Question:
I am seeking information on cities and towns in Montana and Wyoming.
I will be departing on a trip next week to tour some possible towns I
may want to move to in about a year. (not to get AWAY from it all, as
people think, but to get INTO it all.. all that the big wide open has
to offer). It is something that seems completely necessary in my life
at least for a couple of years, and I would be pleased to hear
people's opinions of places to check out, both for the sake of this
week-long trip and to survey for potential living arrangements.
Bozeman, Butte, Helena, and Missoula are on my list for Montana, I'm
not as sure for Wyoming. My only real requirements are that there is
some rough terrain, isolation from the masses of tourists (Is the
surrounding Yellowstone area just as saturated as the park in the
summertime?), horrendous winters, affordable rental property, a
community with some variety within (possibly a college town or near
one); and accepting to newcomers. I am an adventuresome student
looking for a change of atmosphere. A specialized or high paying job
is not needed (although I will need SOME kind of work), I'm used to
living on less. :)
Answer:
Here are few comments (for which I'll probably get flamed). Bozeman is
becoming a high rent area. Land is getting very expensive, but college
students can still live in Bozeman. Butte is an old, and to me
interesting, mining town which is slowly coming out of a long, long
depression. The immediate vicinity is pretty degraded. Be careful you
don't get gulled into buying a potential Superfund site. I think
employment possibilies may be poor (same with nearby Anaconda).
Missoula is close to just about every outdoor attention, but land is
getting expensive. The air quality in the winter is just horrible. I
refuse to make winter trips to Missoula. Helena is starting to take off
and is less polluted than Missoula (if you ignore the lead smelter in
East Helena).
Forget Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The small amount of undeveloped private
land is incredibly expensive. The richest people in the world have second
homes there now. Nevertheless, wages are low. My daughter worked there
for one summer in a tourist shop. Despite the fact she spoke fluent
German (there are many German tourists), she got the minimum wage. Her
boss told me that they were so pleased with her and all the sales she made
to Germans that next year she would get 50 cents more an hour. She
decided working at a 7,11 in Ogden, Utah was a better deal.
Bascially all the accessible private land within 40 or 50 miles of
Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks is being sub-divided. In my
opinion, it's a disgusting, sickening mess. Fortunately, only about 5
per cent of the area is private land.
Quite a few people move to the area expecting paradise, which IMO the
public lands are. Quite a few more away after a few winters (winter lasts
6 months near Yellowstone), although Missoula in NW Montana has a fairly
mild climate (lower elevation). Winters in Butte are *harsh*.
No flames from me on Bozeman and Butte: Keep in mind that Bozeman is a
college town-- if MSU closed down, there'd soon be under 10,000 people in
town.
Regarding Missoula-- unless you move here during the summer, it's almost
impossible to find a decent rental. Probably too late already this
year. Show up around the first of June '96, and there'll be quite a lot
of choices.
The nice thing about Missoula, IMHO, is that it's *not* a college town.
If the University here closed down, Missoula would still be the third
biggest city in Montana--not that that makes it real big-- under 80,000
now in the metro area. But we're the shopping hub for an area of about
200,000, so there's stuff available here you won't find in most cities
this size.
The real reason anybody would want to come here is the location. We're
surrounded by mountains. There's one wilderness area (Rattlesnake)
within *walking* distance of downtown, and two more witin about an
hour's drive. And basically, we're still pretty friendly to outsiders,
though growth is fraying our civility a little.
About that winter air quality Ralph mentioned-- well, yes. We get air
inversions in the winter, just like LA. That's one reason we have some
of the strictest regs in the country regarding woodburning. It's better
than it once was. And Misssoula *can* get cold in the winter, though I
don't think it's hit even 20 below for the past few years. But the
biggest problem with moving here is that rents are very high, and unless
you like low-paying service jobs with no prospect of advancement, you'd
better have something else lined up before you arrive. See Ralph's
comments below re: jobs in Jackson Hole. It's not that bad in
Missoula--yet. We hope it won't get that bad, but....
Even if you *do* have another job, you won't be making the same money you
would elsewhere. There are a lot of very capable people here who are
willing to work for a lot less money because of the location. If everybody
in town moved away and got comparable jobs elsewhere, their total income
would go up by at least 25%.
