Montana vs. Idaho? (Billings, Missoula, Bozeman: rental car, sales, rental)

[homebirthmom]

Can any of you who have lived in both, or at least know both states well, highlight for me what the pros and cons are of each state? Strengths/weaknesses? The "feel," so to speak, of each?

We are doing preliminary research. We are a Christian homeschooling family with seven children. I grew up my whole life in central NY, Finger Lakes region. It's beautiful. Mountains aren't too far for skiing, lakes, gorges, waterfalls, beautiful seasonal changes, wonderful abundance of crops, etc. The homeschooling laws in NY are among the top 5 most restrictive, or regulated. It's also a very liberal/progressive state, with a lot of government issues, some of the highest property taxes in the nation, etc.

We were relocated to IL last November for Chrysler, for whom my husband worked 15 years, and by May, we had decided to take the buy-out and go, while the gettin's good. He will get 2 years' unemployment and paid schooling, and plans to go to nursing school, and aspires to a surgical nurse position (bottom line: he just wants a job that's more secure than the auto industry, first considered paramedics, but heard surgical nurses do very well, he's not afraid to work, and overtime was a lifestyle for us, honestly).

We have hated IL from the beginning. No offense to anyone who might be from there. It's nothing like the beautiful nature of NY. It's just flat cornfields for miles and miles and miles, and hardly any trees. The people are different too. They don't talk. When you're in a new place, and you don't know anyone, well, *I* go out of my way to talk, to share, to ask questions, "What's it like here?" "Where do you go for this, where do you go for that?" I have found myself often regarded with a non-interested aloofness. My husband too. Don't get the image of loud-mouthed, crass NYers here, we're just regular well-mannered, friendly people.

We have something of a survivalist mentality, would like go off-grid (or at least have green power) when we own a home again, have been learning about self-sufficiency for years. My husband has taught himself and studies all about guns and ammo, hunting, fishing, raising chickens, rabbits, and sheep. I have learned how to knit and spin yarn (which is sort of my obsession, I love it), make soap, bake bread from scratch.

Oh, and we listen to Alex Jones, and do a lot of researching on those topics.

So based on this, can you recommend one state over the other?

They are both so beautiful, very personal-freedoms-minded, have the nature and weather we like (we LOVE snow, central NY is the Snow Belt, and gets feet at a time!). I just don't know what sets one apart from the other. No disrespect there in my ignorance. That's why I'm asking.

I should mention that my husband was raised in WA, CA, UT, IN, VT, and PA, before he came back to his birth state of NY at the age of 20. As a snowboarder, he then made two trips out to MT, and always dreamed of it as a home. But since we've been researching, he's starting to feel like ID has just as much to offer, and we're left wondering.

Thanks for any help you can offer,

Sara

[gaduchman]

That's probably more information that we need to know. I have many friends and family in the midwest that will doubt your complaint about Illinois people in general. But, it was your experience, not mine.

Anyway I've lived in Montana and parts of Idaho, Wyoming and Washington over the years. A certain amount of people will say one is better than the other. I say do you have a job you are bringing with you? If you're an RN or any kind of medical you can always find a job. Auto repairmen and contractors will have a harder time outside of the larger cities. In Montana there's only a few of them - Billings, Missoula, Bozeman, Helena; In Idaho - Boise, Pocatello, Idaho Falls, Twin Falls.

What I prefer doesn't mean you'll like it -

[homebirthmom]

I provided that info because I often see when people post questions on this forum like "Where should I live?" "Are there jobs in ABC?" "What are the schools like in XYZ?" others respond that they haven't provided enough information about themselves for the others to be able to give them a decent opinion or piece of advice.

And yet, even with what you call an overly informative post, you asked what job are we bringing with us, which is information I provided in my first post. My husband has left the auto industry. He was a factory worker for 15 years. He now has the opportunity to better himself by getting an education and entering a new field, which he plans to do with nursing. My job is at home with my children, homeschooling and raising them, unless we fell on harder circumstances, which so far we haven't, praise God.

As far as IL goes, I shouldn't have said hate, we haven't hated it, but it's been tough. The people I meet regularly, moms at gymnastics and such, have been largely friendly and kind. It's the everyday people, those you don't know, at stores, etc., you can't strike up a conversation with, because they act like they couldn't care less to speak with a stranger. And I didn't say everyone everytime. I said often, not always.

I didn't ask what you (or any reader) preferred, I asked if you knew both states, had lived in both, could you contrast them for me? And based on who my family is, which would you say would be a better fit?

Thanks gaduchman.

Sara

[MTSilvertip]

The Idaho Panhandle and Western Montana are not that dissimilar, Southern Idaho more closely resembles Wyoming, Utah or Eastern Oregon.
The more populated areas such as Coeur D' Alane is not that different than say Kalispell, but the personalities are different.

The panhandle of Idaho is far more independant and more similar to Eastern Montana in conservatism, state's rights, and wanting the best for the country.

Western Montana has some enclaves that are very conservative, and also house the states worst liberal population in Missoula.
Land prices are comparable, Southern Idaho is cheaper but you don't have the water or scenery as it is basically high desert.

