Info about Polson Please! (Missoula, Helena: for sale, violent crime, house)

[CLees]

Hey guys,

My girlfriend and I are considering moving into a house in Polson that her grandmother is giving us. We are both nature lovers and hikers. We are young but we aren't into the party life. The things we'd like to know about Polson are..

1. Is it relatively safe there? We live in Clearwater, FL which isn't exactly the type of place you want to walk around for miles at night unless you are on the beach.

2.How are newcomers accepted? Are people there generally happy? I don't care if they are "nice" but we are bringing a positive attitude and are going to be cheerful and excited to be there. Will the locals kill our enthusiasm by being all doom and gloom?

3. How long is winter? I'm from CT but I've heard winters can be longer and more brutal on average in MT.

4. You don't have to drive 15 miles out of town to get any basic necessities do you? I'm sick and tired of the commercialization around here but some sort of convienence is nice

5. Most important. I'm a well rounded cook with lots of restaurant experience and planning to open a restaurant. What type of cuisine is the area lacking and longing for?

Thanks you guys!

[DontLookPhoto]

Originally Posted by CLees

You don't have to drive 15 miles out of town to get any basic necessities do you? I'm sick and tired of the commercialization around here but some sort of convienence is nice.

Most important. I'm a well rounded cook with lots of restaurant experience and planning to open a restaurant. What type of cuisine is the area lacking and longing for?

Thanks you guys!

All the data about the climate and all has been discussed a lot in past posts. Polson is nice compared to much of the state and I doubt you would have any trouble walking at night. Folks are pretty friendly.

Commercialization ? Well as I type they are building a super Walmart in Polson and the outlying areas are being developed. I think folks here would like to see decent Mexican food and real BBQ come in, at least that's what I would like. Heck I wouldn't mind if a Taco Bell moved in ! There already is a Walmart, a Super 1 Foods and a Safeway in Polson.

[MTSilvertip]

I don't know about Polson, But in Helena it seems every new place that comes in is either Mexican, pizza or Yuppie chow

There are only a couple of places you can actually go in, have a nice dinner and not have to worry about either having a tie, or having no idea what you are ordering, or it involves a lot of corn chips and beans.

A nice Itallian place would be nice for instance. There is a Maccaroni Grill here, but that is the usual preperation of opening the plastic bag and dumping it in the microwave kind of cooking.

Real Italian or Greek or regional cuisine such as Cajun or New England would be nice. There are several BBQ joints around, some good some, some bad, some franchise stuff, Mexican is everywhere and I get very tired of corn chips and beans and peppers quickly.
As much as I like pizza, I don't want it every day either. There is very little variety these days.

Some good home cooking, some variety in the menu, (not all places have to be specific to one region or country or style), Decent portions and good customer service at a reasonable price in a comfortable setting seems to be the one kind of place you can't find.

Just my 2 cents.

[historyfan]

How nice of her grandmother.
Polson is vibrant only during time when summer residents are there. I think a year round restaurant would have difficulties. You could spend summers there and have employment elsewhere during rest of year. Winters are also very gray at Polson because of the lake. I find it terribly depressing then.

[NDak15]

Originally Posted by CLees

Hey guys,

My girlfriend and I are considering moving into a house in Polson that her grandmother is giving us. We are both nature lovers and hikers. We are young but we aren't into the party life. The things we'd like to know about Polson are..
I'm sorry but my view is bleak.

1. Is it relatively safe there? We live in Clearwater, FL which isn't exactly the type of place you want to walk around for miles at night unless you are on the beach. Polson is on the Flathead Reservation which means a criminal element. I don't think Polson is as bad and you probably aren't in too much danger, but the fact that it's on a rez would make me more careful. I'm sure it wouldn't be accurate to describe as dangerous.

2.How are newcomers accepted? Are people there generally happy? I don't care if they are "nice" but we are bringing a positive attitude and are going to be cheerful and excited to be there. Will the locals kill our enthusiasm by being all doom and gloom? Outsiders are not accepted in western Montana. There really isn't any other way to say it.

3. How long is winter? I'm from CT but I've heard winters can be longer and more brutal on average in MT. Winters can be long and overcast.

4. You don't have to drive 15 miles out of town to get any basic necessities do you? I'm sick and tired of the commercialization around here but some sort of convienence is nice There is a Wal-Mart but not too much else.

5. Most important. I'm a well rounded cook with lots of restaurant experience and planning to open a restaurant. What type of cuisine is the area lacking and longing for? I can't help you here, sorry.

