Pick a place in MT to live (list) (Billings, Missoula: apartment, high crime)

[JJMAC]

Background:

Moving in September.

young family (2 kids: 2,4)

Looking for:
- good schools
- safe nieghborhood
- access to outdoor activities (hiking, skiing etc)
- resonable access to accomodations (restaurants and shopping)
- all around great place to live and work.


we have a house budget of $300-350k.


Here are the choices of work place. Any recommendations with in these areas OR WITHIN a Resonable commute.

Billings
Helena
Havre
Shelby
Whitefish


Thank you for your responses!!

Mac

[ladyflyfsh]

Helena would be my choice off your list

[NYMTman]

Helena would also be my choice.

Havre, Shelby, and Whitefish aren't going to have a great selection of shopping/restaurants...

[grizzfan]

I'd pick Billings. It's large enough to have conveniences and job opportunities and close to recreation SW of there within an hour. I'm not sure our public schools differ much in quality from town town and you can find some very quality private schools in Billings. Safety is probably lower in Billings of that group, but compared to any town in America of comparable size, it's probably near the safest. And with a budget for a home like that you can probably buy two!! (just kidding)

[jjojobean]

Helena or a small town in that area such as Montana City or Townsend would be my first choice. Second would be Whitefish. Kalispell is very close by and is growing. Also you're close to Flathead Lake and Glacier National Park. Just make sure you have a 4-wheel drive vehicle.

[Reziac]

You describe Great Falls

But of your list, I'd pick Helena. Relatively safe, big enough to have some of everything, more centrally-located to the recreation and other stuff you mention. Also the strongest sense of history and local flavour.

Shelby is nice as a small town, not a lot there but pleasant.

Havre, I never developed an opinion one way or the other as I was always just driving through.

Billings probably has more business opportunities, but less safe, at least in the south/east sides, tho rimrocks area is probably fine. (My sister used to live on the main drag for the east side, and the ambulances went by pretty much continuously from 2am to 6am.) But you don't have to live right in Billings; frex, lots of people live in Laurel and commute, which is probably more practical there than with the other towns you mention.

When I lived in MT, all the schools were good everywhere (the worst I knew of was better than the average in CA), and many were *great*.

[MontanaGuy]

I'd also probably pick Helena. I would scratch Havre off the list for sure. I've spent alot of time in that town and have friends there but it's cold, unattractive, and really has nothing to offer.

[lorelei2873]

Definitely Helena. You would be within a half an hour of three pretty big lakes, camping, hiking, and a ski hill. It has a stable economy and a lower housing cost than Whitefish. Havre, Billings, & Shelby really aren't in the mountains, and darn it, Shelby and Havre are kind of remote, cold, and flat. Nice folks though. Billings would be the number 2 choice, although it's bigger so there's a little more to worry about with schools & crime...still a decent town though.

[GiftShoppeGuy]

Yup

Great Falls came to mind right away when I saw this post.

What makes this such a great place to live is that most just conveniently leave us out of the mix, er.. ruther.... list.

The list above comes closer to describing Great Falls than it does any other city in the state.

[lorelei2873]

I lived in Great Falls for about a year. I got my furniture stolen while I was moving in. Even though I lived only a few blocks from my part-time bartending job, I had to take a car because of the crime in my neighborhood. I also witnessed a drug deal taking place at my dumpster. I also walked out and found a man passed out next to his bike at 9 a.m. I tried to wake him up because I thought he was having a heart attack. He wasn't; he was just passed out drunk already. So, check out the neighborhoods first. I lived in a historic apartment building in a cute-looking area on 6th St. South. Geez. Appearances were deceiving. Avoid that area. Great Falls has some great qualities, but don't be like me. Ask for neighborhood references first! I was naive because I came from Helena, and it didn't really have any high crime areas except for about one block in the radius of 6th Ave. & Rodney. So, Great Falls was an eye-opener. I had lived in Bozeman, Missoula, & Helena, but I found my neighborhood in Great Falls to have way more crime. I missed being so close to the lakes, too.

But, the people were really friendly and the cost of living was fabulous. I didn't really notice a lot of professional jobs compared to service industry, but I might have been looking in the wrong places. Great Falls has lots of great jobs in the health sector, but I didn't see as many of the administrative or managerial jobs like one sees in Helena with the state.

I feel a resounding, "It's okay" about Great Falls. I think my experience with the bad neighborhood biased me terribly. So, just get a local opinion about neighborhoods first. But, again, overall, the city residents are very warm/friendly and it is centrally located. It's definitely got a lot of potential for a family to buy a nice house at a reasonable price. If I had to pick a city to live in based on the criteria you recommended, I would probably consider Great Falls second after Helena.