Flathead/Bitterroot Valleys vs SW MT has best access to mountains? (Billings: ski resort, real estate)

[AGRusco]

Happy Long winter! My husband and I are considering a move and relocating our small excavation/arborist contractor company. Can locals compare the Flathead Valley to the Bitterroot Valley in terms of access to outdoor recreation? and SW Montana (Butte areas?) which counties/towns have the best access to forests & wilderness areas that are more small business friendly? We are from Western WA and not looking for anything related expect the alpine wilderess

We love the North Cascades and Olympics. Alaska is somewhere we might consider in the future. Looking for forested mountainous areas that are still wild & pristine. We live a minimal low stress life. Not city folks. Lovers of small mountain/charming towns that value an active lifestyle, sustainable agriculture, farms, gardening, alpine lakes, farm to table, dog friendly, accessability to mountains, freshwater. We can be flexible on most of these. We are strongly considering the Flathead/Kallispell area since we would like to be within 30-45 mins of a "city" for business and ski areas/ the backcountry. Ideally we would to hike/bike and ski out our front door. Any locals have any suggestions on smaller towns that might have a gear/bike store, local co-op, quality restaurants, and value sustainability and community? moreso about being around quality people.

Clean water
Lower air pollution
A strong, health conscious populace
Year round recreation: snowmobiling, skiing, backpacking, climbing, hiking, mtn biking, paddleboarding, whitewater
Prefer country/mountain towns over surburbia

Much love from the PNW!

[SilverBear]

Originally Posted by AGRusco

Happy Long winter! My husband and I are considering a move and relocating our small excavation/arborist contractor company. Can locals compare the Flathead Valley to the Bitterroot Valley in terms of access to outdoor recreation? and SW Montana (Butte areas?) which counties/towns have the best access to forests & wilderness areas that are more small business friendly? We are from Western WA and not looking for anything related expect the alpine wilderess

We love the North Cascades and Olympics. Alaska is somewhere we might consider in the future. Looking for forested mountainous areas that are still wild & pristine. We live a minimal low stress life. Not city folks. Lovers of small mountain/charming towns that value an active lifestyle, sustainable agriculture, farms, gardening, alpine lakes, farm to table, accessability to mountains, freshwater. We can be flexible on most of these. We are strongly considering the Flathead/Kallispell area since we would like to be within 30-45 mins of a "city" for business and ski areas/ the backcountry. Ideally we would to hike/bike and ski out our front door. Any locals have any suggestions on smaller towns that might have a gear store, local co-op, quality restaurants, and value sustainability and community? moreso about being around quality people.

Clean water
Lower air pollution
A strong, health conscious populace
Year round recreation: snowmobiling, skiing, backpacking, climbing, hiking, mtn biking, paddleboarding, whitewater
Prefer country/mountain towns over surburbia

Much love from the PNW!

Sounds like the PNW is a perfect fit for you. Why would you want to move to an area that has very little of the small mountain/charming towns with active life style, farm to table, etc?
Outside of the tourist areas, much of western Montana has working families that don't have buckets of money or time to hike and bike the mountain trails. Those are more tourist things.

Access to cities for business, Kalispell and Missoula aren't really cities in the classic sense of the word. Most of the towns in that area are less than 10,000 people, (some way less), although Spokane and Cour de 'Laine would be your best bet for real cities in the area, neither is in Montana.

[Zulu Kono]

Flathead's where it's at!!!

[NW Crow]

Whitefish is a question of cost and perhaps attitude. And it has same very low amount of mostly sunny or better days at Seattle.

Eureka might appeal or somewhere between it and Whitefish.
Or maybe Lakeside. Bigfork might be good for business but perhaps older than you want socially. But nowhere in area will give you anything but low on average sun.

Neither will the Bitterroot valley. Stevensville to Hamilton could work though.

Dillon gets 180 sunny days compared to the 2 spots above at about 150 / yr. But national average is about 205. Again could split distance between Dillon and Butte. Open sky but near mountain ranges. Philipsburg is a possibility. Anaconda is a nice location / size but Superfund site will eliminate for most. Deerlodge might be a possibility for the open-minded.

Red Lodge get 202 sunny days and is about 55 miles to Billings. Seeley Lake or near could be an option. Or possibly south of Helena or southeast of Great Falls.