All in all, I would seriously recommend giving this place a pass. I lasted less than a year in western Montana (after coming from a different area of the state). I did not like the culture of the area or the people.

Thanks you guys!

All in all, I would seriously recommend giving this place a pass. I lasted less than a year in western Montana (after coming from a different area of the state). I did not like the culture of the area or the people.

[3hawks58]

Hi,

I travel to Polson frequently for work and know the area well. I'd suggest coming up for a visit to see what you think. Personally, if I was young and someone gave me a house that was in good shape in Polson, I'd certainly move and try it out. Why not? It's an adventure.

Is it safe? Well, the reservation has a fairly high property crime rate, so lock up your valuables. But I feel perfectly safe walking around Polson at night. Violent crimes (stranger on stranger) such as rape are quite rare. Don't let the biased reporters who think reservations are .....fill in the blank with your favorite stereotype...sway you.

If you are open and friendly, you will find the same.

You can certainly find the basics in Polson: there's a nice health food store, several large grocery stores, a variety of small shops, etc. For other purchases, Missoula or Kalispell are each about an hour's drive.

Now how can you go wrong in a place that is so beautiful. Everywhere you look you will be overwhelmed with the natural beauty of the place, and the lake is incredibly healing.

Winter is long and can be overcast. Might be a good time to go back to FL for a visit if you can swing it. In other words, if you can do it, it's always nice to take a break. If not, then dive into winter: cozy up with a book, cook lots of nice meals and invite your new friends over, get out and hike or take short walks. Do you ski? If so, you'll be in heaven.

Now for my one word of caution: restaurants in Polson. As another poster noted, Polson is a tourist town and the tourism is summer-oriented. The town pretty much shuts down in the winter. Several small, unique restaurants that I loved have shut down. Not enough business year-round and, unfortunately, the locals are a meat & potatoes crowd. If you open something that serves the basics and is cheap, you'll have better luck.

[DontLookPhoto]

In case you decide not to move to Polson will you be selling the house ? My wife and I are looking and Polson is on our list. We have never lived in Polson but we have been going there regularly for many years for various reasons.
If you want to sell it DM me and we can take a few photos of it if you like and Email them to you gratis.
Realtors tend to take not so good pics. I could show you the good the bad and the ugly
Heck we may even want to buy it but we won't be ready to buy for a few more months.
If you need any kind of help with the place we will help out, we're there about twice a week.
By the way, my Grammy lived in Clearwater also !

Here is a pic I took in Polson of The Cove.
The building is for sale right now but not the business.

[Spud6414]

A home is where you make it.

I have been to Polson several times and have friend that lives there.

Is it safe? Hell yes.

My suggestion.

If you have not ever been on a Reservation before, then I would give you some tips, as I grew up on one in North Eastern South Dakota.

Be yourself. Be outgoing and be Accepting, Natives are good people, salt of the earth, but you have to want to know them. Reservations are micro cultures and every single one is different.

Just because I was born and raised on a 'res' in South Dakota does not mean I know anything about the one that I live 18 Miles from now. But I am learning.

Go there, check it out, hell move there, if someone gave me a house, I would likely move too, unless there simply was nothing there for me.

What do you do for a living? What is your job skill set? These things matter, but I am sure if it is not something down right weird you can find work.

They are good people and it is a good place.

Do NOT let others Pre conceived notions deter you.

[DontLookPhoto]

What Spud just said.

[Heart]

I'm sorry Clees, but my experience living in Polson has not been good at all. Here's a thread I started not long ago, if you're willing to see another perspective on Polson.

https://www.city-data.com/forum/monta...l#post27743262


We moved up here a few months back from Lolo and we're trying to make our way back. I'm extremely unhappy here and I want out. I wished I never came here. Someone cut my daughter's bike tire two weeks ago. The crime is unending. I don't understand this, as we have been told we are in a good area of town by many locals and police.

We are good people. We are quiet, and we mind our business, yet we are also very friendly and love to get to know people. But the people here are snobby and do not want to talk much to us. I'm Oglala Lakota, my husband is white. We can't seem to make any real friends here. We have one good set of neighbors whose son is our daughters age and they love it when my daughter comes to play with their son, but that's the extent of it. They don't really want much to do with me or my husband.

It's very lonesome here, and extremely dreary all winter long. I need my sun during winter, so back to LOLO I go if I can get there. This has been very depressing for us.

And another thing, if you are looking for work here, good luck. You will not find much and when you do, it's going to be extremely low wages and part time unless you luck out and find full time or are of a profession.

Restaurants are mostly greasy spoons. Not much to choose from. I like old world deli and that's about it.