Montana from Florida (Billings, Missoula, Great Falls: 2015, rent, hotel)

[acarter65]

My husband and I are originally from the West Coast. We have loved and lived in Florida for 15 years. We are in our mid fifties and very late forties. Our professional career in hotel management has allowed us some great opportunities. However we are looking to down size our stress load, our material ways and get back to being a somewhat normal working couple. We have no pets and our children are grown. We've both read some fantastic posts about Montana in general.
We were looking for some input perhaps from individuals or couples our age that would feel comfortable lending some insight into a good place to live or at least investigate. We will be visiting Montana in March of 2015 and thought if we were pointed in the right direction we could get a head start. One little bit of info about us we do not own a car as we enjoy spending our cash on other things so we would need public transportation during the winter months only as we do bike during the warmer months. Other than that we are very low maintenance.
Thank you

[FL2MT]

Requiring public transportation is really going to limit your choices to the biggest cities in Montana, Billings, Missoula, Great Falls, Bozeman, Butte. That said, keep in mind that even in those cities public transit isn't anything like you're probably used to, it might have limited hours or limited runs so I'm not sure how feasible it is even in the bigger cities.

Here's a link to the cities and their various public transit options that might be able to help you in planning.
Montana Public Transportation Systems

[Clark Fork Fantast]

March will be a good time for a reality check. It will still be winter in most places in Montana, and if your life so far has been spent on the West Coast and in Florida, you will know within a very short time what late winter in Montana will feel like.

You are not saying what it is about Montana that you find alluring. I am all for changing directions and trying something new, but I think you need to do much more research. From your short description I'd say that Montana is not where you want to focus. You simply cannot get by without a car, period, unless you don't mind being landlocked in a community where all you do is take the bus back and forth to your workplace. The Montana experience is to a great extent all the outdoor opportunities, and you need a personal vehicle to fully take advantage of them. There are other places where you will be able to pursue your lifestyle of public transportation/bicycling. I see from one of your posts that you have had an interest in Oregon. That may be a better fit for you.

But if you tell us what it is you like about the idea of moving to Montana, perhaps we can give you better advice.

[MTSilvertip]

I agree with CFF and FL2MT, Montana isn't a place to rely on public transportation as for the most part, it doesn't exist.

Towns here are usually at least 20-30 miles apart, very few outdoor activities, (with the exception that some of the ski runs have shuttles), have anything resembling public transportation access.

If all you want to do is take a week at a time and bike to another town during the summer and spend the rest of your time locked into whatever city you land in, that would be fine, but would really be cheating you out of the best this state has to offer.

Bicyling is limited here as well as for around 7-8 months of the year due to snow and ice.

Montana is nothing like Florida, you might as well be moving to a foreign country in many respects. (we speak mostly English here for example, although we do have a lot of folks who are bi or tri-lingual and can also speak either Canadian or North Dakotan or both )

The climate alone will be a huge change. We don't have the bugs or humidity or long growing seasons you are used to.
The population is more scattered, you have to cover a lot greater distances to get anywhere, and for a good part of the year that travel is in very inhospitable conditions.

Limiting yourself by not having reliable transportation would make life much more difficult.

Coming in March for a visit is a good idea as we can and do get blizzards and subzero temperatures in that month.

Do your research carefully, and rent a car when you visit to do some traveling. You'll see what we're talking about.

Good Luck.

[Montanama]

If you love Florida, I think you had better make an extended visit in winter/spring before you make the leap to Montana. It is possible to love two such different places, I realize, but it will be a big change.

I'm not sure living in Montana without a car is feasible at all, and certainly not if your goal is to take in the things that people generally come here to enjoy. To access the recreational opportunities here, you'll need a vehicle. Unless you are considering taking a job in a hotel at a recreational destination and just really being there all the time...? That might work. (Like something in a resort area, West Yellowstone or near Glacier, Whitefish, Big Sky....?)

Cost of living is not particularly low here in Montana either, especially in the resort areas. There are states with lots of natural beauty, a simpler, slow-paced life with lower costs of living and climates less drastically different from Florida.

Visit first. It is a beautiful state, but you need to consider what daily life here would be like, not just a vacation.