Reality Check (Missoula, Bozeman, Polson: homes, schools, college)

[Cat & Wolf]

Just read your post on REALITY CHECK. It is well-thought out, articulate and kindhearted. You have a realistic and generous version of how differrent it will be to live in Montana - good and bad. Thank you for your generous 'good luck' to all; that means a lot to people who are trying to change their lives for the better. Please keep helping and advising people who are genuinely seeking input.

[genielamp]

Ladyfish,

My wife is going to teach public school in Montana. We are looking at the Charlo area. Know anything about it? We are environmentally conscious, open minded people.

genie lamp

[ladyflyfsh]

Cat & Wolf, thank you for the kind words. I am happy to help if I can.

genilamp, I don't know a lot about Charlo but I do believe it is on the Flathead Indian Reservation and has a high degree of drug addiction and abuse. Also alcohol addiction and just all around problems. If I were going to move to the state from elsewhere, I probably wouldn't chose that area especially if you have children as it is a rather poor area, low degree of educated people, higher crime and low cost housing. Also it is a very small town, I believe less than 500.

Please have a look at the thread regarding teaching in Montana. I believe it was called Teacher Interested in Montana.[/i]

There is a link I put there for teachers interested in finding jobs in Montana where you can go online and look for jobs and even sign up to be contacted.

If I knew what kinds of things interested you, I could help you with ideas of areas that I think would suit you well, but I think Charlo would not be my first choice given all the great places Montana has to offer.

[woodstco]

Ladyfish, Thanks for your honest appraisal. It really adds a personal insight that the Chamber of Commerce web pages do not offer. We all need a reality check now and again.
My husband and I are looking to relocate to Montana. Fortunately for us he is in construction, and I understand jobs in that field are a little more prosperous. He prefers remodelling and restoration of the older homes than working on the new stuff - no character nowdays in houses. Is it likely to find that kind of work? We'd prefer the Bozeman or Kalispell areas. Commutes are not a problem. We drive about an hour every day (one way) now, and I figure thre would be less traffic out there than the Detroit area.
We are interested in somewhere that tourism isn't too out of control in the summer. We don't want to lilve in the 'Disneyland of the Wilderness' all summer!
We also wondered how bad the drug problem really is out there. We are looking for somewhere safer to live - but since we live between Detroit (2nd most dangerous city in the country) and Flint (the third most dangerous city in the country): eek: , we are hard to scare on this level. Just wondering what we would find out there?

[sdcowgirl]

I would just like to add that there are other parts on MT that are just as nice and not nearly as crowded or costly. All of you people who are looking for country living within a reasonable budget need to check out all parts of MT. The NE part is great -- no we don't have the mts. but no have beautiful countryside with rolling hills, a lot less people, good roads, schools, etc. Job market is much better than most reports indicate. We have lots of recreational opportunities with big and small game hunting and lots to offer with Fort Peck Lake, Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, dinosaur digs,fish hatchery, wind farm, oil refinery potential and now opportunity for MSU paleontology site. Yes we have high speed internet, an airport, amtrack and hiway 2 across the state and beyond.
Not knocking western MT but many people do not know about the eastern part and are really missing out on great opportunities here!!

[MHT]

Originally Posted by genielamp

Ladyfish,

My wife is going to teach public school in Montana. We are looking at the Charlo area. Know anything about it? We are environmentally conscious, open minded people.

genie lamp

My husband is from Charlo. Nice small town. My sister-in-law works at the school. We have several friends that live in Charlo also. The view of the Mission mountains is beautiful! Close enough to Missoula if you want a bigger city. Polson and Flathead lake are also close. Traffic on Highway 93 is horrendous but they are in the process of working on the road to improve traffic flow. If there's anything else I can help you with let me know.

[ladyflyfsh]

Woodstco, I think for that kind of restoration work, he would be better off in an area where not so much new growth and building is going on. The smaller towns you've heard me speak of would have more of that kind of work and less new building. The nice thing about Bozeman is they have a Home Depot and the smaller towns just to the west don't, so have to go to Bozeman to access Home Depot. BUT we do have other alternatives that are NOT big box stores to purchase lumber and supplies that are quite reasonable and sometimes even cheaper than HD.

