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Moving : Helena, MT

Take your thermal undies, it gets cold in that thar country.
 
Look at RCP for election results by County. You can go to State/Local elections sites for results by precinct.

Census dot gov has a lot of good info.
 
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Comeon! You're in Montana. They have Democrats, but I doubt they're the fucking rabid, racist, communist, totalitarian motherfuckingcunts they are in most of the country.

Missoula and Bozeman would disagree.

You can generally get back into MT by driving 30 minutes in the right direction though.



Helena isn't horrible. Wouldn't be my first choice, as the state capitol it attracts lots of worthless shitbags, otherwise known as politicians. Look on Practiscore for match info. Different areas of the state will be all pistol stuff, others all rifle, some 3 gun and random stuff. Most clubs seem to have their "thing" and you'll be traveling to do something else.


It is odd how a very high percentage of the Kalispel area makes their living selling firearms or parts, and yet they are starting to have the yuppie liberal idiots raising a stink there also.
 
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As much as I like the “old” Montana......the political landscape is rapidly changing. Much like many states, the population bases determine the state officials, and federal senators/representatives......and some are the opposite of conservative! memtb
 
I have visited there and it's too cold for me but it's a beautiful place.
 
Lived in Bozeman from 2015 to 2018. MT is a beautiful state but increasingly invaded by spoiled, rich leftists from CA and other high income places who spread their attitudes and policies. Well paying jobs are scarce in MT, so you better bring your own money. Bozeman is especially bad due to the proximity to Big Sky.

Winters are long and cold. Many trails, campgrounds, etc. are overrun in the summer due to the short season and everybody being in MT for the outdoors. At least one week in the summer is sketchy for high cardio-pulmonary activity due to smoke from forest fires.

20 acres feels tiny in most places out there due to the lack of old hardwood trees. Also watch out for covenants prohibiting hunting/shooting on your land (see comment about spoiled leftists above).
 
Seems like most are using Montana internet , the satellite service.

Can anyone give me any information on how reliable/stable it is? Is it capable of video conferencing all day for work. I’m talking a full remote work from home option.
 
I have a customer here in Utah that is using it. He said it works great until all the kids come home from school and start streaming.

A 5G cellular Hotspot might be another option.
 
Can that be fix by upgrading to a better plan or is it just a system bandwidth issue?
 
Seems like most are using Montana internet , the satellite service.

Can anyone give me any information on how reliable/stable it is? Is it capable of video conferencing all day for work. I’m talking a full remote work from home option.
Using traditional, geosynchronous satellites, you are going to have latency that makes VoIP communication painful to useless. This delay is caused by the distance to and from the satellite. (distance/speed of light = delay).
Elon Musk is in the process of releasing thousands of Lower Earth Orbit satellites that should alleviate this problem by reducing the distance but the whole thing is not ready "out of the box".
Your best bet would be 4G/5G or a local, long-range WIFI provider.
 
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It's an OK area. Helena is an OK city. Nothing special.

lol @ outsiders who think Montana is more Democrat than it has been. Factually, it is more Republican right now than in any time in recent history. Could that change? Sure, but the trends are otherwise.
 
Can that be fix by upgrading to a better plan or is it just a system bandwidth issue?
A better plan with more bandwidths is not going to fix the time-of-flight latency. The signal has to travel 35,786 km (22,236 mi) twice, to and from the satellite. That takes about .24 seconds as calculated through 35,786 * 2 * 1000 [Distance in m] / 299,792,458 [Speed of light in m/s] = 0.2389 [Time of Flight in s].

If you click a web link, the request to the server takes a minimum of 0.24 seconds to get there and the reply coming back to your browser another 0.24 seconds. So ~500 milliseconds (1/2 second) response trip time is the best you can hope for with traditional satellite compared to about 30 milliseconds via cable. However, this does not matter when streaming video or audio.
 
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I kind of like Helena where it is. Any reason you want to move it north? If you start moving cities around you are bound to have someone up your ass, may not be a leftist though.
 
