Ohioan needing opinions, info. (Missoula, Bozeman: real estate, how much, home)

[bjb123]

My husband & I are planning on relocating to Montana in the near future. We've been wondering, how are wages & job opportunities for professional truck drivers? We are mostly interested in the areas of Missoula, Hamilton, or maybe even the Bozeman area. Also, how are real estate taxes in those areas? In northern Ohio, we pay @$2,300 for almost 2 acres including a 30yr 3, bedroom home. We have no children so schooling won't be an issue. Myself, I have many years of bookkeeping & office administration experience.
We live in a small town about 50 min. S. of Cleveland, OH. We are so tired of this heat & humidity. When we've been to Montana, it seems the lower humidity makes a huge difference in comfort. Here, we get quite a bit of wet, heavy snow in the winter. I'll bet Montana snow is much lighter & dryer? I wonder how many inches of snowfall are received throughout the winter?
In Ohio we're not making the "big bucks". We're looking for a slower pace & cleaner living. We know Montanans are super friendly; we've experienced it firsthand. They smile & look you right in the eye! Not so over here.
Thanks for your time, any opinions would be appreciated.

[mark6052]

montana winters are long and cold, many days at below zero. friendly yes, but getting very tired of folks moving in then locking out others for hunting & fishing. this is a predominantly right leaning state. welcome but dont come to change us.

[criwa5]

Montana is usually has very cold winters and very hot summers. They are dry and hot but bearable. I was born and raised in MT, I moved out with my husband and our children because of the economy. Jobs are low paying and far and few between depending on what you do. Housing and taxes are unreasonable for most. We have not lived there in five years but I would guess that you would pay over 250,000 for a couple of acres and a nice house. The Missoula and Bozeman areas are nice and modern but big college towns. If we ever decided to move back those are the areas that we would look in. (But we never will)
Montanans are set in their ways and do not always welcome new people. They tend to blame the failing of small business's on changing population due to people from other states moving in and that is not a welcome change. (I hear about it alot, as my entire family lives in Helena) Missoula and Bozeman are probally a little more open to change given that they are college towns!
Hope that helps a little!

[bjb123]

Oh, we're not looking to change anything. I grew up in a small town in southern OH, my husband grew up on a farm. We're just wanting a slower pace & to be able to enjoy the beautiful surroundings. I dabble in photography, my husband likes to do woodworking (me too actually).
Looking at my first posting, maybe I need to clarify, we pay $2,300 in property tax a year for almost 2 acres. Just wondered how that compared to MT. We wouldn't buy much land in MT....can't afford it.
Thanks for your responses.

[MTer]

I believe some people who responded to you were overly negative. Montana is a big state with varied weather. Plus the mountains make a big difference in temperature and amount of precipitation. Precip. falls going up mountains (on the west side, since the prevailing winds are from the west), thus in general, east of the Divide (Continental Divide), somewhat less snow and rain normally falls. Also, however, further north regions get more snow than further south ones (in general). Where I live on the east side of the Divide in the western part of the state, slightly to the south, I may get a couple winter days where nights drop to 20 below, but those are rare. Normally cold winter days are in the teens or twenties and many, many days get above freezing (which means icing can be a problem on rural drives and roads that aren't plowed). I find winters here much more enjoyable than those in the midwest. However, of the three cities you mentioned, Missoula and Hamilton can have pretty cold and snowy winters. Bozeman is generally a little milder, though being in a valley (cold air sinks), it's colder than some surrounding regions that are higher up (but not too high up). Confusing? My point--there's no way anyone can give a general answer and be correct on Montana weather other than to say, yes, we have four distinct seasons. Www.weather.com has a button for averages. Take your three cities and look at the monthly and then daily averages for them. Not sure how much help that'll be, but it may give you some good insight.

The dryness is a real benefit. Snow here is much, MUCH nicer than midwest and eastern snow because, as you noted, we don't have the humidity. It also impacts the temperatures. Winters here don't feel as cold as many winter days in the midwest, and even when the temp. is in the 90s in summer, it doesn't feel as hot as 80s or so in the midwest with humidity.

You're looking at three expensive (for Montana) cities, I believe. I know Missoula and Bozeman are rapidly growing and expensive, and I believe Hamilton is as well.

Property taxes here aren't as bad as in many states, but I don't know how Montana and Ohio compare. Do some websearching and you can probably find some good information. I know I've seen studies on rates in the past--maybe quoted from Money Magazine or something like that.

On trucking jobs--most newspapers are online. Bozeman is www.bozemandailychronicle.com. Just websearch on "Montana newspapers" or something like that and you'll find Missoula's and probably Hamilton's. Look in the online pprs. for the want-ads.

