What town / area of MT am I looking for

[rangerider]

Getting cable internet outside of town is going to be tough; pretty much they stick to city limits or maybe out to a few larger subdivisions. There are several broadband providers; depending on your present location, getting hooked up to data here will be a shock, cost-wise. A few areas have DSL, but if I remember right that is largely limited to 1.5M/.5M..not exactly crawling, but certainly not great. Sat internet is expensive, well over $100/month if you get enough speed to actually do anything.

I always check out the mobile/broadband plans when we visit family north of the Twin Cities for Christmas - we are about 2-4 times more expensive across the board here. At my house, with a booster, Verizon's 3G service on my smartphone is actually faster than my wireless broadband at 2M/.5M on a tall antenna. Topography in the mountains/valleys really makes for tough reception, whether TV, broadband, cell phones, etc.; check out prospective properties before you buy - sometimes even a few hundred yards makes a difference.

Outside of Bozeman would be a good fit, as would any of the satellite towns (Belgrade, Manhattan, Three Forks). Access to Bozeman is pretty good, I-90 splits the Gallatin Valley. There are considerable businesses that you could shop for jobs at. Helena and Missoula would also work, and have properties that would fit what I think you're looking for. Billings/Laurel would work, though it's pretty dry over there and you'd need a good well for growing. Also, elevation is lower, and would buy you another month of growing season for your farm. Get into higher valleys and frost is a possibility almost any month, though June, July and August are usually good.

[Curtix]

Thanks for all the feedbacks going to do some looking at google earth and talk to the family.
Will post back soon, hoping to be a Montana family in 2015 or so.

[Curtix]

We are also leaning more towards 10-20 acres now. Looking at 40 might be a bit exp if we want to stay somewhat close to a town.

[katiev111]

I live in Western Montana and personally I think it is MUCH prettier than eastern Montana. I would suggest Kallispell or the Bitterroot Valley, look them up

[NDak15]

Livingston. Just be prepared for the wind.

[Curtix]

Checking... thanks keep the info coming!