[AGRusco]

Originally Posted by SilverBear

Sounds like the PNW is a perfect fit for you. Why would you want to move to an area that has very little of the small mountain/charming towns with active life style, farm to table, etc?
Outside of the tourist areas, much of western Montana has working families that don't have buckets of money or time to hike and bike the mountain trails. Those are more tourist things.

Access to cities for business, Kalispell and Missoula aren't really cities in the classic sense of the word. Most of the towns in that area are less than 10,000 people, (some way less), although Spokane and Cour de 'Laine would be your best bet for real cities in the area, neither is in Montana.

Because we are looking for a better QOL and access to the high alpine is non existent here without driving hours. We work full time like most. I meant to say areas to relocate our business. Comparing those 3 areas. We do not desire a city life. We currently are in a smaller community few hours from an actual metro area.

[AGRusco]

Originally Posted by NW Crow

Whitefish is a question of cost. And same amount of mostly sunny or better days at Seattle.

Thanks, Crow! Are you familiar with the 3 areas mentioned? We are not looking for touristy/cities. Open to suggestions. WA is well you know, WA now.

[AGRusco]

Originally Posted by NW Crow

Whitefish is a question of cost and perhaps attitude. And it has same very low amount of mostly sunny or better days at Seattle.

Eureka might appeal or somewhere between it and Whitefish.
Or maybe Lakeside. Bigfoot might be good for business but perhaps older than you want socially. But nowhere in area will give you anything but low on average sun.

Neither will the Bitteroot valley. Dillon gets 180 sunny days compared to the 2 spots above at about 150 / yr. But national average is about 205.

I’m not concerned about more sun because we are used to our year round overcast and prefer more snow vs rain. What about Butte area? We plan to visit this month to narrow down options. Do you have a favorite area if you are a local? We very much appreciate you ☺️

[NW Crow]

My familiarity is modest compared to natives / current residents but pretty good as a student of places / visitor.

If you consider Butte area, I'd mainly look east or south of it. Whitehall is pretty open, a small ranch service town but there are low key forests to north and south. Twin Bridges is a possibility.

"Quality restaurants, and value sustainability" would mean resort areas to many, but not all. Quality restaurant could be one run by a cook with attention to detail and a bit of creativity or could require a "chef" of the modern culinary game. How many you want? 1-3? 5-7? 10 or more in the nearest town or the bigger city down the road?

"Quality people", same debate / divide. Sustainability could mean many new ideas or the ideas that kept ranches in family for 3-5 plus generations.

North of Whitefish could be a good candidate if real estate and business competition don't scare off. Whitehall to Twin Bridges or Hamilton might be next as less considered spots. Lots of the other spots can work or mostly work. Depends how small / perhaps less fancy you'd go than a place like Whitefish.

Favorite lifestyle choice and best community fit for business are different questions though they may lead to same answer. It is both what community do you want to do business in and what community do you think will want to do business with you based on where you are from / who they already know, personal style, prices, etc. Is there room for yours?

Alpine lakes, sub-alpine lakes. They are somewhat different. Drive up to hike 5-10 miles in. Access to each type varies by spot as will level of use. Glacier NP (or parts of it) could be heaven for some or not exactly for others.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Add the Clark Fork-Heron-Noxon area to your list, straddling the Idaho-Montana border along the Clark Fork River and Hwy 200. Easy hiking access to the wild Cabinet Mountains and Scotsman Peaks to the north, and the Bitterroots to the south. And definitely not touristy (yet). Less than an hour's drive from the ski resort Schweitzer in Sandpoint (and Sandpoint itself has some of the sustainability vibe you're looking for). Heron is a tiny community, about 2 1/2 hours from Missoula and 2 hours from Spokane.

[NW Crow]

Not looking for touristy areas? That would eliminate many of places mentioned, including all or almost all of close in Kalispell area. But it depends how touristy is too much. Maybe Choteau or Augusta, west of Great Falls could be possibities.

Local co-op? I assume you mean food co-op. Term could also apply to farm store. This might not be what you are looking for but could still be worth knowing: https://www.wmgcoop.com/
And https://montanacoop.localfoodmarketplace.com/Index

Food co-ops rare in Montana. Use map https://grocerystory.coop/food-co-op-directory

Butte working on a food co-op: https://buttefood.coop/
Have been working on it for years and anticipate it may take 6 plus more months.

Alpine zone is higher in Montana than Washington.

Will "jobs" in your business fields pay like in Washington? I dunno, could vary by location. Many pay scales are quite a but less. Something to try to check.