The roads suck, the weather sucks, the hunting sucks, the people suck (if you're not from MT you won't be welcomed), the taxes suck, the restaurants suck.. Helena is not even in top 5,000 cities in which to live in the U.S.

I hear North Dakota is nice.
 
The roads suck, the weather sucks, the hunting sucks, the people suck (if you're not from MT you won't be welcomed), the taxes suck, the restaurants suck.. Helena is not even in top 5,000 cities in which to live in the U.S.

I hear North Dakota is nice.
And yet somehow it’s still better in just about all ways from Minneapolis.

🤔🤷‍♂️
 
If internet is an issue the only way to have good speed is with cable company. If you are close to a tower Montana internet works well but degrades with distance. Other Over air and satellite don’t cut it. Cell service can be a bit spotty depending on where the property is located. 5G is none existent especially in any out of town areas across the state. Helena is alright they have their share of dems do to the State and Fed being the biggest employers but generally not obnoxiously so. Bozangeles and Missoula have gone full Marxist. Oh and if you move there you got to share your ammo/primer stash🤪
 
And yet somehow it’s still better in just about all ways from Minneapolis.

🤔🤷‍♂️
Depending on where you are looking 'north of Helena' this is some fun stuff too.
gUa8BFY.mp4
vvyjDFR.jpg


GaOXsTI.jpg


That was a few years ago. A nice popular (and heavily wooded) BLM spot where about every 3 years some knuckle head goes up there and either starts a fire shooting steel during fire season OR like this fire where the knucklehead thought shooting tannerite in dry windy conditions would be 'super cool'.

11 years in North Helena and that's the third or fourth fire incident up there. That last one we evacuated in my RV- 4 adults, 3 dogs and 2 cats. Boy that was fun.
 
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Not to forget- my neighbor behind me (from CA) called the sheriffs department on me for cutting scrub trees encroaching on overhead powerlines- ON MY PROPERTY. She said I was 'killing the innocent trees'. Whacked out bitch.

And now I have a new neighbor to the west of me (also from CA), and the wife doesn't like driving on the rutted and muddy road (she doesn't want to get her BMW SUV dirty I guess) so she overlands on my front property. The one I painstakingly removed all weeds and re-seeded 4X with dryland grasses.

Oh and they thought it'd be great to raise geese, turkeys, ducks and chickens- all free range. Then they come over and ask me "Do you know what happened to XX number of our birds?"- "Yeah- I'll just take a wild stab at it and say its either the coyotes that live to north or any number of eagles or hawks that live here.. Just a scientific wild ass guess, but hey- I could be wrong".

As soon as I retire I am moving elsewhere in Montana to avoid the idiots here in Helena.
 
Leftists won't be your problem. Freezing to death will be your problem. But it's a good place to live 4 months out of the year. Think about moving to Anchorage instead. The weather's better along the water and people are much more chill in AK. Way nicer geography and hunt fish there if you do that.

Shit, it's warm! It was 30* today!


Fishing does suck. 10000 boats on any lake in the western side, or trout streams. Have to venture over to ft. Peck to find walleye.
 
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Not to forget- my neighbor behind me (from CA) called the sheriffs department on me for cutting scrub trees encroaching on overhead powerlines- ON MY PROPERTY. She said I was 'killing the innocent trees'. Whacked out bitch.

And now I have a new neighbor to the west of me (also from CA), and the wife doesn't like driving on the rutted and muddy road (she doesn't want to get her BMW SUV dirty I guess) so she overlands on my front property. The one I painstakingly removed all weeds and re-seeded 4X with dryland grasses.

Oh and they thought it'd be great to raise geese, turkeys, ducks and chickens- all free range. Then they come over and ask me "Do you know what happened to XX number of our birds?"- "Yeah- I'll just take a wild stab at it and say its either the coyotes that live to north or any number of eagles or hawks that live here.. Just a scientific wild ass guess, but hey- I could be wrong".

As soon as I retire I am moving elsewhere in Montana to avoid the idiots here in Helena.

You should have offered to put one of the trees in her living room so she could hug it every morning.
 
