Ranking Montana's cities - Which Montana city is the best? (Billings: real estate, crime rate)

[skeddy]

Kalispell is a great town. Proximity to Glacier National Park is a big plus.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Originally Posted by sylentvoyce

I'm gonna be the devils advocate and inform you all that Butte is my favorite. No BS. To me it is the best balance of things to do compared against cost of living. It is dirt cheap whilst having plenty of hiking trails and forest lands nearby. The city itself is super historic, ugly or not. It oozes history (literal toxic ooze from a historic mining pit ) in a way that other Montana cities don't quite do.

The Montana State Prison is a good well rounded employer for the area, being the best paying and benefited job for the lowest overall hiring standards of most employers in the state. Meaning any clown can live and work here and expect a reasonable (read: acceptable minimum) standard of living. Add to that the Montana Tech College should any employees decide to raise their standards to a niche market.

Being around 35ish thousand residents means its big enough to have all the major resources people need, but not so big that it overwhelms. Still feels very much like a small town.

Super cool brick uptown architecture combined with wildly outlandish home floor plans make for a unique experience no matter where one turns. accessible location being almost perfectly equidistant to Missoula, Helena, and Bozeman, and sitting on the intersection of two major interstates means road trips are an always manageable prospect.

To be honest, I still don't get why people don't like the place. Outside of its rugged nature and environmentally unfriendly superfund site, I've only ever enjoyed every minute there.

We were all set to look down our noses at Butte, and we ended up really enjoying our visit! They have an absolutely terrific bookstore on the main drag (could be Books & Books, or Second Edition Books). The mines on top of the hill give it an almost surreal ambiance, and the old Victorian homes and brick buildings are truly super cool.

I have another favorite, and that is just because it is the first small town we pass through when we go up 15 on our way home to Clark Fork, ID: Lima! It seems to be frozen in time along the railroad tracks, but at the outskirt there is an RV park and a great little exercise area for people and dogs, with a stunning mountain view. So we always stop at Lima, say Hi to the old log buildings, and walk the dogs on nice, cool, green Montana grass.

We're also partial to Ennis on the Madison, and Thompson Falls on 200/Clark Fork River. We like visiting Kalispell, too. Gotta have a river or a lake nearby.

[sylentvoyce]

Originally Posted by Clark Fork Fantast

We were all set to look down our noses at Butte, and we ended up really enjoying our visit! They have an absolutely terrific bookstore on the main drag (could be Books & Books, or Second Edition Books). The mines on top of the hill give it an almost surreal ambiance, and the old Victorian homes and brick buildings are truly super cool.

I have another favorite, and that is just because it is the first small town we pass through when we go up 15 on our way home to Clark Fork, ID: Lima! It seems to be frozen in time along the railroad tracks, but at the outskirt there is an RV park and a great little exercise area for people and dogs, with a stunning mountain view. So we always stop at Lima, say Hi to the old log buildings, and walk the dogs on nice, cool, green Montana grass.

We're also partial to Ennis on the Madison, and Thompson Falls on 200/Clark Fork River. We like visiting Kalispell, too. Gotta have a river or a lake nearby.

Never been to Lima. i'll have to check it out. I like Thompson falls and Kalispell as well, but both for different reasons. Thompson Falls to me a quintessential mountain town for those seeking a simpler life and Kalispell is the postcard tourist and retirement locale.

Many people dislike Butte. But I defend it vehemently. it's always been one of my favorite spots in the state.

[Threerun]

Butte has some of the best eats in the state! The Uptown Cafe is quite possibly the best restaurant in the state. Also the Front Street Market is a place my wife and I go to for all kinds of goods not found anywhere else in the state.

Add onto that the news out of Butte is awesome- naked women driving into ex-boyfriends car, naked man running into someone's house, lol. That town has some charm, lol!

[alaskaflyer]

Originally Posted by Sumerian_Summer

Can you briefly elaborate on that?

Different poster, but for me, Butte and Missoula have worse weather, or more accurately, less pleasant weather in some of the seasons compared to say, Bozeman. They both also have a bit of a gritty side compared to some of the other choices, with higher crime rates. Of course it is all relative, compared to many other cities of their size across the nation

[volosong]

Originally Posted by Clark Fork Fantast

We're also partial to Ennis on the Madison...

