Info on Great Falls, MT???

[Halfway]

Hi folks. We are gonna make a huge lifestyle change this year and Great Fall Montana is on the short list as well as a couple other Montana towns.

If any of you are from the vicinity of Great Falls and wouldn't mind sharing some info (non-personal), we would greatly appreciate it. Our timeline is about a year, so this is the narrowing of the list and gathering detailed info stage of our move.

Please PM me if you are so inclined.

Thanks in advance!!!!

[SunRiverMan]

I live there. The city is located more in Central Montana 4 hours from Billings, 3 hours from Missoula, 1 1/2 hours from Helena, and 2 1/2 hours from Bozeman. There is allot of wind here, but it keeps the snow down and would be great for a off grid setup.

Great Falls is basically on the plains before the mountains start and within driving distance. You can strike out in all directions and do things like Glacier or Yellowstone National Parks. There is a Air Force base here and sometimes finding a place to rent can be hard, but not impossible.

If you like the country there are some smaller communities within 30 minutes or less commuting time. Utilities are fairly cheap by standards elsewhere.

They say if you can't find something you need go to Great Falls. This place reminds me of the 60's era. They want to grow and the people don't.

I hope I helped. SRM

http://www.greatfalls.com/

http://mt.gov/

http://mt.gov/work/emp_opp.asp

http://dahlquistrealtors.com/Default.aspx?p=home

http://www.bigskyrealtyofmt.com/

EDIT- The Missouri River is a world class trout stream below Holter Lake. There is hunting in all directions once you learn the places and rules.

http://fwp.mt.gov/

EDIT II- I moved away once and came back. A mistake that cost me allot of money thinking I was going to make allot of money.

[oregon woodsmok]

It seems to me that Great Falls is often listed as the coldest spot in the nation or the warmest spot in the nation. You might want to check into the weather records if weather matters to you.

I have relatives who live there and like it.

[SunRiverMan]

If the weather stays above zero it is really not that bad. The air is dry. It will get cold in January and hot for July 4th. It makes you feel more alive to suffer a little and is not bad most of the time when the wind is not blowing, which it does allot. You learn to deal with it fairly easy. SRM

[BoldViolet]

Is it as windy as Casper, Wyoming is notorious for?

[Halfway]

Outstanding info folks.

Thank you very much for the links and details SRM. We are very resilient and outdoors oriented folks that hike, hunt, fish, explore year-round.

Glad to hear you returned from being away. That says alot about a place.

The wind and cold is not an issue, but it looks like the duration is obviously longer. Well, good enough reason to finally buy some snow machines.

I'll probably hit you up with more questions if you don't mind. I'm gonna plow through these links.

[stamphappy]

I'm from Great Falls but alas no longer due to husband's career. I'd move back in a heartbeat. It does get cold; mom said with the windchill this past 2 days it's been minus 20 degrees! Summer can be miserably hot. But the fishing is fantastic and the people are wonderful!

Husband (who's from Southern California) was very bemused when he first visited there as everyone on the country roads waves as they're driving by and he just didn't 'get that' at first.

Make sure you have irrigation water on your property. And make sure the well water tastes good to you---is on a good aquifer.

[wy_white_wolf]

Originally Posted by BoldViolet

Is it as windy as Casper, Wyoming is notorious for?

Almost

GF is Colder in the winter than Casper

[SunRiverMan]

Another thing is Montana is not a police state yet. They still will wave back if you do and just during hunting season I was given a warning for being polite to the officer after being stopped for speeding. I had three guns in my truck and it was not an issue.

The State Constitution protects gun ownership and hunting. Even felons get their rights back after five years for a non-gun related crime. SRM

[horsepoor21]

What are your other MT towns your interested in ? I'm on the NE side of MT and it's colder here than Great Falls . Windiest place we've ever lived and we've been in Alaska ,WY ,SD ,ND and I grew up in Cascade which is near Great Falls .

[Halfway]

Originally Posted by horsepoor21

What are your other MT towns your interested in ? I'm on the NE side of MT and it's colder here than Great Falls . Windiest place we've ever lived and we've been in Alaska ,WY ,SD ,ND and I grew up in Cascade which is near Great Falls .

