. From what I hear and see many other wages are very low in comparison to the cost of living here. I live south of town in the Bitterroot Valley and it is booming. It's still all cheaper than Oregon but many jobs pay poorly. Though a co-worker mentioned her husband making $13/hour doing construction of some kind. In general, I think many jobs pay less than $10/hour, but if you can find the right job you might do fine. Housing is going to be a lot less than New York. I don't think there are many really bad parts of Missoula to worry about. Keep your rent low and you could do ok.

It's all about who you know really.

Montana may be the 4th largest state in the union, by square miles, but here it's as if it were a small town.
Living here for any good number of years can put anyone on the good road to knowing someone that lives 400 miles away.

I can sit in a coffee shop in Phillipsburg for an hour having coffee, and have a conversasion with someone from Havre, only to discover, throughout the course of that conversasion, that they know some of the same people in Kalispell that I do, and I'm from Great Falls.

Getting back to "it's all in who you know"....

Getting a good word from a Montana native can get your wage bumped from $10.00 an hour to $15.00 an hour in just a matter of mere minutes.
Coming into Montana blind, per se', will get you the lower wage by default.

I oversee a company here in Great Falls that does concrete....
If you can finish concrete, then your starting wage is $15.00 an hour, right out of the gate..... If you can't finish concrete, but have a construction background, you'll start at $12.00.

We have employees making upwards to $23.00 dollars an hour (in some cases more, according to prevailing wage)

Now I know all about Missoula.
Local contractors there are so tight, they squeak when they walk...... If they can get away with paying you $10.00 an hour for skilled crafts, they will.

The US93 corridor from Sula Pass all the way to Eureka has some of the lowest wages for skilled crafts in the nation..... and this includes nursing (RN/LPN).......

Now you guys are pretty smart, and I'll trust that you can do the math on this one.......
Take the wage of 15 to 20 dollars an hour (skilled) and stack it up against the cost of living here in Montana.... and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that you've got a pretty sweet deal.