Anyone familar with Montana ?

[Mr. Gold]

I could publish this on the OT forum for bigger exposure , but you know, it will get derailed in less than 10 posts.. I guess I may go for if it fails here.

So:
I'm planing a trip there by the time winter arrives, to get an impression of the place and as many towns I can visit.
So,
it's time to gather some intel.

I'm not looking to have fun particularly, this is for moving there, maybe, one day.

General knowledge of the state, as in -if it were MA
"anywhere from 128 into the ocean you'll deal with 99% moonbats nutcases, you don't drive through Springfield after 10pm unless heavily armed, the Berkshires are great but earning an income can be tricky " type of stuff.

If you know much more, I'll be glad to ask more than the above.

Thank you.

 

[CWulf]

Its beautiful in Montana, been there a couple of times. There is also a lot of opportunity in dental floss...








sorry, couldn't help it..


ETA: On a more serious note. A friend of mine owns a cabin there. Loves, it. Fishing, hunting is great. He is going to let me and the family use the cabin for a couple of weeks next spring. I cant wait as I am also looking to get out of MA as soon as I can. I am stuck here for another 5 years (son going into high school). I don't know much more about the place, will keep an eye on this thread.

 

[BigTimber]

In November I'll be heading out to big sky country for the 15th time(hunting) So I guess I know the place pretty good for a east coast guy. And I have family living there. Feel free to PM me and I'll help you the best I can.

 

[enbloc]

.

 

[Mr. Gold]

PM me. I know everything...

Mm.. not sure if you're kidding or not.

 

[MAGG]

my friends parents bought land up near the idaho and canadian border...built a cabin. had to pay to have electric brought in etc.. have their own well and it is gorgeous. log cabin...sees all kinds of wild life, including a grizzly on her deck occasionally...I have been to kalispel( not sure on spelling) one and fell in love

 

[enbloc]

.

 

[Mr. Gold]

In November I'll be heading out to big sky country for the 15th time(hunting) So I guess I know the place pretty good for a east coast guy. And I have family living there. Feel free to PM me and I'll help you the best I can.

Thank you, PM sent.

- - - Updated - - -

my friends parents bought land up near the idaho and canadian border...built a cabin. had to pay to have electric brought in etc.. have their own well and it is gorgeous. log cabin...sees all kinds of wild life, including a grizzly on her deck occasionally...I have been to kalispel( not sure on spelling) one and fell in love

Are they living there full time ?

 

[MAGG]

they do live there full time... i just do not remember the name of the place. they love it. moved out from ohio. got like 18 acres.

 

[Mr. Gold]

Kidding, always kidding.
Been there several times but only passing through.
Did like it much though...
Good Luck and send Pix.
~Matt

P.S. Don't wait for Winter...

Yup, we're cool with that. We like the winter, that's why we are considering it there rather than the southwest (which we lived in for a few years). 100% of our gene pool is Eastern European (Well, there were the Mongolian invasions, but that's a different story). But as for the trip, yes - well before winter for all the obvious reasons.

 

[Mr. Gold]

they do live there full time... i just do not remember the name of the place. they love it. moved out from ohio. got like 18 acres.

[Drool]

 

[MAGG]

i believe they did this all for under 300 grand as well...thought she said like 260

 

[allen-1]

I spent some time out there as a kid near Bozeman on the Gallatin (sp?) river. I remember that it was beautiful country, lots of sagebrush, good flyfishing, t-shirts at ground level and snowball fights up in the mountains (on the same day). Took a pack trip over the border into Wyoming, more of the same. Beautiful country, lie on the ground at night looking up at the sky with no pollution staring at all the stars.

Lots of great memories for me; not much useful information for you.

