Looking for a wonderful town in Montana?

[Montana Griz]

Originally Posted by seattleblue77

Here's what we are looking for:.

-Lots of open space {{with or without roads, trails, or}} ?? and beautiful views{{It all depends on what you consider 'beautiful views: mountains, the vast openpraries, the winding Rivers or ??}}
-Outdoor activities (skiing, hiking, etc.) }{{Yes, these are readily available in most of the state.}}
-Reasonable distance from a medium to large city. {{this alldepends on what you define as a reasonable distance and what what do you catagorize as a medium to large city}},
-Family oriented, small-town atmosphere. ((Usually this is found in towns under pop of approx 5000}}
-Good public education system. {{{ All school districts in the state are in trouble and most are having to lay-off some teachers for this coming school years......the money (needed for necessities, just is not available}}}.
-Good place to raise young children. {{ Yes, if the parents do their job and work closely with the school folks, and take advantage of several of the local sponsored programs to keep the kids interested and occuppied.}}
-Slower paced lifestyle- not hectic! {{Yes this is usually true is most of the smaller communities.}}
-Safe city" {{It all depends on your concept of safety and the circumstances and conditions your child will be potentialy subjected to.}}

There are no "simple-consice answers to questions of this type.

My sisters and I have often talked of moving to Montana. We have a close family, so we want to be in the same general area. All of us feel it would be good to raise our kids away from these massive cities and pollution- we want them to enjoy being kids! I would appreciate any suggestions or cities/towns that you can think of. I've already looked into Hamilton and Manhatten, and like them both. Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated! I realize these qualifications fit many places in Montana, but just firsthand opinions or ideas are awesome! Thanks!

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[NDak15]

There is no shortage of wide open spaces with outdoor activities in the state. Most of your beautiful views are going to be in the southwestern and western parts of the state as is the skiing. The "big cities" are Billings, Bozeman, Missoula, Kalispell, Butte, Great Falls, and Helena. There are a few towns somewhat close to them, it will depend on you definition of close. In Montana two hours is close. I don't know which ones have the best schools and all of them seem pretty safe. I lived in Bozeman for five years and felt pretty safe as does Helena. Billings and Butte have seedy downtown areas and I don't know about Kalispell or Great Falls. What you need to be most concerned about is jobs. These can be hard to come by sometimes.