Another newbie asking questions.... (Missoula, Great Falls: fit in, house, public school)

[venusflyer]

Hi all,
I have been stalking the MT pages for quite some time! But there is some information I haven't found exact answers to, so I hope you all can help me!
My hubby and our two boys (5 and 2) and I will be visiting MT in May to find "our spot". We know the winters are harsh and the summers are beautiful. We know the hunting, in most areas, is fantastic. We know we are in for quite a change and welcome that. We also know it is going to be very hard; we've never done anything the easy way (and to this day, I still have no idea why!). We know we are supposed to be in Montana. What we don't know is logistics of things.

There are 4 cities/towns we are looking for jobs: Helena, Great Falls, Missoula and Kalispell (mainly b/c that's where the jobs in the hubby's field are located). We know the terrain and weather vary a lot from place to place. We do not plan to live "in town" of any town. If anyone has any info on these questions, I would be very happy to hear it!

When it snows a lot, are the backroads cleared by the state/county? Typically, how far are the roads cleared? If we lived at the end of a road, can we plan on having to clear the road ourselves?
When it snows a lot, do people ride 4-wheelers and/or snowmobiles to work?

We aren't worried about the school system as I homeschool, and we know anything ridden on the street will need to be licensed. There is a lot we don't know about MT, but we are very eager to learn (which means, if I can't find the answer on the forum, I may be asking the question!). We long for the life Montana can offer us, and can't wait to raise our children in the "real" world, with real work and real nature.

Thank you!!
-Rachel

[Rickers]

Originally Posted by venusflyer

Hi all,When it snows a lot, are the backroads cleared by the state/county? Typically, how far are the roads cleared? If we lived at the end of a road, can we plan on having to clear the road ourselves?
When it snows a lot, do people ride 4-wheelers and/or snowmobiles to work?

Depending on the definition of "back-roads" I would say that if the road is on a school bus route the road will be kept cleared as they can get to them. Sometimes it takes a few days for most of the used roads get cleared. Forest service roads are sometimes used by folks living on "in-holdings" and those roads are seldom maintained in winter. Folks sometimes get snowed in for extended periods and snow machines and 4-wheelers are often used to get to town. You may end up with a long private driveway and would need to deal with the plowing yourself. Mostly in areas where folks live you'll find neighbors who have some type of snow removal equipment and they may be willing to plow your driveway for you. Counties take care of the county roads and the state takes care of the highways.

[Gman2007]

Even after the roads are plowed (paved and especially "back roads"), you have to take into consideration the drifts that can develop very quickly. If you're wanting to get out through these you will need 4-wheel drive.

[jimj]

Welcome to the MT forum!
If I were to consider moving here again I'd still pick the Kalispell "area" over the others.
As for roads, the state does a pretty decent job clearing, the county not so good but drivable most times and the cities, well forget about it... A good all wheel,front wheel or 4 wheel drive will suffice. My son has a Scion /XD with studless snow tires and it's done just fine this winter, I have a Ford Freestyle AWD with studs and we also have a Tahoe if the snow gets too deep which is rare. Ice is the big killer so whatever you have tires are key.
There's a good sized homeschool group in the Kalispell area, in fact they just had a real nice dance for the kids and did a play not too long ago. All my neighbors home school if that gives you any idea how popular it's become.
C'mon back if there's more questions...

[Brad4JC]

Rachel,
I can tell you a little of what I know about Missoula and Kalispell. My pick between the two is definitely Kalispell. I am not nearly as qualified to answer your questions as most of the others because I am only going by experiences of family and friends that live there but I have spent significant time there during all seasons. I long to live there as well but jobs are a big problem for me.

Missoula is beautiful but very crowded and congested for a small town. I have only met two kind of people in Missoula. Either liberals from out-of-state or Montanans that are bitter about liberals and people from out-of-state living there. I can't say that I blame them though. The people in Kalispell have always been very friendly though. I have visited every year for almost 10 years and they don't seem to change although a lot of people have moved there in 10 years. It too is getting kind of crowded. My parents live outside of town and they have never had a problem getting around though. The roads are cleared to a certain point and then the neighbors all pitch in to clear the rest. They have a 4WD with snow tires so they have had no problem getting to town and back.

