need honest montana info (Bozeman, Kalispell: best town, house, job openings)

[KimnTx]

Do you like Sanders County? Do you know if it has good schools? Will check into that one also, thank you.

[Vulcan500]

If you're looking for "Mayberry", I'd suggest looking into central/eastern MT. The further west, the more costly for land, housing, etc. and larger towns. Most people I know lock their homes at night and I'm south central MT.

[Vulcan500]

If we hadn't settled here 30 yrs ago (hubby is a Native, but was gone in military service 10 yrs) and knowing what I know now about the state, Harlowton, or Choteau/Augusta/Fairfield area is good....maybe even Ft Benton...or east of Billings to Forsyth...Miles City...consider waaaay eastern MT...Culbertson or Plentywood - they're very north, very east, but really nice towns and no, it's not all flat and brown. Patchwork fields, rolling hills. This is a great state to 'roadtrip' in - there's always someplace new to check out.

[lynnlerch]

I recently moved here myself from Arizona to get away from the Rat race. I moved to a town called St. Ignatius and was fascinated with the views, what I failed to do was do my homework on the schools, and boy do I regret it. This is the worst school I have ever seen. My kids are not native and are constantly getting jumoed by the indian kids and the school staff does not care or do anything to the kids involved. Now that I am here I have met dozens of parents that are at thier wits end with this school as well. Do your kids a favor and keep them away from this terrible place...

[Redraven]

I grew up in the Flathead Valley. I have lived in Hungry Horse, Columbia Falls, and Kalispell. Graduated from Columbia Falls High school.
I will never go back, except for brief visits. When the last relative is gone, I won't go back, period. Not even for class reunions.
When I lived in Hungry Horse, it was a nice little town. Now, it appears to just be a tourist trap.
Columbia Falls and Kalispell seem to be overgrown farm towns with delusions of grandeur.
Whitefish? well, what to say. It was a railroad town, then a ski town, I'm not sure what it is now.
I would not recommend the area to any body these days.

[rickers]

Schools on the rez can be rough on white kids. I have friends who have had problems. I live in Sanders County and I like it just fine. The fishing is great, the scenery is great, the food sucks !

[montanablue]

Kim, I have lived here in MT almost all of my life and recently visited Texas. What is wrong with Texas? Seemed alright to me. I wouldn't want to live there merely because it is flat and full of snakes, But MT has rattlers too. Schools? I imagine your kids will adjust. There are drugs and what not in our schools also. We are not Mayberry as people depict. If loneliness and no heat is what you want, that would be unusual as I just heard of a couple from Oklahoma who thought they would live this isolated life to. I guess they bought a cabin over by Drummond and not much wood to stoke their fireplace, the wife froze to death and the hubby almost didn't make it. I would opt for heat. It gets cold here so don't let anyone fool you. You think you would want lots of snow, but get stuck once or twice up in the middle of nowhere , where the wind is howling and it is putting down some more snow. Something to think about. I know people always think as the one guy stated, "The grass is greener on the other side" First come try us out in the winter where there is alot of snow and no heat, than write me back and tell me what you think of MT than.

[montanablue]

Boulder does have a hotsprings, but I don't think many people utilize it much anymore. I live in Helena and the town is growing in leaps and bounds with out of staters. The housing prices are jacked sky high just like Missoula, Stevensville, thru out the Bitterroot. All of these big named valleys are exploding in popularity from out of staters and it isn't cheap to live in. But 15 yrs ago, Kalispell, Missoula, Bzm, and the valleys were still quiet. Now they are scattered with people and buildings. The Stevensville area is jammed packed. As a Montanan, I couldn't stand to live there. I say stay where you are. Move to Amarillo, there were alot of nice areas around there that seemed very quiet. Stranton Texas was very homey I thought and reminded me of Townsend. Use your senses tho' You just can't move to any ole' dee dunk town up north where hardly anyone lives and employment is scarce. Most people are ranchers up in eastern and northern MT. If you ranch, than that might work. You spoke about crime and worried about schooling, but want homey, snow and Mayberry. Missoula has quite a bit crime, so does Billings, Kalispell, And Bzm. Crime goes with more people. But up north is mostly Indian Reservation. Read a bit more about living on the Montana Indian Reservations so you might get a feel for it. Actually we have quite a few reservations here in MT. I would choose a town such a Billings for being a welder. Moving outward into the valleys put you on the Indian Reservation so stay near Billings and I don't think your kids will get along very well going to a school with mostly Indians. Just a thought.

[elkedoring]

Kim,
I have lived in Montana for about 16 years now. I lived in Billings for most of it. I can suggest a few things. There are some more rural areas around Billings that are nice and quiet if you want to be "out of the city" However, I can also say there are some places in town that offer quiet areas with the plus of having good schools. For example, I grew up on the West End. I lived in a quiet area where I could ride my bike on the streets with no worries. My elementary school was within walking distance and I got to choose which high school I wanted to go to. The schools are generally diverse (I'm inserting an A+ for my high school (Senior High) because they had a really diverse and understanding school population) Even if that doesn't sound your speed there are small towns around Billings like Laurel and Shepard (although Shepard is known to have a high drug problem). Now I go to college in Butte. Jobs are more scarce but the town is usually quiet (I say usually because of St. Patty's Day) and the people are friendly. I don't know much about the lower level schools here but from what I've heard they are nice. On the plus for Butte housing is cheap. I also lived in Helena for the summer. Helena is nice a bit more expensive but nice. I don't know much more than that because I stayed with relatives.

[magoomafoo]

Originally Posted by KimnTx

I've visited Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Canada, and Alaska, so as far as cold weather is concerned, I have an idea what to expect. Only we want to move someplace much simpler. We aren't big on malls, golf courses or resorts, just nice friendly people, who like the simple life as well.
We want to live in a place where we can park on one end of town with doors unlocked and walk safely as a family to the other end of town, visiting shops and saying hi to folks we know by name. A sort of Mayberry type of setting.
We have a deep love of old towns that don't change just because other towns have.

Visiting is alot different than living. I've been here my whole life and I am still blown away with the weather. Three to four weeks of below zero can be depressing. On the plus side, most small towns (1000 or less) have what you are looking for. Tip...start buying the snow gear now and have plenty of extras for the kids.