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Actually MTDream'n I'd agree with you that many people move here to raise kids, that was a major factor in our coming here. There are many places where family values/morals have been thrown by the wayside and race has nothing to do with that, in fact I'd say many of the non white people have stronger family values than the other way around.
As for going someplace where english is the language, while that's the case here at this point it is slowly changing like everywhere else in this nation. While I feel it's a sign of disrespect to this country when people refuse to assimilate and I think it's a threat to our national identity/security there's nothing that's going to change it until the government and population stand up and say enough trying to cater to or please everyone.
In France you will not be catered to just because you don't speak french and many will look down on you or just plain ignore you if you don't. In Mexico it can be very hard to survive if you don't speak spanish.
And I have quotes from people who lived in the Flathead Valley and have since moved on.
"There are a lot of places where it's sunny there and not here in the Flathead."
"It's pretty but there's nothing to do and it's gray all the time there, you never see the sun."
"There's no jobs or work in the Flathead and you can't eat the scenery."
As a former Hungry Horse/Columbia Falls resident, and graduate of Columbia Falls high School, I agree fully with those three quotes.
In fact, I have said them many times.
Since the enviros killed the lumber industry, and the aluminum plant is closed (probably never to reopen), I often wonder how long the residents of the valley can survive selling clothes, cars, meals, and groceries to each other, and living off the tourists.
I go back there for a visit, and after three days I am ready to leave. The Valley has greatly changed, and not necessarily for the better, IMO.
However, it isn't all bad. The schools are still pretty good, the community college is quite good, and the available medical care is great.
This is an often quoted Montana aphorism. Unfortunately, this attempt at Montana protectionism doesn't always work. There are far left, extreme vegans here in California that ARE willing to eat the scenery.
As a former Hungry Horse/Columbia Falls resident, and graduate of Columbia Falls high School, I agree fully with those three quotes.
In fact, I have said them many times.
Since the enviros killed the lumber industry, and the aluminum plant is closed (probably never to reopen), I often wonder how long the residents of the valley can survive selling clothes, cars, meals, and groceries to each other, and living off the tourists.
I go back there for a visit, and after three days I am ready to leave. The Valley has greatly changed, and not necessarily for the better, IMO.
However, it isn't all bad. The schools are still pretty good, the community college is quite good, and the available medical care is great.
As a former C-Falls resident myself I have the perfect term for the area... Poverty with a view. We still have friends who live there and I speak with them frequently. What I keep hearing is many people in the valley have left for the oil fields or, the just the men have leaving the family so the kids can stay in school.
As a former C-Falls resident myself I have the perfect term for the area... Poverty with a view. We still have friends who live there and I speak with them frequently. What I keep hearing is many people in the valley have left for the oil fields or, the just the men have leaving the family so the kids can stay in school.
Oh my God, you are still alive. hahahaha Welcome back!!!!
Oh my God, you are still alive. hahahaha Welcome back!!!!
Of COURSE I'm still alive, you didn't think you could get rid of me that easy did you???
How ya doing Elk? Hope all is well with you now!
Just roasting (both coffee and physically) here in AZ waiting for my son to graduate ASU then who knows? My wife dearly wants to come back to MT... Me? Not so much, at least not the Flathead. Too cold and gloomy especially after living in the land of sunshine 360 days a year.
08-14-2014, 10:31 AM
xdr3jq2cw
n/a posts
We lived in the flathead for about ten months. we were transplants.
we rented and the rental was a complete disaster, the house flooded twice from different issues, the heater went out and the landlord would not make a decision on whether or not to replace it for over 15 days, the propane cost us 500$ a month, the water was "borrowed" from the neighbors who would not give us a bill every month, only every 3-4 months, the house would not hold the heat so we were taken from a 3 bedroom to a one bedroom home in order to conserve energy, property management was real slow to get anything done. Finally we were able to get them to let us out of our lease, even at that chaos erupted because the house flooded again during our walk-though.
We moved to a place that was miles from town and 200$ a month from a Private owner and I did out a budget for the next 6 months, we would get caught up. Also , for the first time since we moved to montana we had money to buy our own groceries, we had to go to the food bank to the whole time we lived in the other house. not one shopping trip for ourselves. the house took it all. 3 months after moving into the new house, we get notice the landlord is getting foreclosed on.
I applied to every job I could the whole time we were there, good thing we had other income, we would not have made it. Never did find one, had 1 interview.
We had been renting our whole lives, didnt have the credit to buy nor the downpayment. we just accepted it really. renting had reached it most expensive I had ever encountered, and we lived in Ca,Az,Or, and rented all over those places. From when I was age to live on my own renting has just skyrocketed, to now for me, an absolutely unreasonable level of greediness. Be it the banks that tacked the note on or the LL thats just trying to get a bit more out of their rental, because it all rolls down hill.
The absolute desperation of just living in montana took our already impoverish lives to a new level. We dumped the whole concept of conventional housing, because housing and all that it entails is what eats it all up. we moved back to where we came from, saved our money and bought ourselves an rv. we have been able to really change our lives since then. we now have great credit. we have food. we have extra stuff we would not have otherwise. we have been able to thrive rather than just scratch the bottom. In January we are upgrading to a 40 footer.
I know its not an option for everyone, but its how we changed our position. When we lived in Montana it was the poorest we had EVER been in over 20 years.
I def see the "cant eat the trees concept" and met a guy at the laundromat that was on leave from the oil fields and had to go back soon, never saw his kids and he was working there with a hurt back because there wasn't anything else in the valley he could do that would pay the bills.
