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I've been thinking about escaping from Seattle and moving to a smaller place in the mountains where life is more peaceful. I'm sick of the rat race and not the biggest fan of Washington state in general. I'm not writing off the entire state, it has some benefits, especially for a small business that I probably would lose in MOntana, such as no state income tax. However, I want to be in a place that is more peaceful and near mountains that are not over-packed with hordes of tourists and city escapees. I did spent a summer 2 years ago in Montana and hiked around Glacier National Park and the Bitterroots. I stayed in Darby and Whitefish and enjoyed both towns, especially the contrasts.
Now, I am thinking of moving to Montana and knew it would be a bit of a challenge. After looking at the Billings area, I have had some second thoughts, but still put it on the table. However, I was comparing the prices to places in Missoula and noticed they are actually cheaper than Billings. This is quite surprising as Missoula seems to be a more trendy and popular town, as well as has a large university and is near a lot of tourist attractions. Although Billings, is also not so far from tourist attractions, they just seem a little more out of the way.
Well, Considering I will be trying to find a place living far away, I also know Missoula will be less of a trip from Washington and I may even be able to drive there to house-hunt, whereas Billigns would certainly be a plane-ride. Also, I notice there is a lot of suburbs around Missoula
TO get onto the point, I had questions about Missoula. I am quite a conservative person, but growing up in the Pacific Northwest I am obviously open-minded and try to actually co-exist people , unlike those who pretend to "Co-Exist" but rather only exist with people who agree with them. I guess after living in enough liberal-dominated areas, I have some concerns about Missoula. I hear it is quite a liberal area and I am wondering if a conservative/right-wingish guy like myself will be accepted. I know Montana as a whole is a conservative state, but if I was stuck living in Missoula would I be ostracized for not voting how they do, not supporting their causes, like gay marriage, etc and having a religion. I am a more conservative Jew and do practice my religion. As for me, I don't shove my opinions in people's faces and even accept people of different backgrounds and beliefs. However, I haven't always found the true of the opposite.
For example, right now I live in the Seattle area. People in the cities of Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia are die-hard liberals and will hate you and get angry at you if you for any reason don't believe in any of their causes. Also, this state is very atheistic and many people will hate you and not want to talk to you if you practice any well-known religion, such as Christianity and Judaism. If you are a serious HIndu/Muslim you will be just as ostracized and rejected, despite some friendly lip service, pretending to understand and respect you. It's no joke, atheism rules the roost here in Secularville. I lived many years in a pagan town in Southern Oregon where people would actually accept you for being a religious Jew or Christian as long as you could accept them. Washington is a different vibe and I am trying to escape it. I am an open-minded person and can be quite liberal on a few issues, such as environment, but I certainly for most part fall into the right-wing/conservative/libertarian fold. In m opinion, people of my background are despised in the cities of Western Washington, perhaps excluding Vancouver, WA.
I'm hoping despite being liberal, Missoula is more open-minded and accepting to people of different views and backgrounds. I hope it is not like Olympia or Seattle, that are plagued with militant mentality of liberalism that rivals any small Alabama town with the other extreme.
Also, would people say Missoula is gun friendly? Are their shooting ranges in the area? Does the town's government fight to make legislation to ban guns or criminalize gun owners?
As far as Jewish community in Missoula, I assume it is just liberal reform Har Shalom synagogue, which woudl not work for me. There is an Orthodox-like synagogue in Bozeman which I would most likely travel once or twice a month to attend. I guess it would be nice to know that Missoula is a safe place for Jews. Considering I hear it is open-minded and liberal, I would assume it would be.
I appreciate people sharing their opinion. Another reason I would love Missoula is that I am close to one of my favorite places in the whole world, Glacier National Park. But, I also would love to go into the Bitterroot and Mission Mountains where I can spend weeks alone praying , meditating and enjoy solitude and peace like I had back when I lived on the Oregon Coast.
Billings and the Eastern region of Montana were not overly affected by the stock market crash. Missoula, Bozeman, Big Sky, Flathead region, Whitefish, resort type areas were.