The commuting here is not so much the distance as having to deal with icy and snowy road conditions that can last for days on end in the winter, and mountain passes to get from point A to point B. A perfect example of weather in Montana: Sunday I was working out in the yard in short sleeves and could have had shorts on. It was close to 70 degrees but later that night when I was in bed, the weather turned frigid and by Monday morning, there was 3 inches of snow on the ground and the temperature was about 4!
Last night it got down to 6 below 0 so things change very fast here in the mountains at elevation. There is seldom much warning so you have to be prepared for anything at any time!

As far as Disneyland in the summer, since Bozeman is so close to Yellowstone Park, it does tend to get hit fairly hard in the summer months for tourism and of course fishing and hunting brings a fair number into town and with fly fishing conclaves etc. this is a draw to that type of recreation. If you want to avoid the crowds, then hit the smaller towns and if driving isn't a big deal I'd say stay away from the larger towns and hit smaller areas like Dillon, Whitehall, Twin Bridges, Sheridan, Ennis etc.

Now, if you like the open plains and don't care about mountains, then eastern MT is another option. My personal preference is for trees and mountains and streams..which have lions and bobcats and bears, oh my!

Whatever you decide, I'm sure it will beat the pants off Detroit. Good luck and feel free to ask more questions if needed.

Oh, and as far as drugs go, I don't think there is anywhere that has no problem, but areas that have more poverty seem to breed it. The biggest problem in MT is meth but there is a huge program going on to educate people and try to turn kids off to never trying even once. The answer is communicating with your children and playing a role in their lives as all kids need boundaries and parents who govern, not parents as best friends. I can assure you, you wouldn't be scared if you lived where I live!!! In fact, I can't remember the last time I locked my doors. My keys live in the ignition of my car in the garage so I always know where they are. Does that sound like something you could live with?? Cheers...

[woodstco]

Ladyflyfsh,
Definitly sounds like heaven! Our one child is old enough now that we are not worried about the drugs...she's going to start college in Billlings next September, and if she survived here, she can survive there!
I've been to Billings twice in the past year, once in March (snowstorms!) and once again in July. It's a bit dry and barren for my taste, though the downtown was nice, and the people very friendly. (Of course, coming from my area if they aren't trying to shoot you, they're friendly!). Also want to give the 'kid' some breathing room from Mom and Dad.
It sounds like the smaller towns are beter for us. We are used to strange and extreme temperature changes here, believe it or not - it's due to the Great Lakes, but we don't see a ton of snow here - two feet is extreme. Of course we aren't really prepared to deal with it either, so it's easy to get stuck. The mountain passes sound a little intimidating though...
I don't have to have mountains, but at least rolling hills, and lots of green.

..and you really don't lock your doors? That's amazing! How wonderful!

[bigskydreaming]

Hi everyone, this question is for sdcowgirl and anyone else who can share some information about life in northeast Montana, which doesn't get covered much in these forums.

I am contemplating a relocation to Havre, MT to take a position there. I've checked pretty thoroughly and it appears that all the amenities are available; cable, high-speed internet, cell phone coverage, etc. There even appears to be a health foods store!

I am from rural Maine originally and am quite comfortable living in cold temperatures, long winters and small populations. I've been in the desert SW for the past almost two years and am anxious to leave -- too many people, WAY too hot in the summer and the winter, which I consider to be the summer here (the "real" summer one has to spend cooped up indoors with A/C cranked; it's worse than winter in a cold place where you can at least go snowshoeing, x-country skiing, etc.) is crowded with all y'all snowbirds from up north!

So, I'm pretty sure I want to try out Havre because the job possibility I have there is one that would be incredibly rewarding. What I most want to know is, are the people of northeast Montana friendly and welcoming of newcomers? People here aren't all that friendly, and I miss the experiences I had in Maine of making friendly conversation with strangers in line at the grocery store -- mostly about the weather, or whatever else was news in town. Lots of people think New Englanders aren't friendly, but I never found that to be true, especially in small towns.

Okay, I would be appreciative of any thoughts folks could share with me about the Montana plains -- thanks in advance!

[Rob & Rebecca]

My wife and I have been reserching for about a month and your line of thinking is dead on with our results. The simple "look before you leap" carrys tremendous weight when considering relocating. We have discoverd, with no surprise, that we will be making certain concessions and recieving certain benifits. Thank you very much and keep the info train coming, its very helpful.

Rob