Nice towns in eastern montana? (Billings, Bozeman: real estate, jobs, hospital)

[rivetseam]

I'm going to be moving to Montana for a few years and will need to live somewhere in the Eastern portion of the sate. Does anyone have any recommendations for nice towns?

[bigtrees]

Why only a few years and why only in the eastern part of the state? That kind of information really helps the people who read these boards.

[grizzfan]

There are many nice little towns in the eastern part of the state. From center west to east, depending on where you must live, try Livingston, Big Timber, Columbus, Miles City and Glendive. A little futher north, but in the center of the state to the east are Lewistown, Havre and Glascow, Wolf Point and Sidney. The largest among them, Miles City, has less than 10,000 residents.

The first 5 I mentioned are on I-90; the others, with the exception of Lewistown, are on US Hwy 2, but are also served by AMTRAK.

Hope that helps.

[rivetseam]

Thanks Grizzfan! That does help.
I'm actually going to be in Miles City to start with. I'm taking a job in Montana that will be for 3 years. I know Eastern Montana is nothing like the Western half, from what I hear. I have a friend who is from Havre, and she says it's a pretty nice place.

I would like to live in a place where there are some ammenities. Somewhere where I dont have to drive 3 hours to find a walmart would be wonderful!

[JetMech72]

Originally Posted by rivetseam

Thanks Grizzfan! That does help.
I'm actually going to be in Miles City to start with. I'm taking a job in Montana that will be for 3 years. I know Eastern Montana is nothing like the Western half, from what I hear. I have a friend who is from Havre, and she says it's a pretty nice place.

I would like to live in a place where there are some ammenities. Somewhere where I dont have to drive 3 hours to find a walmart would be wonderful!

You must be in the oil patch, heh rivetseam? Miles City and Glendive are your best bets.

[A Neighbor]

Originally Posted by rivetseam

I would like to live in a place where there are some ammenities. Somewhere where I dont have to drive 3 hours to find a walmart would be wonderful!

I am sure that you will find every thing that you need in Miles City. They have a lot to offer including a regional hospital (Holy Rosary Health Care Center), a community college (Miles Community College), a Walmart and many other businesses.

If you find that Miles City's "rat race" is still too busy for you there are several sleeper communities that are close. Check out this website for some more information regarding South Eastern Montana: Montana Custer Country, Custer Battlefield, Monster Truck Show, Dinosaur Trail.

Good luck and I hope that you enjoy South Eastern Montana.

[leavin_florida]

My favorite area in Montana next to Bozeman is Lewistown.

[in_the_gloaming]

A long time ago a friend of mine moved to Billings because he felt he could find a piece of land and homestead it. I just wonder if there are any parts of Montana left where one can still homestead?

He liked horses. Had several. Wanted space for them to run.

[bigtrees]

Originally Posted by in_the_gloaming

A long time ago a friend of mine moved to Billings because he felt he could find a piece of land and homestead it. I just wonder if there are any parts of Montana left where one can still homestead?

He liked horses. Had several. Wanted space for them to run.

What do you mean by homestead? The traditional definition is to live on government land for a time and then they give you the rights to own it. I don't know anything like that in Montana but do know some other states (Kansas) that did. Now we're talking city lots, not 160 acre parcels.

I suspect you mean to be fully self sufficient living on your own land. I would venture to say where I'm at it is pretty doable since our winters are milder than Billings and our growing season is longer as well. I'll be building my homestead on a thirty acre chunk of dirt and estimate that I can grow all my own firewood each winter right from the property to provide heat for the home. My wife and I can pretty easily have large enough vegetable gardens to grow our own food - and considering everything grows out here it shouldn't be too hard. But I can't gorw my own gasoline nor can I generate my own power so I'll still be dependent on the outside world for those things.

We do have enough room for horses out here and some of our neighbors have them. I think it's a bit muddy in the winter and don't plan on keeping any, but they would help a lot in getting the trees to the homestead so I can cut them up. Worth considering in my opinion.

In Billings - you'll have a much shorter growing season and, since the climate is more arid, it will take more coaxing to get everything to grow. Don't get me wrong - lots of people grow crops out there but you'll have to water more frequently (it rains a lot where I'm at so I don't have to except in the summer) and it takes more work than some other places.

Perhaps you mean to homestead is to live the traditional western lifestyle - raising cattle, herding them on horseback, and driving them to the auction. Well, they do have an annual sheep drive where they drive sheep through town (I believe it's Columbus) but that lifestyle is from days long gone by now. There are a lot of farms and ranches in Montana, especially in the northeastern part of the state, but not as much in the western or southwestern parts.

Hope that answers you question.

PS - For technical accuracy, I am actually in the Seattle area and will be building out here on a chunk of dirt that I have. I like to talk about my plans on here so people realize that you really can live a self-sufficient lifestyle even near a large city. A lot of times people think it's only possible in Montana, and I think it's possible whereever your heart is. I'm also a Montana native and try to pass my knowledge on wherever I can - so I do know about homsteading a bit.

[in_the_gloaming]

Hi Greg a/k/a bigtrees:

A friend of mine moved to Billings back in the early 1970s when homesteading was still legal in Montana. Back then, Montana still had homesteading where if you lived on the land for seven years and recorded it with whoever is in charge of where one would pay their real estate taxes, possibly the tax and records commissioner, the land became yours legally. This was not for city lots, it was for acreage away from town, which may be used for ranching. The trick was to have it recorded that you were actually living on the land when you first moved there, and if no one else claimed it in those seven years or so from the time you first had it recorded that you were living on the land, then it might become yours after seven years.

I don't think you can homestead in Kansas! Better check the restrictions on free land there! I did and if you want the free land, you have to build a brand new good size house on it, and meet some other qualifications too! Usually if someone hears about something that is too good to be true, it usually is! The land that is available this way in Kansas is only small lots, not acreage!

Being fully self sufficient is immaterial here! Certainly, like everyone else, one is free to live on a piece of land and make their living somewhere else if that is their choice. A mere 160 acres isn't very much land in the Western States. I know of people who either rent or own as many as sixteen sections for farming and ranching! Keep in mind that each section is 640 acres. This is expecially true for states like Kansas and Arizona. And, I feel the same is also true about Montana, since Montana is our fourth largest state in land area. It comes right behind, Alaska, California, and Texas. However, I know that it is further across Montana than it is across Texas, going either from west to east, or east to west, for both states.

Also, the idea of sheep, doesn't sit well with many people who have cattle and are ranchers.

When I asked my question, I know homesteading was legal in Montana before the State of Montana changed some of the laws in 1977 pertaining to homesteading, hence; I was wondering if it was still available.

I know of some BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land that is available dirt cheap. Not free, but; cheap! The problem with much of it is that it does not have water on it and it is so remote that few people really want it. Jobs and self sufficiency on that land is very limited, unless you make your living off the internet and it is available to you anywhere without any land line connections.

Costilla County Colorado is one of those places which offers cheap land. It may be treed, but; again here your problem is that the land is on the side of a mountain, where elevation is a problem. Another, is Love County Texas. Lots of rabbits, no water! Love County is south of New Mexico, and it lies between most of New Mexico and old Mexico. Northwestern Arizona is the same way..., with its cheap land, which is too far out, where you'll have trouble finding a job somewhere else and you have to be independently wealthy to support yourself.