Where should we move? How is your town?

[AmyK]

Hi Mamas

My DH and I have been thinking about moving.

We live in Denver and we love it...great weather, beautiful mountains, friendly people...the only drawback is that it is pretty expensive. It isn't as crazy as some places and we do fine on two salaries. The problem is that we would love for me (ideally both of us) to go down to part time to spend more time with Jack. It seems as if we are always rushing around to get it all done. We are really seeking a way to simplify our lives.

We are looking for a medium sized town, fairly liberal, with moderate weather. We are hoping to find a place that is fairly inexpensive to live. We own a 2bd 2ba house in a nice, safe neighborhood that we purchased for over $200,000. We are hoping to find some place where such a house would cost about half as what it goes for here.

I thought I would see what you all thought about your towns and if you had some ideas on where we
could find a niche for our family. Thanks,
Amy

[lilyka]

South Dakota is lovely. Sioux Falls has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation, the schools are good and the state is homeschooling friendly and our nubers are growing rapidly. I don't know how we fit on the liberal conservative scale but I think are very in the middle. I certainly isn't the Bible Belt :)

Housing is rather inexpensive. We own a side by side duplex with 2250 sq. feet (3 br, 1 bath, basement, playroom, living room dining room and large kitchen) on our side and 1750 s. feet just like ours minus the attic playroom. We rent the other side for $725. We paid under $120,000 for the whole thing and payments are under $1000 a month (minus rent :D ). You canusually get a new home with 4 bedrooms, finished basement for around $200,000. In some neighborhoods, thanks to city planning, you can get in for 0 down and 0% financing for a few years. Things are even cheaper if you are willing to live a couple of miles out of town. Yankton, not to far from here, has the sheapest housing in the nation.

OUr neighborhoods are nice, things are conviently located in the central part of town (don't need a car) and getting better on the edges (takes time). We have a diverse population with an active immigration program, tons of social services, a pretty good amount of culture and very little crime. Our population is around 120,000 but it has a sorta small town feel.

[lilyka]

double post :o

[Momma8]

Hi everyone! I just found yall & wanted to see if there were anyone else here in the beautiful state of Montana? My family & I are Air Force, stationed at Malmstrom AFB, Great Falls, Mt.
I would like to live more towards the mts, but wouldn't trade this state for any other! Clean air, lots of space, nice people, & TONS of horses, & lots of Catholics to boot!
I have 7 kids, do AP stuff.....homeschool....you know, all the weird stuff artists are looked askance for! :)
I hope to hear from y'all soon!
Take care & God bless,
Kim Fasser & Tribe!

[hahamommy]

I've just moved from Sioux Falls ~ Sandra is absolutely right about everything she said about the place. Unfortunately, it is very very cold in the winter and the wind blows (hard) all year! We now live in Rapid City, near the Black Hills ~ not far from Denver :D The hills prevent as much wind and also keep the temperatures more moderate than "East River." This area is known as a "banana belt" for the state, which I thought meant warmer temps and less snow, but I've been corrected ~ it means warmer temps and the snow melts more quickly :)
This is also known as a very conservative area, but I'm always looking to drag in a few more liberals and tip the scales! It also seems culturally isolated, but again, I'm doing my best to change what I can with that, too :love
The cost of living here is a bit more than SF, but much less than metropolitan areas like Denver, and the pay scale here seems to be on the lower end. That said, it is the most beautiful place on the planet, as far as I'm concerned anyway ;) The hills, the forest, the plains, it's all here! There is a large community of homeschoolers here, if that's your thing, I'm just getting to know everything myself and it's been a struggle, but no more than it would be in any other new town.
Good luck on your move, I look forward to your decision and how you arrived at it :) :hippie

[lilyka]

Diana is right about it being the most beautiful place on the planet. No contest. They have everything.

[meagen]

come visit missoula and you'll never want to leave. we're surrounded by mts,it's a university town, so a great mix of people. i absolutely love it here and wouldn't want to raise my dd anywhere else. besides that, you could definately find a house for half that price. a great many people here are poor but very happy to stay!

[peaceful_mama]

I'm new here. I live in Sioux Falls and I like it. I really don't know, I think we're moderate. I'm not into the homeschooling scene yet, ds is 7 mos. I think there's a live-and-let-live attitude out here, people don't really get into your business. I like that.
Nice neighborhoods, not too big or too small....yeah, I like Sioux Falls.

[alie]

Bozeman, MT is awesome, beautiful mountains, beautiful people, lots of activities for kids, huge homeschooling community, very liberal...lots of arts and a University. It's a little pricey, but if you lived in Belgrade or Livingston, you could afford it. It's also got that nice small town feel, but with lots of culture and open mindedness.

[SammyLucasNHarper]

Well, a mama said Missoula, MT yes Missoula is very nice but housing prices have gone CRAZY over the last few years :( My cousin bought a house 5 yrs ago for 111,000 he just sold it for 217,000 :spitdrink Also the traffic kills me. Its like a huge city traffic in an average town.

I am in Helena, MT We like it. not a ton of traffic. Housing prices are still fair you can get a 3bdrm house for around the 130,000. The downsides are there arent a LOT of stores to shop here. There are some...but we often go to Great Falls or Missoula or Bozeman for a variety. On one hand its kinda good there isnt a LOT here for shopping. It helps you save money :thumb Its the state capital so there are a LOT of GOV'T jobs here. Pretty decient wages!

:) Good Luck on your move!