Considering Montana very strongly. (Bozeman, Miles City: insurance, house, camping)

[jasony0423]

What are some good cities in Montana to live in? I've visited when I was younger, and to be honest, I don't remember a whole lot about the place at all. However, that being said, I remember liking it a lot when I was there. It'd probably be an easier decision if I were retired, married, and all, but since I'm way too young to retire, and I'm single, I'm not sure what to expect, and I can't really afford to take a month off and travel the country looking for the perfect city. That said, Montana is in my top 3 states to move to, so any helpful advice would be great.
Thanks.

[ElkHunter]

How about narrowing it down a little for us. There's lots of towns to choose from.

1) Occupation or skills?
2) Mountains or prairie?
3) Hunting, camping?
4) Special interests?
5) Large town or small town?

Answers to those will generate better replies.

[jasony0423]

Sorry. The town I visited was Bozeman, which from what I can tell now that I'm researching is a town of about 40,000 people. I would like to live in the country, but at the same time, I drive a small, rear wheel drive car, so I don't want to be someplace that will require me to trade it in on a snowmobile or a truck.
I work for an insurance company in the financial services area, and I'd like to stay in a position in that field.
If I had to choose between mountains and prairie, I'd probably pick prairie, but I'd still like to have mountains in the general vicinity. I'm not a hunter, never have been. I enjoy outdoors, camping, bicycling, hiking, and would like to have a place where I can let my dog come with me, and let her run to her hearts content while I'm outside hiking, and still be able to keep her within eyesight so she's not eaten by a mountain lion.
I live in a large town now (Columbus, Ohio) and while I do like the convenience of being near most anything I could ever want to be close to, from grocery stores to Ferarri dealers, I do NOT like having neighbors 20 feet from my house, and needing to lock my door for a 5 minute trip to pick up a pizza.
From what I've been able to tell, midwestern people are a more trustworthy group of people, which is what I'd like. I'm not imagining some "Little house on the prairie" type town, where everyone knows and helps one another, I'm not crazy, I know that doesn't exist, I just want a place where the people are friendly, the girls are pretty (and don't judge their worth by the number of people they've slept with) and the natural beauty is actually natural. Hope that helps narrow it down a little.

[ElkHunter]

Have you looked at this side of City-Data. MONTANA

It's set on 6000 residents or more. But if you scroll down you'll see on the left where you can list towns of 1000-6000 and a little further you'll find less then 1000. Lot's of data to explore.

[GLS]

Originally Posted by jasony0423

Sorry. The town I visited was Bozeman, which from what I can tell now that I'm researching is a town of about 40,000 people. I would like to live in the country, but at the same time, I drive a small, rear wheel drive car, so I don't want to be someplace that will require me to trade it in on a snowmobile or a truck.
I work for an insurance company in the financial services area, and I'd like to stay in a position in that field.
If I had to choose between mountains and prairie, I'd probably pick prairie, but I'd still like to have mountains in the general vicinity. I'm not a hunter, never have been. I enjoy outdoors, camping, bicycling, hiking, and would like to have a place where I can let my dog come with me, and let her run to her hearts content while I'm outside hiking, and still be able to keep her within eyesight so she's not eaten by a mountain lion.
I live in a large town now (Columbus, Ohio) and while I do like the convenience of being near most anything I could ever want to be close to, from grocery stores to Ferarri dealers, I do NOT like having neighbors 20 feet from my house, and needing to lock my door for a 5 minute trip to pick up a pizza.
From what I've been able to tell, midwestern people are a more trustworthy group of people, which is what I'd like. I'm not imagining some "Little house on the prairie" type town, where everyone knows and helps one another, I'm not crazy, I know that doesn't exist, I just want a place where the people are friendly, the girls are pretty (and don't judge their worth by the number of people they've slept with) and the natural beauty is actually natural. Hope that helps narrow it down a little.

A few good-natured comments on your post:

1. A "small, rear wheel drive car" is probably not the best choice for
anywhere in Montana in the Winter. If you can't trade for a front
wheel drive, all wheel or 4 wheel drive, pack your trunk with weights,
carry chains and a snow shovel to dig out.

2. I agree with the generalization that "midwestern people are a more
trustworthy group of people". However, don't many people consider
Ohio in the "Midwest"?

3. Although we have grocery stores, chances are good you won't be
"close to a Ferrari dealership". Most of us have learned to live with
that.

Good luck.

[peppermint]

I wanted to let you know that my husband drove a real wheel vehicle during the winter, and he would go out after the first snow and practice turns in a shopping center (one that wasn't open). He was very comfortable driving is little Volvo in the snow. He did put sand bags in the back though. I wouldn't let the vehicle deter you.