Idaho has a sales tax, Montana doesn't. Both are red states, Montana has a large homeschooler population and a lot of small schools that haven't been indocrinated into the government approved way of thinking.

I know some people from southern Illinois and they are the same basic agricultural type people you will find anyplace people earn their living from the sweat of their brow and working the land.

There are a lot of "survivalists" or homesteaders in both states. Both states have a large segement of the population that are very self reliant.
Medical people are in demand here, especially in areas away from the larger towns. There are a lot of small hospitals in Montana that are always looking for qualified help.

I would reccomend a trip out to talk to the people in the areas you are interested in. Nobody could give you an accurate assesment of what you will encounter as nobody on the Montana board knows you personally so it would be impossible to assess what you would perceive from your interaction with the locals.

I have known several people from New York who have moved here to Montana, and they have assimilated well. Others, not so much.

Come see for yourself. An airplane ticket and a rental car are not that expensive when weighed against finding a place to live where you will be happy.

Your kids will probably love either state. Away from the population centers, the kids can still be gone all day fishing the creek, climbing trees, doing whatever kids do and be perfectly safe. We still have community out here. So most everybody still watches out for their neighbors.

Good Luck.

[Reziac]

Idaho is mostly a Mormon state. This has upsides (limits the drinking crowd, especially for kids) and downsides (if you ain't one, there's some who'll treat you as sub-human). Boise area has some gang-ridden suburbs, and a lot of migrant workers, but milder winters than the rest of the state, or any of MT for that matter. A great deal of southern Idaho is flat cropland to rugged desert, which I like but to someone from back east, it can be too desolate. Central and northern ID have more forest and mountains, and in my experience a more diverse population once you get into the panhandle. When we traveled thru western ID in the 1970s, we found the little towns north of Boise were borderline hostile to outsiders (we had a grocery refuse to sell us anything because they "were going to close in 5 minutes" yet locals were still buying stuff). Conversely, Moscow ID is one of the most friendly and trusting towns I've ever seen in my whole life, and the people I've known from there on north are all much like that. That area is real pretty, lots of dairy farms and green pastures (of course it gets a lot more rain and snow, too).

Western MT and northern ID are a lot more alike than any part of ID and central/eastern MT (here defined as east of the Divide). Personally I prefer MT east of the divide, and prairies and wheat and pasture, to any of western MT or ID, but your mileage may vary.

[mtlogger]

No reason to jump on Gaduchman for stating the obvious.

"and plans to go to nursing school, and aspires to a surgical nurse position"

Obviously he hasn't otherwise you'd be boasting about his diploma and that's a job worth having out here!

Good for you, I guess, that you're a Christian - many of us aren't, but we won't hold it against you

I didn't want to be the first one to broach the Mormon issue. There are plenty of them in ID, WY, WA and obviously UT. They tend to not associate with those who are not, esp in business dealings.

Homeschooling has picked up steam in the last ten years and gaining ground. What homeschooling doesn't allow is inter-social action between the kids in an environment like a school building. Or the bullying. To each his own.

An out of work auto worker is not a particularly useful field in the western US, which incidentally has no auto plants - tho a willing workforce exists and would be happy to have it in their backyard. I guess it depends on what part of the line you were on - engine assembly, doors and windows, transmissions, interiors or spray booth. Sometimes those jobs are adaptable.

[Jbechtel]

If your husband's thinking of the medical field, Idaho, in particular Boise, is the better place to settle than anywhere in Montana. The pay is just better there because it's the largest city out of your choices. He can take his classes there, too. They do make cars out west here but you'd have to move to California. It's best to stay out of that field if you have a big family. Excluding maybe one exception. Tesla Motors out there is looking for people who are interested in making purely electric cars on their assembly line. They have an interesting CEO. He'd be working on the fringe of technology, but it's California. Idaho has a different type of tax system than Montana, more like what your use to in Illinois. You can research this on your own. Check out Boise. Good luck.

[janab]

Once an RN degree is achieved you can almost go anywhere you'd like. Surgi nurse is more for larger hospitals that do the OR which translates to larger cities/towns. Over here in ID I have had two friends return to school for RN degrees and were employed immediately. I would not reccomend Boise area or Spokane area due to the populations brings higher crimes and faster life styles. The more rural you are the better the quality of life but not the income. You'd have to set priorities as to the lifestyle you want to live. ID over all is cheaper lifestyle,property taxes, realestate, you name it, than MT. Western MT and northern central ID is the prettiest. Just my two cents worth

[rambrush]

The biggy in Boise for automotive related is Boise Mobile Equipment (BME) they make some incredible wildland fire apparatus.

[homebirthmom]

Thanks for all the valuable input, everyone!

I guess I should've mentioned in my original post that the areas we were looking at were northern ID, and NW MT. We are not subdivision people by any means, would prefer something rural. Don't mind a 30-45 min drive to town or amenities.

I posted my OP on the ID forum as well, and am currently looking into whether the altitude change would be unwise for my eldest child, 11, who had open-heart surgery as a baby, and continues to be monitored yearly for changes (having a catheterization next month). We have never lived above 800 ft, so I don't know how it would affect him.

Sara