Considering relocating to Missoula/Bitteroot Valley (Hamilton, Florence: live, retirement, sell)

[rickp3670]

Dave, yes we have taken a look at Spokane and CDA/Post Falls area. Spokane is a definite spot of we can't get things going in the Bitteroot and is our second choice. We really feel in love with the BV though and hope to be able to settle there. Semper Fidelis.....

[Salttybomber]

The wife and I looked for the last 5 years at many options as I've gotten closer to retirement and we've decided on Hamilton.
We both have family in the area which moved the needle for us. I looked a CDA(We both really like Northern ID) but I really think MT is a little cheaper overall. Our place closes in a few weeks and then we'll get busy bugging out of Portland....I won't miss the traffic or the gawd awful property tax. EX Coastie here but had many great interaction with the marines Semper Paratus / Semper Fidelis :-)

[Montana Griz]

Originally Posted by Salttybomber

The wife and I looked for the last 5 years at many options as I've gotten closer to retirement and we've decided on Hamilton.
We both have family in the area which moved the needle for us. I looked a CDA(We both really like Northern ID) but I really think MT is a little cheaper overall. Our place closes in a few weeks and then we'll get busy bugging out of Portland....I won't miss the traffic or the gawd awful property tax. EX Coastie here but had many great interaction with the marines Semper Paratus / Semper Fidelis :-)

I hope you are aware ALL the other posts in this Thread are FROM APRIL 2016!!!!!

[volosong]

Spending the weekend in Stevensville helping at a church function. First time visiting the Bitteroot Valley, and I must say that it is incredibly beautiful. I can understand people wanting to move here.

But . . . be sure to bring your bug spray. Those skeeters are relentless.

[SkylarkPhotoBooth]

Originally Posted by cumminszhere

Kalispell, a liberal stronghold???

Not in this lifetime.

I found that to be odd/humorous, as well. As far as I can tell Kalispell is a very conservative place. Nearby Whitefish might be more liberal, but not Kalispell.

[NDak15]

Originally Posted by SkylarkPhotoBooth

I found that to be odd/humorous, as well. As far as I can tell Kalispell is a very conservative place. Nearby Whitefish might be more liberal, but not Kalispell.

You won't find much more extreme conservatism outside of Kalispell and most of western Montana unless you go to Idaho, Utah, or the South.

[RogueMom]

I lived in the Bitteroot Valley (Stevensville) from 2006 - 2008. I worked at a retail establishment in Missoula (that retail company is now closed) for employment while I lived there. The effects of the housing "boom" were evident as many, many people from out of state were cashing out in their home states and moving there (the housing crash had not yet occurred. This was pre-September 2008, during the pumped-up housing "too big to fail" time period). There was not a lot of good paying jobs to be had, relative to the high cost of property, which had been driven up significantly by the influx of real estate cash-rich out of staters.

Now, this was a decade ago. Things may have changed. I will tell you that Missoula, and the Bitteroot Valley is (surprisingly?) liberal. Perhaps this is due to the University presence or the influx of liberal leaning Californians, but even the native Montanans that I met were of a liberal mindset. They were also good and giving people. HOWEVER, for the most part, they were somewhat innocent and naive, and had never experienced the DOWN SIDES of liberal policies. They grew up in in an isolated, very white bread world.

The state was the "whitest' in the nation, and may still be, with very little actual diversity, and few effects of illegal immigration were seen in the area during the years I was there. I tend to think it is easy to be "liberal" when you personally are not affected, or have not seen the negative, down sides of liberal leaning policies that will effect you and change your way of life.

The Bitteroot is beautiful and serene, but feels "cut off" from the REAL world. At least it did to me. If that is your desire, you will enjoy it. These days, however, there is a hefty price tag to be paid in that for the privilege of owning property and living there.

I had to leave and return to the "real world", here in the South, with all of it's social ills, but I was in need of it's cheap property taxes and cost of living.

Good luck.

[NDak15]

Originally Posted by RogueMom

I lived in the Bitteroot Valley (Stevensville) from 2006 - 2008. I worked at a retail establishment in Missoula (that retail company is now closed) for employment while I lived there. The effects of the housing "boom" were evident as many, many people from out of state were cashing out in their home states and moving there (the housing crash had not yet occurred. This was pre-September 2008, during the pumped-up housing "too big to fail" time period). There was not a lot of good paying jobs to be had, relative to the high cost of property, which had been driven up significantly by the influx of real estate cash-rich out of staters.

Now, this was a decade ago. Things may have changed. I will tell you that Missoula, and the Bitteroot Valley is (surprisingly?) liberal. Perhaps this is due to the University presence or the influx of liberal leaning Californians, but even the native Montanans that I met were of a liberal mindset. They were also good and giving people. HOWEVER, for the most part, they were somewhat innocent and naive, and had never experienced the DOWN SIDES of liberal policies. They grew up in in an isolated, very white bread world.

The state was the "whitest' in the nation, and may still be, with very little actual diversity, and few effects of illegal immigration were seen in the area during the years I was there. I tend to think it is easy to be "liberal" when you personally are not affected, or have not seen the negative, down sides of liberal leaning policies that will effect you and change your way of life.

The Bitteroot is beautiful and serene, but feels "cut off" from the REAL world. At least it did to me. If that is your desire, you will enjoy it. These days, however, there is a hefty price tag to be paid in that for the privilege of owning property and living there.

I had to leave and return to the "real world", here in the South, with all of it's social ills, but I was in need of it's cheap property taxes and cost of living.

Good luck.

There are a lot of liberals there but I found the extreme right wing crowd to be much harder to deal with. Very in your face. I don't like extremists from either side but they seemed louder.

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by RogueMom

I lived in the Bitteroot Valley (Stevensville) from 2006 - 2008. I worked at a retail establishment in Missoula (that retail company is now closed) for employment while I lived there. The effects of the housing "boom" were evident as many, many people from out of state were cashing out in their home states and moving there (the housing crash had not yet occurred. This was pre-September 2008, during the pumped-up housing "too big to fail" time period). There was not a lot of good paying jobs to be had, relative to the high cost of property, which had been driven up significantly by the influx of real estate cash-rich out of staters.

Now, this was a decade ago. Things may have changed. I will tell you that Missoula, and the Bitteroot Valley is (surprisingly?) liberal. Perhaps this is due to the University presence or the influx of liberal leaning Californians, but even the native Montanans that I met were of a liberal mindset. They were also good and giving people. HOWEVER, for the most part, they were somewhat innocent and naive, and had never experienced the DOWN SIDES of liberal policies. They grew up in in an isolated, very white bread world.

The state was the "whitest' in the nation, and may still be, with very little actual diversity, and few effects of illegal immigration were seen in the area during the years I was there. I tend to think it is easy to be "liberal" when you personally are not affected, or have not seen the negative, down sides of liberal leaning policies that will effect you and change your way of life.

The Bitteroot is beautiful and serene, but feels "cut off" from the REAL world. At least it did to me. If that is your desire, you will enjoy it. These days, however, there is a hefty price tag to be paid in that for the privilege of owning property and living there.

I had to leave and return to the "real world", here in the South, with all of it's social ills, but I was in need of it's cheap property taxes and cost of living.

Good luck.

Don't ever come to the San Francisco Bay area. We have got everything here. Very extreme it is like Star Trek. We have every kind of life form here that it's crazy.

[NDak15]

Originally Posted by nowhereman427

Don't ever come to the San Francisco Bay area. We have got everything here. Very extreme it is like Star Trek. We have every kind of life form here that it's crazy.

You still haven't escaped California huh?