havre montana and jobs (Billings, Beaver Creek: sales, lease, house)

[princessashb]

Hi..this is my first time going on one of these kind of sites, so if i make mistakes for posting threads, im sorry My questions are for/about anyone from havre montana and/or working for bnsf railroad company. My husband and I are planning on moving over to Havre to hopefully get him into a railroad job. Right now he works for a company that builds and repairs trains from not only bnsf but many others as well, and he has wanted to get into doing a railroad job ever since he started working at this place. The reason we are picking havre is because it is small but not too small (gotta have the walmart...lol ) and it is FAR FAR away from our in-laws (as I'm sure most of you can understand), and also it has railroad work (hopefully). What I am wondering is if anyone can give me some more information on havre (I have already read the other posts for the town itself, but most of it is just people asking about havre. Noone really gets into the real facts about it except to argue about the presence/non presence of gangs and meth... So here are some of my questions:
1: What are the housing costs like?
2: Is it very hard to get a job with bnsf? and what are the jobs like?
3: Is there ANY forest around or is it all really just wheat fields?
4: Does anyone have any pictures or know of a site with good pictures of the town?
5: How are the schools?
6: Is there any nursing home jobs or if not, what kind of nursing jobs are there?
7:Is it going to be a "churchy" kind of town? (please dont take offense I am just curious, I dont mean anything bad by this question)
8:How is the drinking water?
9: Is the weather there similar to Idaho's?
10: Is the meth/gang problem really that big of an issue?

I am hoping to get a reply from someone who is actually LIVING there, or has lived there very recently. Also, before you answer, I would like to let you know, that yes, I do realize it is cold (it is cold here in idaho too) and we LOVE the cold weather and snow, and my husband and I are both very good drivers in the winter conditions.We are both used to foresty kind of environment, but if it isnt like that then that wont be a problem...We dont mind. Also, I realize that it will take some time to get to know everyone and that small towns can be cliqueish. We have lived in small towns and know exactly how they are...it will be no surprise. So please, if you do answer me, please please, dont just try to tell me that I should "check it out before I move there" I have seen that reply time and time again on the other posts and that is not quite what I am looking for. We are DEFINATELY going to move there, I would just like to know some things before we do. And we arent even going to be coming for another year, (because we have a lease right now) so it isnt something I am just rushing into. So Anyhow, if you do have some answers for me it would be very much appreciated!! And also if you can think of something else that I might not have thought to ask, that would be important to know too, please dont hesitate to tell me anthing you can. Thank you so much guys!! I really appreciate it!

[Rickers]

There are few places in Idaho that can compare with the winters on the high line and you may find yourself jonesing for amenities. You don't have to worry about a gang or meth problem compared to a sizable city like Boise.

[shortdog]

1: What are the housing costs like? depends if you buy or rent. expect from 80,000 up to buy and 450 and up to rent
2: Is it very hard to get a job with bnsf? depends if they are hiring, contact the job service to find out and what are the jobs like? do not know what jobs you are referring to..however, if you want to work there are jobs to be had all over town
3: Is there ANY forest around or is it all really just wheat fields? No forest, but we do have a nice County Park just outside or town
4: Does anyone have any pictures or know of a site with good pictures of the town? go to the Chamber of Commerce site for Havre
5: How are the schools? pretty good. they are divided by the grades into different schools around town
6: Is there any nursing home jobs or if not, what kind of nursing jobs are there? we have a big care center next to our hospital. both are always looking for various positions to be filled
7:Is it going to be a "churchy" kind of town? (please dont take offense I am just curious, I dont mean anything bad by this question) we have many churches, but do not have people on the street preaching or looking down on you if you do not attend
8:How is the drinking water? I use a filtration pitcher, but some drink it
9: Is the weather there similar to Idaho's? depends...we can get as high as over 100 degrees and as low as 45-80 below with wind chill.
10: Is the meth/gang problem really that big of an issue? no, they are not hanging on street corners. we do have drug sales and use, but local authorities are always trying to curb the activity


Havre is a nice town and has nice people. It is and does have a small town feel
Good luck!