I've been out to Montana many, many times and would often go to Missoula to shop and stay occasionally. We stayed mostly down the road in Victor and for a short time lived in Hamilton way back in 1975.
You should realize that Montana can get cold much of the year and the rainfall is sparse and it is quite cloudy much of the year. The last time I checked the prices of real estate had gotten pretty zoomy in that area as well. South of Missoula it is known as the "banana belt" in that is located between the Bitterroot and the Sapphire Mountains. You'll probably need a 4x4 in the winter months.
My personal opinion is that if I were going to move to Montana and we seriously considered retiring there for the beauty I would look instead to Kalispell. That is up near the Flathead lake and there is beauty aplenty and you are closer to Glacier there as well. Up the road is White Fish and very nice.
When we lived and visited there we never, to my knowledge saw or heard of any particular discrimination that comes to mind. I'm not sure why that would be a problem although you would know that better than me. I've never understood or experienced a particular bias toward Jews, myself. Two of our neighbors are Jewish although they are not here on a full time basis. I'll have to ask them the next time I have occasion to talk to them.
I always liked Bozeman but it may be liberal in that it is also a college town. Billings doesn't have the beauty but is probably more conservative.
I would also look at the Coeur d'Alene, Idaho area and Sandpoint, Idaho. Very pretty.Are you sure about the state income tax? I don't believe there is a sales tax there.You might want to double check that out for sure.
There is no "State Sales Tax", however, there are a few towns that have a sales tax.
There is definately a "State Income Tax".
As to the political stance. Although some towns are widely known for their political views, as in the majority of the town is Red, or Blue, I've never encountered anybody talking politics. When I lived in Montana, I didn't know how my neighbor stood politically, it was none of my business. I experienced "Live and Let Live" attitude. Nobody pushed politics. That was a lot of years ago, and it may have changed, but I doubt it. Of course, you'll always have that one neighbor who is vocal, but there is an idiot in every crowd.
I remember that you had posted about Billings before and I would choose that over Missoula any day. The cost of living is high and the wages are low. The attitude I found in western Montana was not welcoming of outsiders (Missoula may be a bit better being a college town) and the attitude in Missoula was the it was the end of the rainbow paradise. I have also found that there doesn't seem to be much of a comprehension of people relocating to the area. What I mean by that is, when I talked to the real estate company I rented through they constantly told me to "swing by their office" even though I was living over 200 miles away (apparently they didn't know about fax machines), when I had my car payment through one of the banks they would tell me the same thing if I had a question, and this was when I had moved to Wyoming. I called it the island nation as that seemed to be the mentality at times.
As far as gun laws go, I would imagine it is the same in Missoula as anywhere else in Montana. That means there aren't many restrictions.
I'm sure I'll take a lot of flack for saying this, but that was my experience. You couldn't pay me enough to live there again.
Hate saying this but Coeur d' alene was once a paradise, but it too was turned into a tourist dump. It has been ruined.... just like Missoula was. You could not pay me to live in Missoula. My father has friends that lived up on lake CDA all of their lives... we used to go up there in the summers in the 70's, 80's , and early to mid 90's.... then it all started to change for the worst. We were thinking of moving there at one time.... so we took a trip up in 2010 and I was shocked to see how it is now. We stayed only one night and went home.... I was disappointed to see the lake become so dirty looking... and the place packed full of people and the roads were in gridlock traffic. This is what happened to Missoula too.... it was a quiet little pretty town that was turned into a dump that it overrun with too many people wanting a quaint pretty town.
Hello, you wrote this a little over a year ago so, maybe you've already moved to Montana, but I live in Missoula and am also Jewish.
FYI: the Flathead Valley has one of the largest congregations of the Aryan Brotherhood so, despite being female, tall and half Swedish, I stay the heck away from Kalispell.
Missoula has a huge gun culture. We have a few ranges with in a 10-25 minute drive, depending on where you're coming from. It's also common for people to just go to a secluded area and shoot.
