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My wife and I are considering moving from Florida to Missoula Montana....We want a change....can anybody who is from the area or surrounding areas give me some info on what its like...Do you like living there or not so much...I'm being very generic with my questions..Any info would be very helpful....because my wife is very nervous about the change in extremes...I myself welcome it with open arms....My wife and I have beento Colorado in the winter and have driven in snow....Cold weather doesnt bother us...for I ski in Colorado...Also back in the middle 80's I was in Caldwell Idaho at Christmas time and it was-10 and didnt feel very cold at all...Are the winters very similiar in Missoula or Helena or Butte as in Colorado....
Last edited by I wantout; 06-07-2012 at 03:11 PM..
Location: Approximately 50 miles from Missoula MT/38 yrs full time after 4 yrs part time
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Originally Posted by I wantout
My wife and I are considering moving from Florida to Missoula Montana....We want a change....can anybody who is from the area or surrounding areas give me some info on what its like...Do you like living there or not so much...I'm being very generic with my questions..Any info would be very helpful....because my wife is very nervous about the change in extremes...I myself welcome it with open arms....My wife and I have beento Colorado in the winter and have driven in snow....Cold weather doesnt bother us...for I ski in Colorado...Also back in the middle 80's I was in Caldwell Idaho at Christmas time and it was-10 and didnt feel very cold at all...Are the winters very similiar in Missoula or Helena or Butte as in Colorado....
I realize you specifically asked "generic" questions................If you could provide a little more specific info (i.e. approximate ages; where you now live in FL; do you want to buy or rent; do you need job(s); etc, etc.) it would help responders provide more helpful info.
...........I should also note that my job for almost 40 years required "extensive travel" all over the (western U.S.) & the Rocky Mountain west (all types of mining & milling locations), as well as down into FL (phosphate industry), and also to the Head Q' offices of most of the major "Engineering&Construction" firms in the U.S... i.e. Bechtel, Parsons, Fluor, Davy/McKee, etc, etc, etc.....so I do have a pretty good handle on various areas & their respective living conditions........................
Having lived on the front range of CO N/W of Denver in the foothills for close to 20 years & (MT for 33 yrs)....my opinion is that the "average winter" here in the "metro-Missoula" area (for the past 33 years) is:
Far more "dreary"...&..."cloudy" and has approx 50% less sunny days.
Valley weather inversions, particularly in Missoula, are fairly common through-out the winter months.. And the winters in Butte are more severe than Helena or Missoula, with far more nights below zero.
"Typical winter months" will run from mid-Oct to April 1st. Late Sept, early Oct, April and early May can be pretty "lousy" as well.......it just depends on the particluar year and are we in a LaNina or ElNino cycle.......In other words: "winter can be pretty long" (maybe 9 months) and pretty depressing..........not so in my experience in CO.
.........IMHO, over-all weather in the metro-Denver area vs metro-Missoula:.......much better in the Denver area....both summer & winter!!
Realistic months to grow a garden would normally be June, July & August........if you're lucky !
We've has frosts as late as June 23rd & as early as August 20th.
(example:.. here at my place in the B.R. valley (approx 3560' elevation) it has been down to approx 30 degrees in the last few nights)......yet on the other side of the valley & in Miszoo it only got down to about 40...............All depends on EXACTLY where you are in the Missoula area.... And, FWIW, I've had as low as MINUS 42 here on my back deck and never got above Minus 5 for as long as 12 days in a row!!
If your wife is not prepared for SOME DRASTIC differences in "Life-Style", weather, pleasant sunny days (and possibly several other "day-to-day" experiences.....depending on where you now live in FL)......I would (IMHO) guess she will not be a "Happy Camper".
I live in Orlando Fl. My wife and I are in our mid 40's. The exact place we were looking was potomac/bonner montana.We would need jobs.I want to try to get on at the college in Missoula. I work for university of central florida now. My wife is senior claims adjuster(workers comp). We found a job for her in Helena but its 1:45 to helena from potomac.I have done some reading about the weather in Mizzou and read its a little milder than say the rest of state. Also know the Montana is the 2nd least populated state. We have been for a long time wanting to move to Colorado...but having a friend out there know its a little bit more expensive and they have state tax and sales tax, we as montana has either no state tax and a sales tax or the other way around.We are just weighing all of our options. We actually have looked in Wyoming also. I am looking for some very different than florida.. We winters last 9 months..summer here seems never ending and it is freaking hot..not the same hot as a hot day in Colorado...its very humid here and sticky 96 with 100% humidity. Any ways I hope this helps. Sorry about being so generic..and thank you for helping me out.
Griz answered alot of questions but I will state again. Find a job or come with lots of money before heading up here, its good living, but IT IS NOT cheap, especially real estate. Coming from someone borned and raised in Missoula and still residing looking to get out myself. Good paying jobs are real hard to come by to pay our kinda real estate and housing prices that just keep going up due not only to economy but because out of staters have driven up the prices to insane levels the last 20 years. If your a doctor, lawyer, very good real estate agent, dentist, investor or business owner, you'll be better off then other more common jobs.