Not to forget- my neighbor behind me (from CA) called the sheriffs department on me for cutting scrub trees encroaching on overhead powerlines- ON MY PROPERTY. She said I was 'killing the innocent trees'. Whacked out bitch.

And now I have a new neighbor to the west of me (also from CA), and the wife doesn't like driving on the rutted and muddy road (she doesn't want to get her BMW SUV dirty I guess) so she overlands on my front property. The one I painstakingly removed all weeds and re-seeded 4X with dryland grasses.

Oh and they thought it'd be great to raise geese, turkeys, ducks and chickens- all free range. Then they come over and ask me "Do you know what happened to XX number of our birds?"- "Yeah- I'll just take a wild stab at it and say its either the coyotes that live to north or any number of eagles or hawks that live here.. Just a scientific wild ass guess, but hey- I could be wrong".

As soon as I retire I am moving elsewhere in Montana to avoid the idiots here in Helena.
Ha. I am only 45 minutes away from you, maybe an hour, and the California transplants here are generally normal. It takes a certain type to move where I am, though.
 
Depending on where you are looking 'north of Helena' this is some fun stuff too.
gUa8BFY.mp4
vvyjDFR.jpg


GaOXsTI.jpg


That was a few years ago. A nice popular (and heavily wooded) BLM spot where about every 3 years some knuckle head goes up there and either starts a fire shooting steel during fire season OR like this fire where the knucklehead thought shooting tannerite in dry windy conditions would be 'super cool'.

11 years in North Helena and that's the third or fourth fire incident up there. That last one we evacuated in my RV- 4 adults, 3 dogs and 2 cats. Boy that was fun.
The first picture shows a converted BAe 146 jet operated by Neptune Aviation based in Missoula. If you are into unusual airplanes and helos, Neptune is worth visiting as the major firefighting contractors in the US.

Here is another shot of a BAe 146. Notice the deployed speed brake at the tail which allows a steeper approach angle. This aircraft is not light or small by any means and it is amazing to see how they are flown for firefighting.

McMurray-Fire-2019-Mike-Eliason.jpg



When was the last time you needed to wash smoke stains off your airplane?

Abilene-2019-Lynn-Beard-Abilene-Aero.jpg
 
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Tester is from Montana and he is as left as you can get. Helena's streets were designed by someone on crack, not as bad as Missoula but not much better. Montana is becoming a haven for the left and they are ruining the state. At the same time north of Helena is great country if you can survive the winter.
 
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Where are good places to fly fish smaller streams with public access? I’m not looking to float fish the Bighorn. I guess maybe one of you could narrow down the areas to visit and camp, perhaps on a smaller geographic area.
 
Tester is from Montana and he is as left as you can get. Helena's streets were designed by someone on crack, not as bad as Missoula but not much better. Montana is becoming a haven for the left and they are ruining the state. At the same time north of Helena is great country if you can survive the winter.
Just for shits and giggles, after the 2006 election, Montana was 50-50 in its state house, 26-24 D in the state senate, had two D senators and a D governor. It is currently 67-33 R, 30-20 R, has one senator from each party and an R governor. Exactly zero of the statewide elected officials are Democrats. Let's not pretend there was some prelapsarian golden age of conservatism in Montana compared to now. It just doesn't comport with the facts.
 
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Seems like most are using Montana internet , the satellite service.

Can anyone give me any information on how reliable/stable it is? Is it capable of video conferencing all day for work. I’m talking a full remote work from home option.
Good question. There have been several people who were retiring from the military and were going to work as a "Government contractor" here in Montana. What I was told was that there was not a "secure" enough Internet anywhere in Montana for their kind of work. My Internet bogs down after 5 pm in the evening. I would imagine it is due to streaming movies, etc.

There is legislation in the State Senate to take part of the Federal money and upgrade Montana's infrastructure. That move is hung up due to the argument of how to get Internet to the most people at the least cost. Option #1 is to build more cell towers. Option #2 is to lay more fiber optic to remote areas.... Going to be a long wait for Internet to remote areas.