 

[P-14]

This is all I know about Montana:

 

[sschevy]

I've spent more than my share of time there... Backpacking, climbing, and 4wheeling.. All over the state...the good (western side) the bad (south central) and the ugly (eastern side) still have plenty of friends there , spread all over, and when it comes to friends spread all over, Montana ranks right up there. If you have any specifics you want to ask shoot me a PM

 

[jeepchute]

I spent a few weeks working with the Smoke jumpers in Missoula. General impressions, Missoula was the biggest (only) city for miles but still had a small city feel. In general it was safe everywhere I went. Did stumble upon the only shooting that year just outside the hotel. Just dumb luck to be there, lover's quarrel in a parking lot.

Had the opportunity to drive north for a while and I would have been happy to live anywhere there. In general the people would give you the shirt off there back, even if they didn't like the fact you were from one of those blue states.

I would seriously consider moving there.

As an aside, I traveled everyday from the east side of the city to the west. Both places just off I-90. The locals driving us took surface roads through "heavy" traffic. I asked why they didn't use the highway. They hadn't though of it, that's usually only for heading out of town. Heavy traffic involved waiting for an extra light cycle at one light. There was never a slow down on the highway I saw.

 

[kevin9]

I've read that northeastern Montana (ex. Sidney, Bainville) is experiencing many of the effects of the Bakken Oil Boom, both good and bad.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...2014/07/140709-montana-oil-boom-bakken-shale/

 

[MAGG]

I think my friends mom is in Eureaka

 

[Len-2A Training]

I know that K-DUB moved there for a while. Unsure if she's there now or in MA, but you could ping her with a PM. Tell her that I said "hi"!

She might be able to give you some insight, I know that she loved it out there.

 

[Squire]

I was a backcountry fishing guide near Yellowstone for 3 summers in the 90's, spent Y2K New Year's eve in a snow cave at 10K ft. (just in case), and have land on a river in the West Yellowstone Area.

I've skiied in Missoula, Big Sky, and Bozeman ski resorts (and Jackson Hole and Grand Targhee in WY and ID). I've fished over 400 days on Montana rivers over the past 20 years.

The cities tend to be hippie (Missoula and Bozeman), cowboy (Butte, Great Falls), and then there is Billings, which I only drove through, and I think is rather unremarkable.

The mountains are beautiful, the plains are vast, and it's perpetually being ruined by Californians (like Colorado in the '70s).

 

[Mr. Gold]

Thanks for the information so far.
I've been doing some work/reading etc.

The big and pretty much only problem is going to be - an income. If we end up moving there, it's not in order to live in a 'burb, unless 'burb lots there are zoned for 5 acres, in that case, sign me up.

I think that after getting used to the NE nature, moving to the eastern parts there might be hard, the north-west there is green, however, snowfall there is very high.

Looks like Missoula can be an interesting place for us, it's situated in a greener area, with snowfall that's similar to the amount here. I won't be surprised if it melts away during the days faster than it does here, although I'm not sure about it.

I'm planning to drive from Billings up to Kalispell, give each city on the way around 1.5 days, that, should take up to 8 days or so.

One thing that's nice there with regards to houses is, they are not 80 YO in average, you can find a 20 YO home which look and fell like such - that's a relief.

On a personal note, I wonder if we have what it takes to move, mentally.
When we moved here from the Southwest, with a baby, we both quit our jobs there and moved on our $, rented a place in Marlborough and slowly struggled up to the point we have our own house and things have gone into routine.
Now there are four of us and a move again ? sheesh, that looks tough!, but, just reading the news here and seeing where things are headed, it seems there's very little choice. We'll see.

 

[M1911]

Cold in the winter, hot in the summer. Flat in the east, mountains in the west, and not a lot of people (or jobs) anywhere.

 

[Andy in NH]

Sadly, Captain Vasili Borodin never got to see Montana:

 

[kevin9]

The cities tend to be hippie (Missoula and Bozeman)...

Don't know about Missoula, but my BIL lives in Bozeman and from what I've been told it's pretty hippie; he fits right in. The difference from coastal hippies is that many MT hippies appear to be 2A friendly and at least hunt.