As far as whether you'll be accepted for being a republican... A friend back east asked me what it was like living in a Red State, and I replied that it was the only place where I've met self identified gay men that practice yoga before the go out shooting their AR-15s, in order to center themselves, to which they immediately asked, "What's an AR-15?" I honestly didn't know what one was 'til I got here. lol.
Dating here is really difficult, but it's like that all over Montana. Culturally, people in Montana get married very young and they're taught that approaching people you are attracted to is NOT ok. Actually, just the other night, I was walking down the street and a guy standing on the corner, waiting for the light to change happened to tell me that I was a "really pretty woman" and I immediately wondered where he was from because, that just doesn't happen here, and you will be viewed as a sexual predator if you do act like that. It was the 1st time in 7 years though that someone in this state has said that to me and wasn't completely drunk.
That's another thing, people here drink a lot. If you're an alcoholic, you'll fit in fine. People drive drunk here and actually complain about their law enforcement officers doing their jobs and giving them DUIs. It's a statewide phenomenon that's just incredible. The excuses people make for it too, are just as astonishing. As mentioned above, people are only really comfortable expressing their attraction to you when they're drunk and, as a person who enjoys live music, i see totally inappropriate things happen as a result, but all of those things (sexaul harrasment, fisticuffs, rape, verbal abuse, etc) are swept under a rug and pasted over with a label saying; "Oh it's ok, they were just drunk " It's a really serious social problem.
Missoula is the best place in Montana for people with "different views/backgrounds". Ask anyone here where they're from and 17/20 times, they'll tell you some other place in Montana. When you ask the reason they moved to Missoula, they'll tell you that they loved the fact that there's "culture", "diversity" ... people here love to meet people from other places because, they rarely, if ever, leave the state.
I like living here because, we have really good live acts that come through, and the venues, for the most part, are small. As long as I have internet access, I can do my job from a coffee shop, a natural hot spring, a mountain top ... Life here is simple. We actually have water here, so the summer's are glorious and green; not like in Eastern, Montana.
You mention being "close to tourist attractions" and I'm guessing that you mean "the mountains" or other natural landmarks and, honestly, we're surrounded by all different mountain ranges and amazing vistas, and major metropolitan areas, all within 0-12 hour drives.
I come from a very long line of Montana Jews on my mom's side, going back to the 19th century, although I do not practice. I used to live in Bozeman, and saw white supremacist groups demonstrating around town, a couple times. Got cold stares from them (I suppose I am kind of stereotypically Jewish in appearance).
I also found a lot of Christian influence in Montana, generally. My mother works for the government in Helena, and has seen people say Christian prayers at the start of meetings, etc, and caught a lot of flack when she spoke up. Lots of Christian radio stations and Christian billboards, bumper stickers, etc., at least compared to here in the SF bay area.
I've been thinking about escaping from Seattle and moving to a smaller place in the mountains where life is more peaceful. I'm sick of the rat race and not the biggest fan of Washington state in general. I'm not writing off the entire state, it has some benefits, especially for a small business that I probably would lose in MOntana, such as no state income tax. However, I want to be in a place that is more peaceful and near mountains that are not over-packed with hordes of tourists and city escapees. I did spent a summer 2 years ago in Montana and hiked around Glacier National Park and the Bitterroots. I stayed in Darby and Whitefish and enjoyed both towns, especially the contrasts.
Now, I am thinking of moving to Montana and knew it would be a bit of a challenge. After looking at the Billings area, I have had some second thoughts, but still put it on the table. However, I was comparing the prices to places in Missoula and noticed they are actually cheaper than Billings. This is quite surprising as Missoula seems to be a more trendy and popular town, as well as has a large university and is near a lot of tourist attractions. Although Billings, is also not so far from tourist attractions, they just seem a little more out of the way.
