A few more (Great Falls, Helena, Belgrade: houses, neighborhoods, to buy)

[CJ!]

I'm sure you all get sick of answering the same questions over and over again, but plese, do it for me just one more time.

I'm a born and bred midwestern girl, who found her heart in Kentucky in college. My husband is born and raised Salt Lake City proper (non-mormon, if that matters). Somehow, in that mix we ended up in Washington DC. We've been here six years and I hate it. I loathe raising our children here, I feel like I'm suffocating. I need room to breathe!

Well, my husband just got a call about a job in Helena and I'm quite certain I'd load up the kids and the coonhound and drive there right now. I'm a researcher at heart and I've done lots, but I have just a few questions for you.

Helena proper has about 25,000 people (I'd rather be somewhere without that many people after being on the eastern seaboard for so long), what are some nice towns 20 or so miles outside of Helena where we could buy some acreage without a terrible commute? Or,l neighborhoods nearer in where I can get an acre or so if I can't get my husband to budge on that.

Local airports?

Will I need a 4wd car?

Anyone recommend a realator?

Thank you so much for your help. I promise we'll be good neighbors. We despise urban sprawl and are very green. We hate McMansions, and love good people.

[jjojobean]

Yes, you will definitely need a 4-wheel drive vehicle or at least a front wheel drive. If you will be using your existing vehicles, I suggest you have it tuned up to accommodate the altitude change and maybe have a core heater installed if you don't already have one.

You might want to check out Montana City, Townsend or even East Helena which is kind of it's own community. The commute is easy from those two places. Boulder is about 30 miles away, but the mountain pass is horrific in the winter. I haven't been to any of the other communities around there like Clancy or Jefferson City so I am not able to give any type of opinion on them.

That's great that you love to research. Me too!! Wherever you decide to take root. Please check into the road you have to commute on. You will hear that the roads are kept pretty dry and sanded throughout the winter. But you won't hear about white-outs (blizzards), fog, black ice, bad drivers, etc. then add deer and other animals crossing the road. I'm not trying to scare you and I'm not saying that blizzards and such happen on a daily basis. It's just added information for your research (and child safety).

Helena has one airport. Other airports close by (within an hour or so) are Butte and Belgrade. Always check with your travel agent to see where is cheapest. You'll be surprised at the price difference sometimes.

Take a look on mapquest.com at Helena. It shows you some of the surrounding communities. I suggest avoiding living north of Helena mainly because of the road to commute on and there really aren't any communities out that way. It's almost total mountain pass from Helena to Great Falls. I know there are a lot of people that commute those horrible passes every day, but those people are usually ones that grew up in Montana and have traveled those roads forever. (I'm a cautious type of person)

I don't know of any realtors in that area to suggest for you. Try one of the locally owned Realty businesses. You'll find using locally owned businesses will give you more personalized service and you will be supporting the locals. Maybe contact Helena's Chamber of Commerce and ask if they will recommend someone for you.

I hope you can find my ramblings of some use. Good luck in your quest for information and relocation!!

jjojobean

[lorelei2873]

I live in Helena and commuted from Townsend for a couple of years. You don't need a four wheel drive in most cases, unless you live out of town with a steep drive way. Helena is great! Townsend is a cute little town, and your commute time would be about 45 minutes in the morning during peak drive time. If you are looking in Townsend, I know both the realtor families and they're wonderful. Townsend has a terrific school system with a newer high school and lots of opportunities for kids to get involved in sports & other activities...a nice lake nearby and lots of hunting, fishing, hiking, etc. Here's a link to the local newspaper: www.townsendstar.net.

If you're looking right around Helena, people in East Helena are really friendly and the houses are cheaper than in Helena. Clancy is a really little town only about 15 minutes away. Houses are pretty spendy out there and your kids would have to commute for school, probably not in the same county as where you'd be working. You'd probably be working in Helena and your kids would be going the opposite direction to Boulder.

Also, just to clarify, the Helena area is about 50,000 people but half of them live outside the city limits. The city limits have not nearly kept up with the growth. The population actually extends about 10 miles north of the city limits and is also going to be growing south and west with several really large subdivisions having already been approved.

[AQHA]

There are times a four wheel drive is nice but most people just use front wheel drives. A front wheel drive vehicle will do great in the snow. With gas prices the way they are I would not get a four wheel drive unless you had too.

I live in Helena and work in Alaska. I use the Helena airport a lot. Its a great little airport (newly refinished-- very nice).

I like to buy properties when I get extra money.

As far as what area to live around Helena... there are so many nice areas I don't even know what to say. I would just drive around with the realtor and see what's available. Even the subdivisions are not bad, some have a 5 or 10 acres minimum so for most people that's pretty good.

[YOU-CANT-EAT-SCENERY]

Is there basically horse properties around Helena, where a person can ride horses directly off of their land to trails in the mountains? Maybe home/acreage that back up to BLM land or something. Anywhere within an hours commute of Helena.

[AQHA]

Originally Posted by johns65vette

Is there basically horse properties around Helena, where a person can ride horses directly off of their land to trails in the mountains? Maybe home/acreage that back up to BLM land or something. Anywhere within an hours commute of Helena.

Within an hour? dang, there's lots of places like that around here. People here are pretty protective of who they let use their land but if you ask permission (after you know them) and are respectful of their place you will be fine. Folks are not cool with four wheelers generally but with horses you can normally get permission. I ride out from my place and can go for hours and hours without seeing another person, Im only 15 minutes from Helena.

[YOU-CANT-EAT-SCENERY]

Basically don't want to have to trailer them everyhwere just to ride. Where we live now, it is a horse town....no sidewalks, no streetlights, and horse trails go all over the city. You basically ride right out of your front yard. Thing is all the horse trails paralell city streets...not very scenic looking at other peoples houses.
Last count I heard here, the population was 28,000 and the horse population was 14,000.

[AQHA]

During the summer I ride everyday; I trailer for one or two rides a week and on the other days I just ride to the hills from my house. You will find TONS of places like that in the state (I loved that same thing about Idaho). Montana is a horseman's paradise.
Another thing-- in Montana even non horse people know enough about horses to be respectful when they are driving past you. I have ridden horses in Utah a lot and the folks down there don't have an once of horse sense anymore.

[YOU-CANT-EAT-SCENERY]

Originally Posted by AQHA

During the summer I ride everyday; I trailer for one or two rides a week and on the other days I just ride to the hills from my house. You will find TONS of places like that in the state (I loved that same thing about Idaho). Montana is a horseman's paradise.
Another thing-- in Montana even non horse people know enough about horses to be respectful when they are driving past you. I have ridden horses in Utah a lot and the folks down there don't have an once of horse sense anymore.

That's great to know. I wll need to look for areas like that. Kinda wondered about the Stevensville, Victor, Corvallis area, but will look into the Helena area to.

I know what you mean about respect from drivers. Dang young punk kids in this town fly by you. Stupid!

[talibkwali]

Hey I'm from corvallis and it's a great little place! The school has high education standards and a great atmosphere! Plus, if you want to live in Corvallis and go to school here, you can shop in Hamilton, so you have the convenience of a larger town but far less sprawl.