Browning (Great Falls, Shelby, Cut Bank: to rent, job market, school)

[Sunset_Va]

Thanks for the honest appraisal of Whitefish. I certainly don't like "Vail" or "Aspen" , type of towns/cities, but some do and more power to them. I will read the newspaper you mentioned.

[Sunset_Va]

Did some research into Whitefish real estate, definitely out of my means, but is that representative of most of MT?

[Reziac]

[goes off, mucks about on realtor.com, swears at their stupid new interface that's so much slower than the old one]

Yeah, Whitefish seemd to be in about the typical price range for any of the high-growth parts of Montana. Kinda takes one aback, don't it? Especially since wages don't come close to being able to make that kind of mortgage payment. Only way anyone can afford it is if they first sold a house in California or some other hyper-inflated market, and have cash to burn.

[looks further] This is bloody unreal:
$110,000
Condo, 1 Bed, 1 Bath
312 Sq. Ft.

(Over $350 per SQUARE FOOT!)

For comparison:
My 18' travel trailer is 144 sq.ft.
An average single-car garage is 240 sq.ft.
The smallest single-wide house trailer ever sold was 8'x38' (304 sq.ft).

And that's not the most expensive condo in that *size* range; in fact it's the 3rd cheapest property listed in Whitefish.

You'd have more room for less money in an older mobile home situated in a trailer park.

[Sunset_Va]

"[looks further] This is bloody unreal:
$110,000
Condo, 1 Bed, 1 Bath
312 Sq. Ft."

My exact thoughts, but I bet some one will buy it, more power to them, just curious what type of jobs in that area?

You summed up my observations precisely in your posting.

[jimj]

Mostly service jobs with a smattering of pretty much everything else.

[Carolina_Belle92]

Originally Posted by mcdoerr

Thanks to all that responded about what Browning is like. If anyone else would like to give me info or opinion I would appreciate it. Does anyone know about the schools? Are they up to the same standards as the schools in the midwest?

Browning schools are not up to snuff. The high school in particular is far below adequate academic standards. If you are not American Indian, you will be picked on more than a little. Granted, every school has some nice people and some bad ones, but having spent four years of my life traveling through Browning every month, I can tell you that it is not a place where I would want my children going to school.

If you want a good school system on the rez, I suggest Ronan or St. Ignatius. Ignatius is very small, but the people in that town seem to be much friendlier.

[jimj]

No, it really is not representative of most of Montana. There are areas that are expensive like Bigfork,Lakeside,Aspenfish etc. but there are plenty of places that are more down to earth compared to other states and some that are really cheap (Anaconda,parts of Granite) but there will be tradeoffs.

[Rickers]

Hi I am a newby to this forum but not to Montana. A bit of good advise, stay away from Browning, even just driving through you can get picked on if you're white. Flathead Rez where I live is mo' betta !

[Rickers]

True that the American natives have not had a smooth transition to the modern world ,but I have been to and through the B.F. Rez. many times and I have lived on the Flathead rez for over 10 years and it is like night and day about how differently the Indians treat visitors on these two very different reservations. The Blackfeet have a very long history of angry hostile behavior toward white people as well as an historic war path relationship with neighboring tribes. The Salish and Kootenai however have a history of friendliness and hospitality to all, that is hard to find in the history books. They are still very nice folks to the white residents to the Flathead Reservation (75% white), and when Lewis and Clark came down from Lost Trail Pass and down into the upper Bitterroot Valley, all bedraggled, starving and frozen , the Salish ran to them with robes and food, and nursed them back to health. The jist of this reply is, Browning bad, --- Polson good !!!

[jimj]

Originally Posted by rickers

True that the American natives have not had a smooth transition to the modern world ,but I have been to and through the B.F. Rez. many times and I have lived on the Flathead rez for over 10 years and it is like night and day about how differently the Indians treat visitors on these two very different reservations. The Blackfeet have a very long history of angry hostile behavior toward white people as well as an historic war path relationship with neighboring tribes. The Salish and Kootenai however have a history of friendliness and hospitality to all, that is hard to find in the history books. They are still very nice folks to the white residents to the Flathead Reservation (75% white), and when Lewis and Clark came down from Lost Trail Pass and down into the upper Bitterroot Valley, all bedraggled, starving and frozen , the Salish ran to them with robes and food, and nursed them back to health. The jist of this reply is, Browning bad, --- Polson good !!!

No,that can't be right.... The Blackfeet were a peaceful people who never hurt a soul until the white european came and slautered most of them and the ones that were left were locked on the res and were peaceful and caring ever since. At least that is what is said by popular culture nowdays..