Where should I move to in MT?

[mr_steve]

Background: My wife, myself and our two year old live in Omaha, NE where she is in year two of a four year OBGYN residency program (completion June 2023). We both grew up in ND, spent a couple years in both WA and AK. I’ve always wanted to live in MT for hunting, we both love the mountains for activities like snowboarding and lastly it allows us to be somewhat close to home to see family. The limiting factor for location is her job. Most smaller towns don’t have a dedicated OBGYN or you’d have to be on call most every night is my understanding. She would ideally like to live in a town of 15k or larger for those reasons, an ideal call ratio is 1:5-7. We have family in Helena and Butte so Helena is currently at the top of the list with Bozeman, Missoula and Sheridan (yes I know it’s in WY ) following. I’ve explored ideas like the Hamilton but I fear its too small. All that being said I have no experience with any of this, just basing this off of what I’ve read and what she has told me. I’d love to live in a smaller communityOur main goal is to find a community to invest ourselves in for decades to come and also have good work/life balance. Starting this month we will begin introducing ourselves to recruiters which may dictate a lot of this. We hope to have a plan by summer of 2022 to give us time to plan the move. I’ll update you all on what happens!


Question: Where in Montana should we look to move? Anyone have past experience with friends or family in a similar situation and can offer advice?

Thanks for any input and advice offered. I apologize for being another person looking to move to MT but I hope you understand our reasoning!

 

[shb]

MT is full.

 

[timmy]

I’d move to Bozeman.

 

[Doublecluck]

MT is full.

How original

Op- Bozeman is your huckleberry. Helena second, couldn’t pay me to live in Butte

 

[PrairieHunter]

Bozeman for sure. Bring lots of $

 

[mr_steve]

MT is full.

I expected this response and totally understand where you are coming from. I’ve explored the option of WY and would consider it more but the mountainous regions put me further from family besides Sheridan That being said I’ve been planning this for over a decade so there’s no changing my mind . We’d move back to ND but once you live near mountains it’s hard to live without them. I’d prefer to avoid towns like Bozeman and move to a town like Dillon but I’m not sure that’s completely possible.

 

[mr_steve]

It’ll be interesting to see if the Bozeman salaries compensate for the higher cost of housing and such. I also wonder if there is a higher demand for those positions that keeps the salary down. There’s been jobs posted for Glasgow which have higher salaries but again I understand them to be more demanding due to the remoteness.

Quality of life is most important. Salary is not even close to be the most important factor.

 

[Doublecluck]

I expected this response and totally understand where you are coming from. I’ve explored the option of WY and would consider it more but the mountainous regions put me further from family besides Sheridan That being said I’ve been planning this for over a decade so there’s no changing my mind . We’d move back to ND but once you live near mountains it’s hard to live without them. I’d prefer to avoid towns like Bozeman and move to a town like Dillon but I’m not sure that’s completely possible.

Just move to the burbs, Belgrade, Manhattan, Three forks, hell! even Livingston if your used to ND wind drifts. We spent the last 8 years in Belgrade before it became to much bozangeles for us, moved to three forks for now. If it were up to me and the kids we would be way out in the sticks, but the wife likes to visit civilization now and then. 25 min drive to Bozeman for us, I don’t have to work there but if I did it would be just far enough, but close enough to work.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

Kalispell could fit your bill and has lots of diverse outdoor opportunities. My brother works in the medical field there and seems to generally enjoy his colleagues and location. Lewistown is maybe pushing it on size, otherwise might work for you.

 

[Werty]

Bozeman is not what it used to be and I'm speaking of only 5 years ago. Sheridan is a cool town.

 

[FlatlanderAZ]

Kalispell looks like your jam to me.

 

[MLC]

We have a second home in Bozeman and (in normal years) live there during the fly fishing and ski season. If we were to list our property for sale today, the asking price would be about 190% of what we paid for it three years ago. So real estate is expensive. However, Bozeman has sort of outgrown its infrastructure. Too much traffic for the existing roads. Fargo for example is growing like crazy too and is much bigger than Bozeman, but has nowhere near the traffic issues Bozeman does. But lots of great restaurants and bars and unlimited outdoor activities. Beautiful scenery and, coming from North Dakota, great weather. Bozeman’s a nice place to live. My wife’s favorite Montana town is Ennis.

 

[Jason73]

You can live farther south and have great hunting without that god awful cold but you didn't hear it from me!

 

[Southern Elk]

Sheridan would be my choice out of the ones you listed. Healthcare jobs pay less in SW MT, because everyone wants to move here. My wife took a pay cut when we moved from MS.

 

[Gerald Martin]

I moved to Bozeman this summer and there isn’t significant price difference between the town and the close by ‘burbs. Benefits are being close to big town amenities and an airport. Be prepared to drive at least an hour for quality hunting without competition. The cost of housing will definitely make a higher salary important.
If commuting is an option, Three Forks is a nice area.
Also, Livingston if you can handle the wind.
Good luck with your moving plans!
Have you looked at Lewistown?

 

[mr_steve]

I moved to Bozeman this summer and there isn’t significant price difference between the town and the close by ‘burbs. Benefits are being close to big town amenities and an airport. Be prepared to drive at least an hour for quality hunting without competition. The cost of housing will definitely make a higher salary important.
If commuting is an option, Three Forks is a nice area.
Also, Livingston if you can handle the wind.
Good luck with your moving plans!
Have you looked at Lewistown?

Gerald I appreciate your input and knowing you live there now is a check in the positive column. I’d love to live near you. Lewistown seems to be similar to Hamilton in that it may be too small but honestly it’d be perfect if we could find the right job. It meets all the requirements but I haven’t verified the jobs there yet. I’ll plan to do more digging!

 

[mr_steve]

You can live farther south and have great hunting without that god awful cold but you didn't hear it from me!

Growing up in Northeast North Dakota (arguably one of the worst places during winter) and then spending time in Fairbanks AK, cold is all relative to me now. In a weird way I enjoy a cold, snowy winter.

 

[ntodwild]

Have you thought about Idaho Falls or somewhere in that area. It's a pretty centralized place to almost everything you would be looking for. Definitely 4 full seasons, larger, modern, skiing and snow resorts near by, all the hunting, fishing and outdoor activity you could want. I have never spent a winter there so don't know what that would be like?

 

[Montanan4life]

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)

 

[mr_steve]

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)

I’ve tried to get myself to love Billings but something about it doesn’t seem right for us. Too large? Lack of character? I don’t hear a lot of people say how much they love Billings but maybe it’s a well kept secret? You bring up a good point with the surrounding communities as options to commute from. I have a close friend who grew up there and he says it leaves room to be desired.