[mattman3seven]

Havre_Montana_Fort_Assinniboine_Pictures
http://www.montanapictures.net/havre-montana.htm

Tons of pictures of MT here! Scroll to the bottom for more pictures of Havre

[Mt.SNOW]

I am not living in Montana and don't have any answers for you but I did have to reply because i have nightmare inlaws, so the wanting to get away, boy do i ever understand ya there. We are looking into great falls, and dh is supposed to be getting a phone call interview tommorow..Wish us luck...Hope you get the answers you looking for.

[trwmontana]

My wife and I relocated several years ago to Havre having never seen the town. She was attending nursing school there and I found a job about a week after arriving (however...types of jobs and economy all play into results).

Here are some quick answers:

1: What are the housing costs like? We rented a house for about $300 per month...but wasn't the best house.

2: Is it very hard to get a job with bnsf? and what are the jobs like? In my experience, when people found out that we moved to town, they always asked whether we were here for the railroad or for the nursing school (which has a great program).

3: Is there ANY forest around or is it all really just wheat fields? Compared to Boise, yes, wheat fields. Think southern Idaho landscape. But mountains and forest are within short drives away...30 min, 1 hour, etc.

6: Is there any nursing home jobs or if not, what kind of nursing jobs are there? Goods options for a town this size. 1 hospital, 1 nursing home, new cancer center, health clinic on Rocky Boy reservation, and HDAC non profit center for adults with disabilities.

7:Is it going to be a "churchy" kind of town? (please dont take offense I am just curious, I dont mean anything bad by this question). I can't answer about churchy, since how can we define this? But, Hill County is a fairly liberal part of Montana on average, but that doesn't necessarily mean that church is separate from those who vote Democrat or are liberal.

8:How is the drinking water? We rented an old house and preferred to get our water through Culligan. Your call on this one, but I questioned the performance of the water department while a resident because of poor communication with the community with any issues that surfaced.

9: Is the weather there similar to Idaho's? Havre is on the plains...cold winters (i.e. both winters I was there witnessed 42 below zero) and then hot summers.

10: Is the meth/gang problem really that big of an issue? Meth is a problem all over the country and tends to be common in rural locations, Havre included. But, common doesn't mean that non-meth users would really ever come across it besides reading about it in the paper. Depends entirely on the crowd you associate with. As for gangs, never saw anything. A few rough characters in town (it's a railroad town), but nothing worse than any other town of its size. Havre sometimes gets a rough reputation for things that commonly occur in other towns, but get overlooked, generally speaking.

[Keim]

I lived in Havre in the 1980s. I can't answer most of your questions. But I don't imagine the landscape has changed. It is windy, very flat and brown in the summer. On a clear day I could see the Sweetgrass Hills, 110 miles away. That is flat! You could see a storm coming a day i advance. We regularly saw -30 and -40 in the winter, not factoring in windchill, which is always a factor. Coldest I saw was -65, cold enough to freeze the oil in my car, despite the block heater. Warmest was 110. I seem to recall ocassional wind gusts of up to 60-70 mph. Despite, or perhaps because of, the climate, I very much enjoyed living there, wind and all.

I would like to put a plug in for the county park mentioned earlier. Beaver Creek park is huge! It is about 20 miles long, by 1 or 2 miles wide. It has some great camping, and is located in the Bear Paw mountains, which are quite nice. Being a mountainous area it is less windy. I spent a lot of time out there.

I don't recall Havre city water being particularl bad. I lived out of town and had a well. We had hard water. It tasted very good.

I really liked Havre, and had a great experience there. Before I wrap-up, have I mentioned the wind?

[montanatooregon]

Havre, are you serious? Don't go to Rocky Boys unless you know somebody on the Res. Yeap there is plenty of meth in Havre. Gangs, not really unless you are on the mean streets of Billings. Just remember to conceal and carry and use lethal force on zombie methheads and wannabe gangbangers.