Really the people there were great, but thats not what I think about when I think of Montana, because the level of poverty we experienced was such a defining moment in our lives. I think of how close we came to living full time in a state of chronic malnutrition.
We lived in the flathead for about ten months. we were transplants.
we rented and the rental was a complete disaster, the house flooded twice from different issues, the heater went out and the landlord would not make a decision on whether or not to replace it for over 15 days, the propane cost us 500$ a month, the water was "borrowed" from the neighbors who would not give us a bill every month, only every 3-4 months, the house would not hold the heat so we were taken from a 3 bedroom to a one bedroom home in order to conserve energy, property management was real slow to get anything done. Finally we were able to get them to let us out of our lease, even at that chaos erupted because the house flooded again during our walk-though.
We moved to a place that was miles from town and 200$ a month from a Private owner and I did out a budget for the next 6 months, we would get caught up. Also , for the first time since we moved to montana we had money to buy our own groceries, we had to go to the food bank to the whole time we lived in the other house. not one shopping trip for ourselves. the house took it all. 3 months after moving into the new house, we get notice the landlord is getting foreclosed on.
I applied to every job I could the whole time we were there, good thing we had other income, we would not have made it. Never did find one, had 1 interview.
We had been renting our whole lives, didnt have the credit to buy nor the downpayment. we just accepted it really. renting had reached it most expensive I had ever encountered, and we lived in Ca,Az,Or, and rented all over those places. From when I was age to live on my own renting has just skyrocketed, to now for me, an absolutely unreasonable level of greediness. Be it the banks that tacked the note on or the LL thats just trying to get a bit more out of their rental, because it all rolls down hill.
The absolute desperation of just living in montana took our already impoverish lives to a new level. We dumped the whole concept of conventional housing, because housing and all that it entails is what eats it all up. we moved back to where we came from, saved our money and bought ourselves an rv. we have been able to really change our lives since then. we now have great credit. we have food. we have extra stuff we would not have otherwise. we have been able to thrive rather than just scratch the bottom. In January we are upgrading to a 40 footer.
I know its not an option for everyone, but its how we changed our position. When we lived in Montana it was the poorest we had EVER been in over 20 years.
I def see the "cant eat the trees concept" and met a guy at the laundromat that was on leave from the oil fields and had to go back soon, never saw his kids and he was working there with a hurt back because there wasn't anything else in the valley he could do that would pay the bills.
Really the people there were great, but thats not what I think about when I think of Montana, because the level of poverty we experienced was such a defining moment in our lives. I think of how close we came to living full time in a state of chronic malnutrition.
Your Mileage May Vary.
This is why I call it "poverty with a view". Either bring a job or buckets of money (or both) as that's the only way to survive as a newbie.
We lived in the flathead for about ten months. we were transplants.
we rented and the rental was a complete disaster, the house flooded twice from different issues, the heater went out and the landlord would not make a decision on whether or not to replace it for over 15 days, the propane cost us 500$ a month, the water was "borrowed" from the neighbors who would not give us a bill every month, only every 3-4 months, the house would not hold the heat so we were taken from a 3 bedroom to a one bedroom home in order to conserve energy, property management was real slow to get anything done. Finally we were able to get them to let us out of our lease, even at that chaos erupted because the house flooded again during our walk-though.
We moved to a place that was miles from town and 200$ a month from a Private owner and I did out a budget for the next 6 months, we would get caught up. Also , for the first time since we moved to montana we had money to buy our own groceries, we had to go to the food bank to the whole time we lived in the other house. not one shopping trip for ourselves. the house took it all. 3 months after moving into the new house, we get notice the landlord is getting foreclosed on.
I applied to every job I could the whole time we were there, good thing we had other income, we would not have made it. Never did find one, had 1 interview.
We had been renting our whole lives, didnt have the credit to buy nor the downpayment. we just accepted it really. renting had reached it most expensive I had ever encountered, and we lived in Ca,Az,Or, and rented all over those places. From when I was age to live on my own renting has just skyrocketed, to now for me, an absolutely unreasonable level of greediness. Be it the banks that tacked the note on or the LL thats just trying to get a bit more out of their rental, because it all rolls down hill.
The absolute desperation of just living in montana took our already impoverish lives to a new level. We dumped the whole concept of conventional housing, because housing and all that it entails is what eats it all up. we moved back to where we came from, saved our money and bought ourselves an rv. we have been able to really change our lives since then. we now have great credit. we have food. we have extra stuff we would not have otherwise. we have been able to thrive rather than just scratch the bottom. In January we are upgrading to a 40 footer.
I know its not an option for everyone, but its how we changed our position. When we lived in Montana it was the poorest we had EVER been in over 20 years.
I def see the "cant eat the trees concept" and met a guy at the laundromat that was on leave from the oil fields and had to go back soon, never saw his kids and he was working there with a hurt back because there wasn't anything else in the valley he could do that would pay the bills.
Really the people there were great, but thats not what I think about when I think of Montana, because the level of poverty we experienced was such a defining moment in our lives. I think of how close we came to living full time in a state of chronic malnutrition.
Your Mileage May Vary.
Interesting to see this thread revived. I never experienced this level of poverty in Montana but the poorest I've been was when I lived in Montana after college (didn't do so well during college either). Unless you have lots of money it's pretty tough to make it on the many minimum wage jobs in the area.
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Thanks
We still have friends who live there and I speak with them frequently. What I keep hearing is many people in the valley have left for the oil fields or, the just the men have leaving the family so the kids can stay in school.
Either bring a job or buckets of money (or both) as that's the only way to survive as a newbie.