Best thing about Ennis . . . Shedhorn Sports. Worth the special trips to purchase a few things from them.

[sylentvoyce]

Originally Posted by alaskaflyer

Different poster, but for me, Butte and Missoula have worse weather, or more accurately, less pleasant weather in some of the seasons compared to say, Bozeman. They both also have a bit of a gritty side compared to some of the other choices, with higher crime rates. Of course it is all relative, compared to many other cities of their size across the nation

I wholeheartedly agree with you on all of the above. Bozeman has pleasant summers and surprisingly sunny and fluffy snow winters.

Butte is hugely gritty, top to bottom, wall to wall, but it is what I like about it. Either an acquired taste or simply personal preference for a more rugged environment. I would however argue that Missoula is not all that gritty. Tired maybe. But a good Butte grit it is not. Maybe Helena and Great Falls, or even Billings? Who knows.

Higher crime yes. Trafficking of people and drugs is an issue in Butte due to the interstate intersection.

Good assessment.

[Redraven]

Since we live near Billings, of course I had to vote for it. We live here because two of our children and five grandchildren live here. We live outside of town on a small acreage ("mini-farm"). We have nobody telling us what we can or cannot have on the place, and I can target shoot (small caliber) in the back yard! Billings has everything we need, and then some.
Kalispell? No. We grew up in the Flathead Valley. It has changed, and not necessarily for the better. We won't even visit for high school reunions!
Great Falls? We lived there for a few years. Nice place, and there is a facility near by where military retirees can find services (Air Force Base).
We really don't have any interest in the others on the list. No particular reason, just not interested in living there. We do like to visit, though, and check out the museums...

[SkyLark2019]

Originally Posted by Redraven

Since we live near Billings, of course I had to vote for it. We live here because two of our children and five grandchildren live here. We live outside of town on a small acreage ("mini-farm"). We have nobody telling us what we can or cannot have on the place, and I can target shoot (small caliber) in the back yard! Billings has everything we need, and then some.
Kalispell? No. We grew up in the Flathead Valley. It has changed, and not necessarily for the better. We won't even visit for high school reunions!
Great Falls? We lived there for a few years. Nice place, and there is a facility near by where military retirees can find services (Air Force Base).
We really don't have any interest in the others on the list. No particular reason, just not interested in living there. We do like to visit, though, and check out the museums...

Would you be willing to elaborate on why you don't like the changes in the Kalispell area? IMO it's still the part of the state where people who want isolation should go, it's not as empty as it was before but it's empty compared to the southern parts of MT.

I love Billings but it might not be for everyone. It's "rough and tough" whereas a lot of people want the scenic cities of the state.

[Redraven]

Originally Posted by SkyLark2019

Would you be willing to elaborate on why you don't like the changes in the Kalispell area? IMO it's still the part of the state where people who want isolation should go, it's not as empty as it was before but it's empty compared to the southern parts of MT.

I love Billings but it might not be for everyone. It's "rough and tough" whereas a lot of people want the scenic cities of the state.

IMO, the "ambience" of Kalispell is gone. It has spread out all over the place, and "downtown" is no place I want to be.
Columbia Falls has lost all industry (aluminum plant, lumber mills). I wonder how long people can survive selling clothes, groceries, etc. to each other?
Hungry Horse has become mostly a classic "tourist trap". All the taverns are gone, except one. The house I grew up in is gone. The house (shack) I bought years later is gone (good thing!)
Parents are gone.
The people I went to school with 60+ years ago were never really friends, just classmates. Nobody I am interested in visiting.
The USFS campgrounds on the banks of Hungry Horse Reservoir have paved roads now, and many of the campsites are also paved!
Many homes now have to put up with HOAs, and I want nothing to do with them.
"Civilization" has arrived, and not necessarily for the betterment of the communities!


But then, "civilization" is arriving in Billings, as well. There are quite few homeless people downtown, and many street corners have beggars holding cardboard signs. Yet, they are going to spend over a million dollars on a jogging, walking, bicycling trails system. I'm sure it will be nice for those few who use such things, but there is a lot of things that money could be used for to the betterment of the general population, seems to me.

Traffic circles ("roundabouts") seem to be the "in thing" these days. Traffic engineers seem to love them instead of controlled intersections. Maybe they are better, but I try to avoid them.
Ok, enough of that rant...