Town Recommendations? (Missoula, Bozeman, Kalispell: ski resorts, for sale, houses)

[The_Explorer]

I'm a Financial Analyst in NJ looking to move to Montana or Wyoming in the future. I'm going to take a road trip with my two pups first to see if I see I'm happy there.

I love to have a home with mountain views with a lakeview, horse stables, and plenty of land. Kind of the tv show Heartland or the movies like The Call of the Wild, Spirit the Stallion of Cimarron, Balto, and Brother Bear. I see myself doing a lot of dog and horse rescues, fishing, and farming my own food during my free time. I'm not sure which town has financial analyst opportunities. I don't mind driving 1 hour for my job just to enjoy my dream home. Just need to be sure there is a gas station/grocery stores nearby. Again don't mind driving 30 min to 1 hour.

Any town recommendations for what I'm looking for? Please note, I don't care much about going out. I'll just enjoy my bonfire and my glass of wine.

[ejisme]

Bozeman and south towards Yellowstone sounds like the area for you. Or, up by Flathead Lake near Kalispell and Glacier National Park. Both areas will have the views you are looking for, with ranches, water and I'm sure could use a horse or dog rescue in the areas. Please visit in the winter to see what you think of it, anytime from mid-Oct to mid-May. Summer will look much different and be just like the TV shows and movies. Farming your own food will be harder, since the growing season is so short, but if you have a big enough heated greenhouse, then it might be doable. Good luck.

[ejisme]

This is one of the cheaper houses with a few acres south of Bozeman.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1...12896570_zpid/

Here's the higher end:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2...16361837_zpid/

Just 33 acres here:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/A...70442298_zpid/

You might get Kevin Costner, or his clan, as a neighbor though.

[ejisme]

A bit cheaper up by Kalispell,

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/N...08752278_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2...22867847_zpid/

Lots of properties for sale in both area!

[The_Explorer]

Originally Posted by ejisme

Bozeman and south towards Yellowstone sounds like the area for you. Or, up by Flathead Lake near Kalispell and Glacier National Park. Both areas will have the views you are looking for, with ranches, water and I'm sure could use a horse or dog rescue in the areas. Please visit in the winter to see what you think of it, anytime from mid-Oct to mid-May. Summer will look much different and be just like the TV shows and movies. Farming your own food will be harder, since the growing season is so short, but if you have a big enough heated greenhouse, then it might be doable. Good luck.

I don't mind the cold since I'm used to it from living in Mass and Connecticut. I really like winter so I have an excuse to start chopping woods and use my fireplace. Is winter anything like Massachusetts? Or is it more like Canada?

I'll check into having a heated greenhouse. Thank you for zillow links!

[ejisme]

More like central Canada (not coastal). I would think Massachusetts has more of an ocean influence, so more humidity, moisture, rain and snow. I've visited Boston for a week or so three times: January, May and sometime in the early fall. Montana (and Wyoming) are inland states, so have very low humidity. They are basically mountainous deserts. Outside of the mountain areas MT and WY are very brown most of the year. Often the ski resorts have trouble getting enough early season snow as they wait for a pacific storm to blow in and dump a bunch of snow. Then it might be days to weeks till the next big storm. The cold comes down from Canada and can set in for days to weeks at a time, which blocks the pacific storms. When that happens, it is kind of weird, but the cold settles in the valleys, and it is actually warmer the higher up you go. It would often be -20F in town, but +20F on the ski slopes. That snow in the mountains is what feeds the rivers and lakes in the summer. Beautiful waters, but very cold water. You likely won't be swimming laps in your local lake, but a quick numbing dip can feel pretty good on a hot summer day. The trout love it too. By now most, if not all of Montana has had a hard/killing frost (or multiple ones). It won't be safe to plant most vulnerable/vegetable/garden plants outside until early June. Overnight freezes can come in any month depending on your homesite, but generally everywhere sometime in September. In general, tomatos were done by early Sept.

Cities in MT and WY are also very isolated from major travel hubs. Bozeman has one of the better airports (in Belgrade). You can get regular flights to SLC, Denver and Minneapolis for connections. Probably the same in Missoula, plus maybe a Seattle or Spokane Flt. Jackson WY will have some type of tourist based flights, probably to SLC at least. Basically you are hours and miles of driving from anywhere that is bigger and different. That's fine for many people, but it will be a big change from NJ, CT and Mass. Whatever is in your town (shops, restaurants, medical care, etc.) are all you've got unless you are willing to drive 1 - 2 hours or more to see something different.

Montana is great, and a great place to live. It is just very different than many places and especially different from the east coast. We liked our years there. Work has caused us to move to Boise, but we still come back to Montana yearly to visit friends and family.

[mop14]

If I were you I would look for something 30min-1hr outside of Bozeman. Either north or west. There is a lot in the Gallatin valley. Stay out of the city of Bozeman. Unless you have millions to spend, it's just not worth the cost of living at the moment.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

I suggest you include Sandpoint, ID in your search. Majestic mountain views across Lake Pend Oreille, horse ranches in the Selle Valley and other places, and very good grocery stores plus some big box stores in Ponderay. You can be 30-60 minutes away from those stores and enjoy the scenery. You can even be in Noxon, MT, with a 45-minute (or so, in good weather) drive to Sandpoint, with a view of the Clark Fork River dam, and a choice between 2 hours to the Spokane International Airport and about 2 1/2 hours to Missoula. Superb fishing. We did all that research before buying our property in Clark Fork on the ID-MT border.

The question is, what is "plenty of land" to you? In Montana terms or East Coast terms? In Montana that would mean probably at least 20 acres. 3 acres may seem like plenty, coming from MA. We have 5, and that's not considered "plenty," but it is enough for us.