Possible Places for My Family? (Missoula, Great Falls: house, job market, buy)

[CBaillo]

Hi ya'll wanted to see if i could pick your brains for best possible cities for my family and I, w/ my given criteria. We are *GASP* californians, lol but not the typical types i have read you hate. actually when meeting people my wife and i always get asked if we're from the midwest, because were more open and friendly than most people here. I'm looking for cities that could offer (at least most of) the following criteria:

-low in crime
-defined 4 seasons w/ snow in winter
-the outdoors and bodies of water not too far away (I'm an avid fisherman, and love nothing more than throwing out catfish bait, and floating around all day tossing backa few beers)- my family also likes to bike,hike, etc.
-skiing/snowboarding not too far away. I love to snowboard, so this is something i NEED lol
-bigger plots of land
-close enough to be reasonably commutable to a big city (my wife and i both work, so itd be for employment/shopping/outings)
-a place with a good job market, for professionals (not service industry)
-racially accepting. I'm filipino and my wife is irish, and of course my daughter is mixed between us
- a really good public school system (i believe our childs education is primarily in our hands, but lets be real, school is where shell be for most hours of the day, so we need a good one)
- pretty much a nice friendly place that wont instantly hate us TOO badly. I understand having to prove oneself, and earn respect and trust, but i'd like to live someplace where people will at least let me TRY to earn those things, instead of hating my family outright just because of where we came from ((worst case, we can buy a house and not move until our new idaho plates are in ROFL)

[decembergirl]

You might want to check out the Bozeman area. Belgrade was more rural but now they are basically the same town. Big Sky isn't too far away, nice skiing. They do have snow right now, I know that. My cousin went to school there and she really liked it. The mountains are beautiful but a nice distance away, not smothering you like in Missoula. The college offers some decent jobs, I guess it would depend on what you are looking for.

[lorelei2873]

Welcome,

What is your idea of a big city? Our closest big city is Calgary or Salt Lake.

Helena has a good economy with a cost of living that is much cheaper than Bozeman's. There is also a small ski hill and three large reservoirs. However, the size of the metro area is only about 50,000. Helena is the state capital so it has probably the most stable economy in Montana and it hasn't been discovered nearly as drastically as Bozeman has. I lived in Bozeman for years and loved it. I would not want to live there now, as it has seen so much growth and kind of lost some its authenticity...plus, who could afford it? The university jobs (unless you're a professor) pay approximately 20% lower than similar jobs in the private sector (I previously worked for the U-system and was involved with union stuff).

[CBaillo]

by big city i just meant big enough to not have a hard time finding a job, and where we can shop for the little amenities we need here and there, and not have trouble finding anything. Im coming from southern california, so the smaller the city the better. the fewer the people the better.

[greaterfalls]

You should check out Great Falls. We're about an hour north of Helena, centrally located, with a population of about 65-70K. One big mall, several smaller shopping districts, no such thing as "traffic," adequate (not spectacular) dining facilities (Tony Roma's, Applebee's, etc), super-friendly people, at least 3 seasons, definitely snow (but not too much in the city, plenty of it within an hour), great schools (2 high schools, both excellent), largest hospital in the state, largest private financial services firm in the state, largest PR firm in the state, large military (AF) presence, great civics and infrastructure.

What's not to love?