Missoula, Helena, Kalispell.

[catahoula]

I grew up in Helena, also lived in Missoula for ten years. Wisdom Montana always was the coldest town on the weather map. The drive from Helena through the wolf Creek canyon to Great Falls is a fun little jaunt. Coming out of the mountains into that wide open plain that Great Falls sits in is breathtaking, so is the stench of the gas plant.

You see a sunset in the Great Falls area you'll understand why they call it the Big Sky State.
Many people thought C.M. Russell made those colors up.

You will not like Missoula in the Winter, the inversion hides the sun all winter long, when the wind blows the wrong way the stench of the French Town pulp mill is most unpleasant.

Regular people can't really afford to live in Kalispel.

Helena usually has good clean air, lots of really beautiful old gold rush mansions. At one point in time there were more millionaires in Helena per capita than anywhere else in the world.

[Pamela]

I grew up outside Missoula. I love Missoula. But there are a lot of inversions in the winter. The Pulp Mill that was in Frenchtown has been closed down for a year or 2 now. I never liked Great Falls. No specific reason. Just never liked to visit there, never went there if I didn't have too. Love Kalispel. Its as affordable as Missoula is. The Whitefish area is definitaly not affordable to the general population, however. Helena is ok, but I would never chose to live there myself.

[Marcia in MT]

I live in Great Falls, and agree with what most of the others have said.

The OPs like the outdoors lifestyle, and there's plenty of opportunity for that around here; the closest mountains are only about 30 minutes away.

However, I think I need to mention conditions that affect something near and dear to my heart: gardening. Most of the soil is either heavy gumbo (clay) or sand, with the best natural stuff in the creek bottoms -- and there are not really a lot of them (more around Missoula and Helena). We have spent almost 25 years amending our clay, and it is *almost* decent garden soil. And soil conditions tend to be very alkaline, which makes growing decent veggies somewhat challenging.

We seem to finally be emerging from a very long drought; last summer was cool and a bit wet and this winter we have already had more snow/moisture than we usually get in a whole year. Average moisture/year is about 17", which makes irrigating a necessity. (Our well is over 600' deep!)

Last average frost date is May 15, and first average frost date is September 15. Although the official growing season is longer, we can only really count on having 90 days. Spring weather is unpredictable, June is historically rainy, and the folks who want to plant early learn to deal with it. And August nights can be colder than tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants really like; using short season varieties, taking heroic protective measures, or both is a necessity! But most everything can be grown here, within reason. It just may take some extra work.

There are now 2 farmers' markets in the summer, and both could use more vegetable vendors.

We rarely smell the refinery or the sewage treatment plants, but we don't live near them, either. When I checked the weather records, Great Falls had the longest SW leg in its wind rose that I'd ever seen! There are more wind generators being planned around the area, as the wind is pretty constant. The 6 we can see from almost enywhere in town are almost always in motion.

Cost of living is ok, but of course, everything is going up. Employment opportunities are only fair and not a lot pay well, and construction jobs are nearly non-existent.

Unfortunately, a local brouhaha has resulted in urban chickens being banned. There are people working to reverse that, fortunately.

Schools are ok, but they changed how they taught handwriting at least once when our kids were in school, and neither one has what I'd consider good handwriting. Don't know what they are doing now.

Besides the outdoor attractions, there are plenty of entertainment opportunities.

All in all, it's a good place to live and raise a family.

[sewtlm]

The land prices near the cities you listed are much higher than the eastern part of the state.

Don't forget to look at Billings and the surrounding area if MT is were you really want to be.

The cold here is different than other places. It's dry here in central and eastern MT. The only place it's really cold is up on the High Line were it stays sub-zero from Nov to March.

[Pamela]

We lived up in Chester for three years. It is on the hi-line NE of Great Falls. Very windy, intensely cold in the winter. But there is a beauty of its own on the plains. If I didn't long to move home to Missoula, I would look at Eastern Montana. More affordable area to live, but just to far from where I want to be....

[Halfway]

Wow!

Thank you so much for helping to paint the picture.

