Brady, Montana = Best kept secret in the state

[DonnaGardens2]

Originally Posted by City Guy997S

Donna forgot to mention it is 100-200 miles north of any sizable town like Bozeman, Missoula, etc

Nope,

The Home Depot I mentioned is in Great Falls. I could be wrong, but Great Falls is larger than Bozeman or Missoula.
Shelby is a nice sized town and growing all the time. And, Cut Bank is almost as large as Bozeman and is less than 100 miles away.

Helena is around 150 away.

I have choices. The roads leading out always lead me back again.



DonnaGardens2

[OneDawg]

Originally Posted by DonnaGardens2

I could be wrong, but Great Falls is larger than Bozeman or Missoula. Shelby is a nice sized town and growing all the time. And, Cut Bank is almost as large as Bozeman and is less than 100 miles away. DonnaGardens2

Nope - you're wrong.



Great Falls (58,638) is slightly larger than Bozeman (45,250) and smaller than Missoula (73,340) and tiny compared to Billings (169,676). Cut Bank is 3,002 and Shelby is 3,376 and Brady is less miniscule at 140.

[historyfan]

Originally Posted by OneDawg

Nope - you're wrong.



Great Falls (58,638) is slightly larger than Bozeman (45,250) and smaller than Missoula (73,340) and tiny compared to Billings (169,676). Cut Bank is 3,002 and Shelby is 3,376 and Brady is less miniscule at 140.

That population number is way too high for Billings.

The last estimates from census bureau are from 2017-

Billings is about 110,000 & 7,000 for Laurel.

Missoula 73,000.

Bozeman 47,000 & 7,000 for Belgrade, so together almost as many as Gt Falls.

Great Falls 59,000.

Kalispell 23,000.

[AirborneVespa]

Originally Posted by OneDawg

Nope - you're wrong.



Great Falls (58,638) is slightly larger than Bozeman (45,250) and smaller than Missoula (73,340) and tiny compared to Billings (169,676). Cut Bank is 3,002 and Shelby is 3,376 and Brady is less miniscule at 140.

I wonder if that's Bozeman proper or surrounding areas? I'd venture that the surrounding areas of Bozeman are far more populated than the GF surrounding areas which makes Bozeman seem a lot more populated.

[NW Crow]

Billings' metropolitan area population is up to almost 172,000 as of 2018. Official metro area for this count consists of Yellowstone and Carbon & Golden Valley counties.

Bozeman's metro population is at 111,000. The metro is just Gallatin County to my knowledge, though it might expand in future.

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by OneDawg

Nope - you're wrong.



Great Falls (58,638) is slightly larger than Bozeman (45,250) and smaller than Missoula (73,340) and tiny compared to Billings (169,676). Cut Bank is 3,002 and Shelby is 3,376 and Brady is less miniscule at 140.

Usually look at the area that has the biggest airport.........they tend to put those in places where the most amount of users will be.

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by DonnaGardens2

Nope,

The Home Depot I mentioned is in Great Falls.



DonnaGardens2

Driving 40-45 mins EACH WAY to Home Depot is crazy......especially if weather is a concern. 40-45 mins to an airport/seaport or even a fancy mall/fancy restaurant for a special occasion is fine but just to get to a HD...... no chance.

[DonnaGardens2]

Originally Posted by City Guy997S

Driving 40-45 mins EACH WAY to Home Depot is crazy......especially if weather is a concern. 40-45 mins to an airport/seaport or even a fancy mall/fancy restaurant for a special occasion is fine but just to get to a HD...... no chance.

Point taken and point being made is that most Home Depots are in a community that will have airport or even a fancy mall/fancy restaurant for those special occasions - which is all fine and good.



If it is OK to drive that far for those events or occasions, and a Home Depot is also there, then 45 minutes is not considered crazy.



You have got to know when driving that distance one is putting in a multiple of errands into one trip. So, HD is just a generalization to getting into a populated commercial environment.



Brady is the outlet to leaving it all behind. Something I hear from folks living in even in Great Falls, how the city bus goes by the house rumbling so fast that pictures on the walls were shaking. The neighbors around them driving them nuts. Wanting to live in a less hectic area where silence is only broken by an occasional truck going by.



I really have found a haven in my corner of the world. My only problem is the property is too large for one person. I have dreams of downsizing, but the cost of living will go up. Seems a backwards trade off.

[Redraven]

In Montana, a 45 minute drive to get anywhere is considered a "quick trip".
A long drive (say, to the Commissary at the nearest AFB) is 3 to 4 hours. (I do not go there often)
I live about 5 miles outside the city limits, but any store I want to visit is at least half an hour away, on the other side of town. Driving through town or taking the freeway doesn't make much difference timewise.
People who live in small states (mostly Eastern) do not understand Western states, more often than not. A 45 minute drive for them usually results in crossing the State Line! (depending on traffic, of course)

[MTSilvertip]

I drive 50 minutes to work on good road days. When it's a blizzard, add at least another 1/2 hour, 45 minutes.

It's 10 miles, 6 of those dirt road, just to get to the nearest town with a gas station. At least 20 minutes.

This is just the way it is here.