Smaller cities in Montana (Jordan: foreclosure, homes, landscaping)

[MikeKle]

I am interested in some of the smaller cities and towns in Montana, such as Cohagen, Jordan, Brussett, Mosby, Ingomar,etc. there doesnt seem to be much of anything near these towns, just the type of place we are looking for. What is life like in these or similar towns? What about the cost of land? Is $300 to $1000. per acre an average price for these size of towns? Any comments would be helpful. Thanks, Mike

[georgiainwyo]

I had to laugh when you called these "smaller cities"! Some are larger than others (like Jordan is BIG compared to the others!) but these are all tiny, tiny towns. I don't know much about any of them but wanted to mention that Ingomar has a wonderful little place to eat called the Jersey Lily. You get the feeling you are in an old western saloon, it's really cool. The food is wonderful! It makes a nice little country drive just for something to do and a good place to go eat. If you go, you'll have to ask about their "Sheephearder hoeur d' erves"

[Rickers]

I'm wondering why in the world you would be looking at these towns in Montana. You said on another post that you live in northern Kentucky and you hate the cold. Another thing is if you do lawn care for a living you wouldn't have much business unless you added snow removal to your list of landscaping services. Have you ever been to Montana ?

[MikeKle]

No,I have never been to Montana,but I was looking at a road atlas and was curious about that whole area because it is about the only area in the country that is not heavily populated,everywhere else on the atlas are filled with towns big and small, and this area around Montana and WY are just about barren! I could never move there because I doubt there would be a big demand for lawn care services,but I wouldnt mind visiting. Once on a trip to florida we stopped in a small town just before crossing the FL state line in GA, I forget the name of the town but it was just like Mayberry! complete with gravel main road and little shops set up about a 2 block section that was their main part of town. I like small little towns like that,I wish we could go back to living like that and Im sure many others do too.

[bigtrees]

I disagree (politely) on a lawn care business in these small towns of Montana. I think they support a lot of lawn care businesses. The difference is the lawn is big (often 100 - 1000 acres), you mow it two times (three if you're lucky) a year, and the locals call it hay rather than grass. Not too much difference in my book though. (Of course, you don't get hired to mow, rake, and bale hay, that privilege is usually reserved for the owner.)

[prairierose]

If you like small towns in sparsely populated areas, a good trip would be following Hwy. 12 going west. Some of the towns on the map are ghost towns. Like Georgia said, Ingomar is especially interesting and the bean soup at the Jersey Lily cafe is excellent.

[Mt-7]

Originally Posted by bigtrees

I disagree (politely) on a lawn care business in these small towns of Montana. I think they support a lot of lawn care businesses. The difference is the lawn is big (often 100 - 1000 acres), you mow it two times (three if you're lucky) a year, and the locals call it hay rather than grass. Not too much difference in my book though. (Of course, you don't get hired to mow, rake, and bale hay, that privilege is usually reserved for the owner.)

Too funny, I like how the farmhouse is on more acreage than the entire of most farms in the the rest of the country.

[imbobbbb]

Well there are plenty of 'towns' on the map in montana and wyoming where there is no longer any real town there,just a couple of collapsed buildings or foundations.Many former towns have a couple of residents who ranch in the area but no longer any businesses.If you look at county census stats with a hundred year range you will see that many eastern montana counties had 2 to 3 times as many people living in them in 1909 than 2009.Thousands of homesteaders flocked to eastern montana in the early 1900's.between 1921 and 1925 50% of montana farmers statewide lost their farms to foreclosure.Half the banks in the state failed too.....and this was 'before' the great depression.Those who managed to remain,through advances in machinery,didnt need to hire many or sometimes any 'help' so laborers left for greener pastures.Most counties in eastern montana are still losing population.Better cars have allowed people to be willing to drive much farther in comfort to get things so businesses in small towns continue to fail because people will drive 100 miles each way to hit up the mall and walmart in billings or greatfalls or let ups bring the stuff they ordered online to them....just the way it is.A lot of eastern montana towns are getting smaller by the day.