Originally Posted by bjb123

My husband & I are planning on relocating to Montana in the near future. We've been wondering, how are wages & job opportunities for professional truck drivers? We are mostly interested in the areas of Missoula, Hamilton, or maybe even the Bozeman area. Also, how are real estate taxes in those areas? In northern Ohio, we pay @$2,300 for almost 2 acres including a 30yr 3, bedroom home. We have no children so schooling won't be an issue. Myself, I have many years of bookkeeping & office administration experience.
We live in a small town about 50 min. S. of Cleveland, OH. We are so tired of this heat & humidity. When we've been to Montana, it seems the lower humidity makes a huge difference in comfort. Here, we get quite a bit of wet, heavy snow in the winter. I'll bet Montana snow is much lighter & dryer? I wonder how many inches of snowfall are received throughout the winter?
In Ohio we're not making the "big bucks". We're looking for a slower pace & cleaner living. We know Montanans are super friendly; we've experienced it firsthand. They smile & look you right in the eye! Not so over here.
Thanks for your time, any opinions would be appreciated.

[bjb123]

Thankyou MTer for your breakdown with the different regions of weather in Montana. It wasn't confusing at all & was the type of answer I was looking for. We visited the Hamilton area Nov. 2005 and noticed the weather changes pretty quickly too. I have been curious about the Bozeman area - I guess we should make a trip to that area at some point.
We have checked out the websites you mentioned & will continue to do so.
Thank you for taking the time to respond. Frankly, I hadn't checked my thread lately. This had been my first post & I was hoping for more responses originally.

[sharrone]

I grew up in Ohio, Findlay area. I have lived in NW MT over 25 years and love it. The winters have a few cold days, not bitter at all. I would love to visit with you.

[ladyflyfsh]

Yes, the lower humidity does make a huge difference in comfort in both winter and summer. In the winter, it is not uncommon to only wear a heavy over shirt or vest. I think it would actually feel colder in Ohio than here even if the temp is colder here. In the summers, we get well into the 80's and 90's but again, with no moisture in the air, it is much easier to deal with and doesn't feel as hot.

I own 2.5 acres and a home in SW MT and I just got my 2006 tax bill and my property taxes are less than 500 a year. I'm sure that would not be the case in places like Missoula or Bozeman etc.

We also do not get much snow here. I'm just east of the continental divide and I've never seen more snow than 12" here in the last 10 or so years. In fact, I've only seen that much one time and that was about 6 yrs ago! Our winters have been getting warmer and warmer and it would seem dryer and dryer also. Last winter we got a decent snow pack but we've been experiencing drought conditions for over 8 yrs here. Now they are talking about another el Nino year and if that is true, will mean warmer temps and dry conditions, so here we go again.

Now, on the job issue; this area gets lots of truck traffic and there is a HUGE new shop in Whitehall for truck repairs, so I would imagine this would be the perfect area for you, with lower taxes, more afordable land and housing and access to the interstate etc. Only 23 miles to Butte and 56 to Bozeman so close enough to get what you need. There is a big gas station/truck station in Whitehall and small grocery store, newspaper, a few restaurants, tire shop, mechanics etc. so pretty self contained yet small in population.

Anyway, that's just my 2 cents worth...good luck whatever you decide to do.

[bjb123]

I'll try this again. Apparently I've not spent enough time on this site to be familiar enough with it. I typed a reply a couple of nights ago & lost it somehow. Here I go again...
To Sharrone: It's great to have a response from a former Ohioan. It would be wonderful to hear more from you. We visited Glacier @ 4 yrs ago & loved it. Do you live in that neck of the woods? I'd be interested to hear also how you ended up in MT. We live @ 5mi. south of Wellington, OH which I believe would be a little over 80 miles east of Findlay, OH.
To ladyflyfsh: I've read many of your responses & find them to be very helpful & positive. I have checked out online a little of the realestate in Whitehall as you mentioned. Yes, it seems to be more reasonable there. I also looked at the Chamber of Commerce for Whitehall & it appears to be a pretty self sufficient community. We would need to be within a reasonable driving distance to a V.A. clinic of some sort. My husband has an old Army injury that needs looking after on occasion. I think there is an outpatient clinic in Bozeman. Of course finding work will play a big factor in all of this.
Thank you both for taking time to respond. Betsy

[ladyflyfsh]

Betsy, there is a VA hospital in Butte which is a mere 23 miles or so from Whitehall. My friend just down the road from me goes there. Many people drive to Butte to work and there are some jobs here in Whitehall. Good luck!