[Redraven]

There are a LOT of us here in Montana who grew up driving rear wheel drive vehicles, both cars and puckups, year round. We get a good chuckle out of those who say that you MUST have four wheel drive if you live in "snow country" (especially since we get about half the snow these days as we did in the '50s and '60s when we started driving).
In fact, most of us had open differential rear wheel drive vehicles. "Limited slip" or "Posi-traction" differentials were also very uncommon.
The "rich kids" had vehicles built in 1955 or later, the rest of us had rigs built in the '30s or '40s. My car was a 1941 Chevy coupe. I went to the local recapper and bought "reject" snow tires for it, tires that had some cosmetic defect that kept them from being sold. They worked fine all winter!
No, you don't NEED front wheel drive or four wheel drive. It is nice to have (I drive a Subaru and a Jeep, but my truck is two wheel drive), but you CAN learn to drive safely in snow or on ice with two wheel drive.
Traction tires, however, ARE NEEDED! "All season" tires are, IMO, at best a joke, at worst, dangerous.

[Klapton]

I always preferred rear-wheel drive vs. front for snow, because when your FWD wheels spin, you can't steer. With RWD wheels spinning, you can still steer if you know how. (And most men who grew up in the same couple of decades that I did - when MOST cars were RWD - burned lots of gasoline and testosterone when we were young learning how to steer a car with the back wheels spinning! Muwahahaha!!!)

EDIT: Best handling car I ever had for snow was my old VW Beetle. (It was even better than my AWD Jeep, because I could also STOP by Bug easily.)

And ditto on the "all season" tires thing... There's no such thing. "All season" tires are for places that don't have real winters, lol.

[Montana Griz]

Originally Posted by jasony0423

Sorry. The town I visited was Bozeman, which from what I can tell now that I'm researching is a town of about 40,000 people. I would like to live in the country, but at the same time, I drive a small, rear wheel drive car, so I don't want to be someplace that will require me to trade it in on a snowmobile or a truck.
I work for an insurance company in the financial services area, and I'd like to stay in a position in that field.
If I had to choose between mountains and prairie, I'd probably pick prairie, but I'd still like to have mountains in the general vicinity. I'm not a hunter, never have been. I enjoy outdoors, camping, bicycling, hiking, and would like to have a place where I can let my dog come with me, and let her run to her hearts content while I'm outside hiking, and still be able to keep her within eyesight so she's not eaten by a mountain lion.
I live in a large town now (Columbus, Ohio) and while I do like the convenience of being near most anything I could ever want to be close to, from grocery stores to Ferarri dealers, I do NOT like having neighbors 20 feet from my house, and needing to lock my door for a 5 minute trip to pick up a pizza.
From what I've been able to tell, midwestern people are a more trustworthy group of people, which is what I'd like. I'm not imagining some "Little house on the prairie" type town, where everyone knows and helps one another, I'm not crazy, I know that doesn't exist, I just want a place where the people are friendly, the girls are pretty (and don't judge their worth by the number of people they've slept with) and the natural beauty is actually natural. Hope that helps narrow it down a little.

Just a couple of quick comments from a 30 year resident of Montana and 16 years before that in CO.

1/ Montana has a higher cost of living than Ohio: Example: Bozeman's is 31.7% higher than Columbus!!

2/ If and when you move here......leave all references to "How you did things back in Columbus".....at the state line. Life here will much more pleasant for you if you follow that suggestion!

3/Just out of couriosity......what other states were you thinking about?

4/ Considering some of the desires listed in your post.....I'd suggest the following cities: Lewistown; Haver; Miles City and Glendive.

When running your dog out in the "boonies"....not only do you have to worry about Mt Lion, but also don't forget about the: Bobcat; Badger; Racoon; Bear; Wolf & Coyote. If you think I'm kidding....just check with some of the locals that live near the foothills of many of our mountain ranges. Rattle snakes can also be a problem in certain areas.

By utilizing an Electronic Training collar with a Beeper Function< I have my bird dogs: Snake Broke, Deer Broke, Turkey Broke; Calf and Colt broke and trained to come back to me when the Beeper is activiated. A dog not under control in the vicinity of live stock or game animals....usually ends up being a dead dog. Again, no B.S.------just fact!

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by Klapton

EDIT: Best handling car I ever had for snow was my old VW Beetle.

I've seen that too. Durn things think they're snowmobiles!! And if you do get stuck, even a lass can push it clear, and four strapping lads can pick it up and carry it outright.

As to dog running loose -- like someone said, if it ain't under control, sooner or later it's gonna be dead. If it runs stock, it'll get shot, and you'd be amazed how deaf most dogs get first time they see a herd of sheep. Shock collar and obedience training will save its life.