Need to relocate - Looking for ideas

[countess1166]

Yup, you described Red Lodge, Roberts area. Good luck!

[MAGSF]

Before you make any decisions to move to Montana, you will need to spend some time during the WINTER. It's beautiful in the late spring and summer, but the winters are a killer. I know lots of people who moved there after the movie "The River Runs Through It", thinking they were moving to God's Country. 2 winters later they moved back to California.

[Montana Baby]

Originally Posted by MAGSF

Before you make any decisions to move to Montana, you will need to spend some time during the WINTER. It's beautiful in the late spring and summer, but the winters are a killer. I know lots of people who moved there after the movie "The River Runs Through It", thinking they were moving to God's Country. 2 winters later they moved back to California.

With the mess CA is in they may want to rethink that. My sister who has lived in CA for over 40 years is moving to MT --- says she doesn't care about the winter --- just can't/won't pay the taxes (sales and property) on her retirement income.

[Lagarto]

Almost anywhere in Wyoming. If you stay on along the I-80 corridor you can get to Denver in less than a day from most areas.

[Jbechtel]

I still have relatives living in Denver so I have to go there occasionally and everyone I've talked to over the years has a favorable impression of Montana and likes to come here. Montana currently is like Colorado was in the early '70's, so the boomers identify with that because it reminds them of the original reason why they moved to Colorado in the first place. One thing you might like is we don't have the afternoon deluge of rain in the summer that's common in your area on most late afternoons, almost monsoon style, like in low deserts. Our summers in Western Montana are dryer but close to triple digits like your use to in Denver with inversion but no smog, if you choose a bigger town to live in. We have a lot of small outfits throughout the state that do computer work already so you should find a following of geeks to nest with. There's contracts available throughout the state for IT types for bid with counties, local government, and hospitals looking for the best to come in and solve problems. Oh, by the way, don't forget to bring your's and the kids snowboards with you, the skiing's better here, without all the Hollywood-Disney look. Good luck.

[montanamom]

I second the suggestion that you look at the Bitteroot Valley area near Missoula, Montana. I lived there for two years; one of my closest friends out there had relocated from Denver, and she did not regret the move at all. She said the area she had lived in for years in Denver had become severely crime-ridden, I was surprised at that, not something I would have pictured in Colorado.

The Western side of Montana is known to have milder winters than the Eastern side. I found the winters manageable, but the summers were hot as blazes, although the nights do cool off quite a bit.

Anyway, the land and housing prices in the Bitteroot Valley were really high when I was out there, but I believe the prices have come down some now that the California housing bubble has burst. You should be able to find a place with a little land in your price range. Not a lot of large employers in the area, however.

Good luck!

[Roger Guiles]

That may have something to do with the liberal "sanctuary City" syndrome.