__________________________________
About $360 million for broadband infrastructure that can expand access to high-speed Internet to areas of the state without it.
 
Good question. There have been several people who were retiring from the military and were going to work as a "Government contractor" here in Montana. What I was told was that there was not a "secure" enough Internet anywhere in Montana for their kind of work. My Internet bogs down after 5 pm in the evening. I would imagine it is due to streaming movies, etc.

There is legislation in the State Senate to take part of the Federal money and upgrade Montana's infrastructure. That move is hung up due to the argument of how to get Internet to the most people at the least cost. Option #1 is to build more cell towers. Option #2 is to lay more fiber optic to remote areas.... Going to be a long wait for Internet to remote areas.

__________________________________
About $360 million for broadband infrastructure that can expand access to high-speed Internet to areas of the state without it.
Yeah, the internet here is for shits. I am 50 miles from cell service too. Lol.
 
Where are good places to fly fish smaller streams with public access? I’m not looking to float fish the Bighorn. I guess maybe one of you could narrow down the areas to visit and camp, perhaps on a smaller geographic area.
Camp sites, with hook ups, are booked up through the summer.... You can dry camp in the National Forest, 14 day stay limit.
Are you wanting to hire a guide to fish or do you have your own raft?
I'm in the Bitterroot Valley... South of Missoula. It has the feel of a "Boom Town" with new home construction (Single family and apartments). Infrastructure will need major upgrades to support the increase in population.
Missoula is the major city here and everything else is leaning towards becoming "Bedroom communities". Long commute in bad weather.
Still better than Los Angeles, Boston, Seattle, Atlanta, New Orleans, San Diego, Austin, Dallas / Ft Worth....
Pick your poison..
 
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Where are good places to fly fish smaller streams with public access? I’m not looking to float fish the Bighorn. I guess maybe one of you could narrow down the areas to visit and camp, perhaps on a smaller geographic area.
Those are found in Wyoming and Idaho.


It's not uncommon to see 500 drift boats and thousands lining the banks of the better areas during the summer.
 
Heading to the Helena area now to check things out.
 
We don’t have high speed internet in Montana. The whole state is still on dialup. We don’t have much for grocery stores either. You have to grow your own food and raise chickens and cattle if you want meat. No public lands here. You can’t even own guns here. It’s worse than NJ and Cali combined. Winters are super long. It snowed yesterday. Probably will snow this weekend too. Not much to do here either.
 
Just south of Helena this last June. One went from a lightening strike to 2000 acres of in an hour. Photos From our front porch
 

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A month ago it was -34 here in Central Montana.

We're behind on moisture so might be an active fire season

Real estate prices and rent red hot if you can even find something.

People seem to move here all the time but then leave after a couple years.
 
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One of the houses that caught our attention sold in under 24 hrs...

Just got to Helena an hr ago.
 
One of the houses that caught our attention sold in under 24 hrs...

Just got to Helena an hr ago.

Not just you, but all of Montana. This is a good, quick listen.
 
Here is what I find kinda hard to believe.
Do a search fir a 3 bedroom, 2+ bath with 5+ acres and see what’s available.
 
Well.
Let’s just say under 800k but hell go even a mil.

Them tell me where these people make that kinda money.
 
Well.

That explains some but....

I can’t believe there are that many people with that kind of money.

Guess I’m wrong.
 
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People seem to move here all the time but then leave after a couple years.

If we make it here and go past the 2 year mark I doubt we ever leave.

( 2 years meaning everything pans out for us )
 
People seem to move here all the time but then leave after a couple years.
I think the weather is the best weapon we have. Anecdotally, around here, and I am really rural, you see a lot of couples move here, the guy is perfectly happy, and the woman hates it. Of course, they leave or divorce.
 
I’ll say this.

sone of the area give you the true definition of what exactly rural means.

We have 2 elementary age girls so something somewhat by a city would be considerably better for them.
 
Hit me up by dm if you need any help while you are here. I am relatively close to Helena, and happy to show you around our area, not that there is much for sale here.