Well, Considering I will be trying to find a place living far away, I also know Missoula will be less of a trip from Washington and I may even be able to drive there to house-hunt, whereas Billigns would certainly be a plane-ride. Also, I notice there is a lot of suburbs around Missoula
TO get onto the point, I had questions about Missoula. I am quite a conservative person, but growing up in the Pacific Northwest I am obviously open-minded and try to actually co-exist people , unlike those who pretend to "Co-Exist" but rather only exist with people who agree with them. I guess after living in enough liberal-dominated areas, I have some concerns about Missoula. I hear it is quite a liberal area and I am wondering if a conservative/right-wingish guy like myself will be accepted. I know Montana as a whole is a conservative state, but if I was stuck living in Missoula would I be ostracized for not voting how they do, not supporting their causes, like gay marriage, etc and having a religion. I am a more conservative Jew and do practice my religion. As for me, I don't shove my opinions in people's faces and even accept people of different backgrounds and beliefs. However, I haven't always found the true of the opposite.
For example, right now I live in the Seattle area. People in the cities of Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia are die-hard liberals and will hate you and get angry at you if you for any reason don't believe in any of their causes. Also, this state is very atheistic and many people will hate you and not want to talk to you if you practice any well-known religion, such as Christianity and Judaism. If you are a serious HIndu/Muslim you will be just as ostracized and rejected, despite some friendly lip service, pretending to understand and respect you. It's no joke, atheism rules the roost here in Secularville. I lived many years in a pagan town in Southern Oregon where people would actually accept you for being a religious Jew or Christian as long as you could accept them. Washington is a different vibe and I am trying to escape it. I am an open-minded person and can be quite liberal on a few issues, such as environment, but I certainly for most part fall into the right-wing/conservative/libertarian fold. In m opinion, people of my background are despised in the cities of Western Washington, perhaps excluding Vancouver, WA.
I'm hoping despite being liberal, Missoula is more open-minded and accepting to people of different views and backgrounds. I hope it is not like Olympia or Seattle, that are plagued with militant mentality of liberalism that rivals any small Alabama town with the other extreme.
Also, would people say Missoula is gun friendly? Are their shooting ranges in the area? Does the town's government fight to make legislation to ban guns or criminalize gun owners?
As far as Jewish community in Missoula, I assume it is just liberal reform Har Shalom synagogue, which woudl not work for me. There is an Orthodox-like synagogue in Bozeman which I would most likely travel once or twice a month to attend. I guess it would be nice to know that Missoula is a safe place for Jews. Considering I hear it is open-minded and liberal, I would assume it would be.
I appreciate people sharing their opinion. Another reason I would love Missoula is that I am close to one of my favorite places in the whole world, Glacier National Park. But, I also would love to go into the Bitterroot and Mission Mountains where I can spend weeks alone praying , meditating and enjoy solitude and peace like I had back when I lived on the Oregon Coast.
This totally bugs me! I think it is ignorant for you to consider a small town in Alabama or any place in the South to be the opposite rival of liberalism. No one will bother you anywhere you go. You are white. No one cares what your religion is, and no one would even look at you different.
I am Jewish, and I don't wear a t-shirt that says, "EVERYONE I AM JEWISH LOOK AT ME, A PRETEND MINORITY, GIVE ME ATTENTION PLEASE, I AM A MINORITY!"
Again, you are white, you don't have to fear any white people regardless of where you live.
I lived in Seattle for 13 years and NEVER experienced/saw anyone being "hated" because they were conservative . . . and though I am a liberal, I had friends of all persuasions. THAT is what Seattle is about.
You should probably stay away from college-towns (like Missoula) and larger urban areas in general; it really doesn't sound as if you ACTUALLY are that open-minded and should probably seek a place where you'll be surrounded by people just like you are. If you felt uncomfortable in WESTERN Washington, why not try the East? Or move back to the Oregon Coast that seemed to provide the things you desire?
Good luck!
Quote:
Originally Posted by RotseCherut
I've been thinking about escaping from Seattle and moving to a smaller place in the mountains where life is more peaceful. I'm sick of the rat race and not the biggest fan of Washington state in general. I'm not writing off the entire state, it has some benefits, especially for a small business that I probably would lose in MOntana, such as no state income tax. However, I want to be in a place that is more peaceful and near mountains that are not over-packed with hordes of tourists and city escapees. I did spent a summer 2 years ago in Montana and hiked around Glacier National Park and the Bitterroots. I stayed in Darby and Whitefish and enjoyed both towns, especially the contrasts.