"Smells", sounds funny, but is very real and thanks for this input! Sioux City Iowa is nick-named "Sewer" City because of the persistent raunchy odor on the south side. They say you get used to it, but I was never there long enough, uggghhhh nasty.

**Small town. Laid back. Decent values and low crime. Access to hunting, fishing, mountains, outdoor adventure. Low taxes. Decent cost of living. Ability to homestead (horses, chickens, garden). Colleges (opportunity to teach the occasional class). Military base within 90 miles (commissary).**

This is how Great Falls is on the short list. Also looking at other Montana towns as well as Colorado and Wyoming.

Anyone else?

Always, thanks for the input in advance!

[mtfarmchick]

And in Northeastern Montana you can be in line ahead of someone and say "Are you horsepoor21 on homesteadingtoday.com?", (having never spoken to that person on the phone much less met them in person), and have that person say yes I am (even if a little hesitanly).

Great Falls is an awesome town. It really does have just about anything you would need.

[SolarGary]

Originally Posted by SunRiverMan

Another thing is Montana is not a police state yet. They still will wave back if you do and just during hunting season I was given a warning for being polite to the officer after being stopped for speeding. I had three guns in my truck and it was not an issue.

The State Constitution protects gun ownership and hunting. Even felons get their rights back after five years for a non-gun related crime. SRM

The MT state constitution (redone in 1972) also guarantees “the right to a clean and healthful environment.”

---------

What are the other towns in MT that you are thinking about?
I've always liked Choteau, which is not far from Great Falls and smaller.

Gary (Bozeman)

[MTplainsman]

This thread is interesting, as I too have been in need of more info on GF and the surrounding area. I am at the crossroads where I will stay up here in the corner and run cattle, or move to the GF area in one year. Just over a month ago I stayed at my sister's in GF for a week. Now keep in mind, that I am the poorist city boy one could imagine, and for me to find my way around a town of this size is quite something! In GF though, even a guy like me from a town of 10, can reasonably find my way around most of the city. Fortunately GF was built slowly and carefully. It's streets are all laid out in straight lines. It has a small town flavor in a city sized package. Cities like Missoula were built faster than they could plan for, making it a mass confusion to folks like myself. I am settling my sights on the GF area due to it being a large population center, but still with access to every type of mountian range from Glacier's carved beauties to the pretty Belts, and every type, size and shape you'd want. You wanna hit the big open range country, well, it's right there to. There's access to fishing in every directions it seems. I wanted to bring over my furnace and duct cleaning business/carpentry there, but as said above, the work sounds pretty frugal for such type of work. I've stayed in GF alot over the years, and personaly I havn't found anything I hate about it yet. I have some dear friends there that help my decision to move as well.

I lived in Casper for awhile, and I remember road report warnings for trucks that literally blow over on some highways every year. Well, not gonna say it's quite to that level in GF, in fact I doubt it is, but it does have a draft most days. Huh, come to think of it, everything across the Hi-line blows most days to some degree. Out at our farm higher than the surrounding land, it blew most days of the week. Never did like it, but thats one of the last things on my list I'm gonna concider when looking for a new home! If you can't put up with wind, than don't pick a place on the priairie... it's that simple.

I just went to Belt to check it out, as it is about 20 miles? from GF. Seemed alright, but I don't now how the people are. I was told to talk to a man from Choteau who owns a trucking business and a huge ranch. He is supposed to know alot of contacts for me. A friend of his and mine told me that he knows everybody! I have yet to call him, but maybe he can find me a house over there. Augusta is neat, but what would you do for a living there? Than you got towns like Cascade, right next to the mountians, so I assume the cost of a house, if you can even find one, would be killer for my budget. Vaughn kinda turned into a giant meth lab, but there are towns like Fort Shaw, Sun River etc, that seem nice to me, however I was told by my friend there that flooding occurs a lot of springs along that river. Hmmm, I am kinda lost were to plant over there myself. Another thing I worry about moving over west, is the people... I'm not sure how many natives are still over there these days, but I don't wanna run into a bunch of stuck-up transplants most surely. There are alot of things to concider, as I wanna do things right the firts time or two, ok, maybe three if thats what it takes, LOL!