Where should I move to in MT?

Beat me too it I was gonna say Busby or Lame Deer......

If the hospital deal doesn't work out theres Pretty good option of starting a used auto parts store with things you just find along the roads.
#entrepreneur
Actually my not be the worst place to work. Your wife would likely be able to find a job at Indian Health Service (IHS) with little trouble and those jobs have great incentives when it comes to student loans if she has any. Probably would not want to make a career out of IHS but would be a good starter job. I would not live on the reservation but in one of the small towns nearby. Can pick up a house cheap in Colstrip.
 
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Livingston? The only downfall I see is the wind. It’s close to Yellowstone, and pretty central to loads of great hunting. Way cheaper than Bozeman.

I grew up in Anaconda. Butte and Anaconda are great in their own way, but their economies are in tough shape. Both towns can be pretty standoffish to outsiders. Anaconda is getting better as it’s being forced to metamorphosize, but I wouldn’t move to Butte for the life of me. It’s a good ol’ boys town and is way overpriced for what it is.

What about the Flathead area? That’s my dream, but prices are soaring. My other dream is living in the Alberton, Gorge and commuting into the Missoula area.

My goal when I was younger was to move back to Missoula where I went to college, but I ended up in Spokane. I love it. The economy is MUCH stronger, and the outdoor experiences are on par in most areas. The mountain biking, hiking, and ski areas are epic. Schweitzer is just over an hour away. With work deer hunting is good. Elk hunting sucks, but Idaho and MT are close. Just throwing out other ideas.
 
Nobody think of Billings? 2 largest hospitals in the state there, and many smaller towns in all directions if you don't mind a short commute. No mountains really close but you can get to them in an hour (Red Lodge)

Billings has a strong economy last I knew, but it’s flat, dirty, and pretty ran down. It also is flat and will feel like ND if you’d like that. I’ve spent quite a bit of time there. No offense. You are close to solid deer and elk hunting. Fishing should be good, but other outdoor recreation is minimal.
 
Livingston? The only downfall I see is the wind. It’s close to Yellowstone, and pretty central to loads of great hunting. Way cheaper than Bozeman.

I grew up in Anaconda. Butte and Anaconda are great in their own way, but their economies are in tough shape. Both towns can be pretty standoffish to outsiders. Anaconda is getting better as it’s being forced to metamorphosize, but I wouldn’t move to Butte for the life of me. It’s a good ol’ boys town and is way overpriced for what it is.

What about the Flathead area? That’s my dream, but prices are soaring. My other dream is living in the Alberton, Gorge and commuting into the Missoula area.

My goal when I was younger was to move back to Missoula where I went to college, but I ended up in Spokane. I love it. The economy is MUCH stronger, and the outdoor experiences are on par in most areas. The mountain biking, hiking, and ski areas are epic. Schweitzer is just over an hour away. With work deer hunting is good. Elk hunting sucks, but Idaho and MT are close. Just throwing out other ideas.
Spokane has that one dude that posts on here too much about all the IPA’s he drinks.
 
What about Miles City? I know it's not desirable but the river fishes pretty good, decent deer, antelope, good pheasant hunting, good waterfowl hunting. Plus it's home to the renowned DDD Rinella group :D
 
Hahahaha! We do have a pile of good breweries. I love some IPA’s. I save that for beertalk.com... 😏
 
I’m glad that people don’t see Billings as a good place for outdoor recreation. I’ve enjoyed a lot of fishing and bird, deer, antelope, elk, and bear hunting within an hour of Billings.
 
Butte sure doesn’t get much love. My son lives there and since he moved it has really grown on me. Great recreation, good food and beer joints. Some specialty places that are fun. Decent housing. Fairly central
 
We started building by Lewistown 4 years ago, not much going on as far as building new homes then. Now it's going crazy, so have the costs.
 
Clancy, MT is the greatest town in America. You can mail me your application and $100 fee for approval.

Benefis is building a satellite hospital in Helena, which would up Helena to two Hospitals.

In my opinion these are the larger towns of Montana that have gone to hell for keeps:Billings, Bozeman, Kalispell, Helena, Missoula. Great Falls and Butte are holding on, though Butte is too close to Bozeman to last much longer.
 
Clancy, MT is the greatest town in America. You can mail me your application and $100 fee for approval.

Benefis is building a satellite hospital in Helena, which would up Helena to two Hospitals.

In my opinion these are the larger towns of Montana that have gone to hell for keeps:Billings, Bozeman, Kalispell, Helena, Missoula. Great Falls and Butte are holding on, though Butte is too close to Bozeman to last much longer.
My wife’s cousins live in Clancy! Nice town and close enough to Helena. I’m not sure if Benefis will add an OBGYN to that new location, looks doubtful but we will be asking.
 
I had a neighbor in Billings that was a pharmacist I think it was, and he moved to Colstrip to take an IHS job which would pay back his student loans. I like Indians, Indian country and eastern Montana, but it sure isn’t for everybody.

I still think the Billings west end or the rim rocks are better places to live than anywhere in Bozeman or Missoula. Great views of the Beartooths. 45 minutes to all kinds of things where you’ll never see another person. 45 minutes from Bozeman is still a shit show unless you’re off trail at a random roadside spot.

Of the places I’ve lived though nothing beats Butte. Butte has more Montana left in it than anywhere. So much so, that it seems counterintuitive to be telling an out of stater about it on a public forum.
You can get yourself punched in the mouth in Butte without begging for it, but I sure like it there.
 
As far as the bigger towns go, I'm partial to the towns where you can enjoy both the mountains and the prairie (i.e. Billings and Great Falls). Both are often at the bottom of the list for a lot of people. If you like to fish for warm water fish- Billings, Great Falls, and Kalispell are probably best for that. Kalispell has a ton of water around so lots of different fishing opportunities. Kalispell doesn't have great hunting but has good predator hunting. Bozeman and Helena will have a lot of like minded outdoorsy people but that is both a good thing and a bad thing and both are growing too fast for my liking. Bozeman, Helena, and Kalispell are probably the most expensive to live. Pretty much all the big towns are close to good trout rivers. Kalispell maybe not as much as the others. Billings, Great Falls, and Bozeman have good waterfowl hunting. If you like upland bird hunting, Billings and Great Falls are probably the best. Helena and Kalispell are both really close to a couple of lakes. As far as big game hunting goes....there's a reason everyone seems to be going to eastern MT to hunt these days.

As far as social life, Billings and Missoula are the best two for concerts. Billings, Great Falls, and Missoula all have semi-pro baseball teams. Work wise for your wife, Great Falls and Billings have the best hospitals according to my ex-girlfriend who is a doctor.

If I had to live in one of the big western MT towns, it would probably be Butte, for the same reasons Gomer mentioned. It still feels like Montana to me.
 

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