Now, I am thinking of moving to Montana and knew it would be a bit of a challenge. After looking at the Billings area, I have had some second thoughts, but still put it on the table. However, I was comparing the prices to places in Missoula and noticed they are actually cheaper than Billings. This is quite surprising as Missoula seems to be a more trendy and popular town, as well as has a large university and is near a lot of tourist attractions. Although Billings, is also not so far from tourist attractions, they just seem a little more out of the way.
Well, Considering I will be trying to find a place living far away, I also know Missoula will be less of a trip from Washington and I may even be able to drive there to house-hunt, whereas Billigns would certainly be a plane-ride. Also, I notice there is a lot of suburbs around Missoula
TO get onto the point, I had questions about Missoula. I am quite a conservative person, but growing up in the Pacific Northwest I am obviously open-minded and try to actually co-exist people , unlike those who pretend to "Co-Exist" but rather only exist with people who agree with them. I guess after living in enough liberal-dominated areas, I have some concerns about Missoula. I hear it is quite a liberal area and I am wondering if a conservative/right-wingish guy like myself will be accepted. I know Montana as a whole is a conservative state, but if I was stuck living in Missoula would I be ostracized for not voting how they do, not supporting their causes, like gay marriage, etc and having a religion. I am a more conservative Jew and do practice my religion. As for me, I don't shove my opinions in people's faces and even accept people of different backgrounds and beliefs. However, I haven't always found the true of the opposite.
For example, right now I live in the Seattle area. People in the cities of Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia are die-hard liberals and will hate you and get angry at you if you for any reason don't believe in any of their causes. Also, this state is very atheistic and many people will hate you and not want to talk to you if you practice any well-known religion, such as Christianity and Judaism. If you are a serious HIndu/Muslim you will be just as ostracized and rejected, despite some friendly lip service, pretending to understand and respect you. It's no joke, atheism rules the roost here in Secularville. I lived many years in a pagan town in Southern Oregon where people would actually accept you for being a religious Jew or Christian as long as you could accept them. Washington is a different vibe and I am trying to escape it. I am an open-minded person and can be quite liberal on a few issues, such as environment, but I certainly for most part fall into the right-wing/conservative/libertarian fold. In m opinion, people of my background are despised in the cities of Western Washington, perhaps excluding Vancouver, WA.
I'm hoping despite being liberal, Missoula is more open-minded and accepting to people of different views and backgrounds. I hope it is not like Olympia or Seattle, that are plagued with militant mentality of liberalism that rivals any small Alabama town with the other extreme.
Also, would people say Missoula is gun friendly? Are their shooting ranges in the area? Does the town's government fight to make legislation to ban guns or criminalize gun owners?
As far as Jewish community in Missoula, I assume it is just liberal reform Har Shalom synagogue, which woudl not work for me. There is an Orthodox-like synagogue in Bozeman which I would most likely travel once or twice a month to attend. I guess it would be nice to know that Missoula is a safe place for Jews. Considering I hear it is open-minded and liberal, I would assume it would be.
I appreciate people sharing their opinion. Another reason I would love Missoula is that I am close to one of my favorite places in the whole world, Glacier National Park. But, I also would love to go into the Bitterroot and Mission Mountains where I can spend weeks alone praying , meditating and enjoy solitude and peace like I had back when I lived on the Oregon Coast.
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You could not pay me to live in Missoula. My father has friends that lived up on lake CDA all of their lives... we used to go up there in the summers in the 70's, 80's , and early to mid 90's.... then it all started to change for the worst. We were thinking of moving there at one time.... so we took a trip up in 2010 and I was shocked to see how it is now. We stayed only one night and went home.... I was disappointed to see the lake become so dirty looking... and the place packed full of people and the roads were in gridlock traffic. This is what happened to Missoula too.... it was a quiet little pretty town that was turned into a dump that it overrun with too many people wanting a quaint pretty town.
" It's a really serious social problem.