Although my friends are all happy with the public school system in Kalispell, I think it is great that you homeschool. I wish we could have done the same for our kids but thank God they turned out to be great kids (so far anyway). My oldest is graduating and moving there this summer with my parents and will be going to college there. As much as I will miss him I am excited for him and encourage him to start his life there. I'm sorry to say we live in Southern California so I am sure you can only imagine how awful it is here. Just watch that show "Housewives of OC" That's where I live and what we are surrounded by. I am certain to get beat-up on this forum now that I mentioned that. Anyway, God willing we will get to move there to someday soon.
God bless you and your family on your move!

[rangerider]

If your husband is going to work in town, you might want to consider just how many miles you want to put between home and there. If the weather gets tough in the winter getting back and forth to work gets to be an expensive and/or time-consuming proposition. Being perennially late to work or altogether absent doesn't exactly endear you to an employer.

In my area, all roads are usually cleared by three days after a storm. But like Gman said, sometimes they will no more than get them punched out and they get snowed and drifted in again. And if the roads aren't established gravel roads, springtime can bring a new condition - mud. Much less fun than snow.

[Stephan_K]

I live outside of Kalispell. Here we have the State highways Rt 2 & 93 and all the county roads off of them outside the city limits. State roads are all paved, county roads are mostly gravel, some paved but not too many are for very far when they are. Like rangerider states, ALL roads are cleared pretty well within 3 days, the county roads taking the longest to get done. For us it is usually 2 days at the most. State roads are cleaned and sanded VERY QUICKLY, they take care of them very well IMO. County roads... usually an accident or two gets them moving in your direction quicker .

Our road coming off the mountain is pretty steep in a few spots. The county is good for scraping the snow off down to the good hard ice then leaving it (county part of it). After someone slides over the edge, then they come back out and sand it. Those that use chains or have studded tires usually have no issues.

When they do sand them, you'd swear they do so with a salt & pepper shaker. In fact you could probably put more sand on them with one yourself . ANYTHING beyond the county maintained roads are on you and your neighbors to take care of. When you look for "your spot"... make sure it is within a county maintained portion if you don't want to deal with maintaining a road... because you'll have to !

And as Rickers points out, those living on the non county maintained roads usually have some sort of road maintance equipment to get by on. For anyone ending up living on one, be a Montanan... get to know your neighbors and pitch in on some fuel or help out in some way with the road when you can... one will fit right in that way. There is more to taking care of them then just removing the snow too ! That's just one piece of the road puzzle.

Good luck on your search and welcome to the forum.

[magoomafoo]

My private drive to my house is pretty long, it comes off a county road which comes off hwy 200. The hwy is plowed first, heavy traffic county roads second, residential county roads third and forget about private drives. I've had numerous mornings where I had to get up an hour early, start the tractor up, plow my drive only to leave for work and have to turn around, go back start the tractor up again and plow my way out of the county road. It's not a big deal when you consider the plow trucks are busy keeping the hwy's clear.

[jimj]

Originally Posted by magoomafoo

My private drive to my house is pretty long, it comes off a county road which comes off hwy 200. The hwy is plowed first, heavy traffic county roads second, residential county roads third and forget about private drives. I've had numerous mornings where I had to get up an hour early, start the tractor up, plow my drive only to leave for work and have to turn around, go back start the tractor up again and plow my way out of the county road. It's not a big deal when you consider the plow trucks are busy keeping the hwy's clear.

Yep, we have a long drive and a private subdivision road that leads to Hwy 206. The state does a good job of keeping 206 clean and clear (except after dark when they go home) and I blow my driveway and the subdivision pays to have our road plowed to the hwy. Part and parcel of living in this state...

[venusflyer]

Thank you all so much for your insight! I did not think about drifts and mud, so thank you for bringing those to my attention! We are basically trying to figure out if it is an absolute necessity to have a 4WD vehicle; I think we will opt for one. We hope to be within a 15-20 mile commute to work. Road maintenance is something we have been curious about, so thank you all for your replies! If the roads would be cleared everyday (not something we really expected), we would keep what we have. Looks like the hubby gets that truck he's been wanting!

We are hoping for the Kalispell job, and I thank you for your confirmations for that area! We will definitely do our best to fit in as Montanans, wherever we end up. I am also very happy to hear about the homeschool following in that area. Montana has some of the best laws for homeschooling freedom and we are very excited about being able to teach our children the way we want them to learn, instead of the way the "rule makers" tell us they need to learn.

Thank you again! I will be back!