Oh and I hope you tolerate very random and strange weather, because we have it in droves. 15 minutes of sun shining, and then some wind storms and then 10 minute rainshowers and then back to windy and sunny with intermidate rain spots around the town. Repeat and repeat. Summers can get up into the 90's which kills most of us but without the humidity *No, we are not use to Florida summers like you are* July and August and Sept are also the driest months and that equates to some serious forest fires up here that results in ALOT of smog and smoke that can be trapped in the Missoula valley due to the bowl shape, especially if we don't have wind which can happen for days on end. So worth nothing if you have allergys and or sinus issues.
Smog and pollution is also a problem during winter with people wood stoves going along with car smog when their is no wind, again keep in mind if you have lung or breathing issues with pollution. Winters can be very cold, sometimes below 0 for days on end with lack of sunlight and gray overcast skies for weeks on end. People go a bit crazy and cranky around this time and we don't get the snow like we used to, usually in short bursts that just sit and then melt with the random weather as the sun comes out and then it freeze at night and then driving can be a real pain, especially if it decides to do freezing rain which happens ALOT during winter time as like I said, the sun and temperatures fluctuate all the time. Did I mention our weather here changes ALOT yet?
Also, be ready for more conservative outlook and opinions on things in general in Missoula and especially the smaller rural area's and towns. We have our fair share of hippies and liberals in Missoula, but conservative values still run deep in this state. We have alot of church going folk with alot of denominations, so keep that in mind.
Oh and please for the of God, stay off the damn phone when your driving around trying to find your way or your gonna get honked and yelled at alot, Watch out for bicylists as they think they literally OWN the road and won't stop from getting right in front of you assuming you will give them the right of way even though they are wrong and will even get hit to prove their point and make you out to be the bad guy so yeah, be mindful of our insane bicyclists, especially kids wandering around the sidewalks with NO PARENTS watching them and no helmets.
Oh, and be very afraid and alert for Bitterroot drivers which have number 13 on their plates, they can't drive worth crap in town, rarely signal and are some of the most dangerous and crazy drivers in the nation. And no, owning a 4WD or AWD vehicle does not make you unstoppable in bad weather up here. Learn to drive with proper snow tires on whatever vehicle. FWD vehicles with proper snow tires will get you almost any place. 4WD or AWD is good for living in hilly area's with steep driveways and or you go offroading for skiing and alot of interstate and highway driving during winter months or live in Pattee or Rattlesnake creek area with dirt roads that rarely or never see a snowplow.
I live in Missoula, MT and moved here 7 years ago from Florida. We typically get about 3 weeks a winter wear the temps are in the negatives. Good luck on getting a job at the University of Montana here the is a lot of unemployment and very very stiff competition. We have no sales tax but we do have a state tax. The drive between Bonner or Potomac and Helena during the winter will be terrible. Your biggest problem will be finding jobs pay here is much less than you have in Florida. So you need to be prepared for that. Summers are short and winters are long and that can be a huge shock when moving from the south.
Thank you for all of the infomation everyone has graciously provided....much thanxs..Mizzou sounds like an interesting place to live....especially with the mix of political views there...with myself and wife being a liberal and a progressive...I have read that jobs are hard to come by...my wife and both have jobs and have been very lucky through the economic hardship..but unemployment is around 10% here in florida...little scared about trying to find a job in a brand new town were I will be an outsider.. but will to take a chance..to live a dream...so here is a question....not knowing who I am...please be honest...would it be better to seek a new town elsewhere, say maybe bozeman.....because for the longest time we have been talking about moving to Colorado ....I know my wife and love the west with having visited multiple times...Colorado... especially since both of us where born and raised in Fla. I know Im a little crazy with somen of the questions I have asked....just trying to think of things that I might not....so forgive the insane questions...Thanxs again and whom ever reads this have a great day...
Most of the people on here have talked quite a bit about the weather and it is accurate. The employment situation is one to be very careful of. If you do get a job, be aware that Montana has some of the lowest wages in the nation and as others have mentioned the cost of living is high. While Missoula has a reputation of being a hippy town, don't let that fool you about the rest of the state. The surrounding area is about as red as they come. While Missoulians may be indifferent or accepting to outsiders, those in the surrounding areas are not welcoming to outsiders from anywhere outside of Montana.
My husband and I are discussing a dream move ourselves. We live in Alabama but are always talking about and looking at places out west. I swore we would not retire below the Mason-Dixon line. We haven't lost anything ther...yet. I will have to keep reading. Good luck to you!
Actually, we have considered Helena,(well just outside of Helena....cayon creek) especially since that seems to be were the jobs are....With my wife being a workers comp senior claims adjuster the MSF is looking for people....At first we were concerned about no nature in Helena and after some research I happen to find a home on 20 acres ajoining a national forest..which is perfect for the both of us....May I have some info about Helena...like weather, the people( because I have heard from reading and talking the outsiders arent very welcomed) With Helena being the capital, I am asssuming its the biggest city in Montana...(I'm from florida,orlando to be exact...we have more people in central florida than you do in the whole state.....(thats not a knock against montana by any stretch)..is a bustling city or is very laid back....it very go,go go here
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) and pretty depressing..........not so in my experience in CO.
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Helena
