Move from NJ to MT or CO? Need guidance.

[Farmingdale's Finest]

I am an avid bowhunter and fly fisher who lives on the NJ Shore a 1/2 hr. ferry ride to NYC. Our kids are adults now and starting to move out. We are fed up with the liberal state politics and then we have a neighbor from hell that is making life miserable. My wife and I can live almost anywhere just needing to live a reasonable distance to a populated area for business purposes because I am a financial advisor.

I have wanted to live in the western mountains since I was a little kid. Last summer we visited friends that live in S Lake Tahoe Ca. and were completely floored to find out how inexpensive real estate was there at least in relative terms to NJ with significantly lower property taxes but talking with my friends they are thinking of moving to the Nevada side of the lake to get away at least somewhat from the liberal politics. Then the fact they got about 20 feet of snow the winter before last is too much for my wife. Last fall my son and I did our first elk bowhunt in the Steamboat area and loved the area and I started looking at real estate outside Denver and was floored at how expensive the housing market was there for junk in comparison of what I could get here.

My wife today sent me two links to homes that were for sale in Billings Montana and they were gorgeous as well as both larger and less expensive than what we could sell our home for in NJ. They were both on the westend section according to the listings. I assume based upon what I saw it is a more upscale section and probably on the outer edge of the city because they looked like similar neighborhoods as what we have in NJ but much bigger pieces of property.

Looking for advice of where to look where I can make a living as a financial advisor, not too rural for my wife so she can feel comfortable driving any time of year for shopping and recreation and then for me the capability to bowhunt and fly fish.

Thanks in advance!

 

[ramsdude47]

The Front Range (Fort Collins to CO Springs) is the Progressive bastion of CO. Boulder being the "worst" and CO Springs being the most Conservative. The greater CO Springs area may be the ticket for you two, certainly worthy of a trip. Another thought - and where I live - is Grand Junction. It's in the desert and gets quite hot, but its hard to beat the proximity to the best places in CO with less crowding compared to the Front Range.

You will probably find better value for your $ in Montana. CO is great and everyone knows it. While Montana is also great it is cold, and more isolated. Billings would kind of minimize both of those "disadvantages" but also leave you a bit further from the mountains. I would think Helena would also be worth a closer look.

My personal Montana fantasy is Butte, but for short term contract only, not relocation. Primarily because it is within the same hospital system but also the vicinity to Yellowstone and Bozeman. Best of luck in your search!

 

[Broomd]

Wyoming.....don't look back.

 

[JRMiller]

I’ve done more less the same researching as you.
I’m coming from CA though.
My first requirement, like you, is NO liberal politics, and unfortunately CO fails there. Though the outlying rural areas have very conservative holdouts the majority of the population is in the major (liberal) cities. I have several friends that moved there and i warned them and sure enough they want out now.
Montana, by statistics, is the most conservative state in the US (last i checked, last year).
But the snowfall for you might be a dealbreaker

 

[roadrunner]

That's easy between the two, MT. But if you weren't limited to only those two, as mentioned, WY and don't look back.

ID shouldn't be off the radar either...

 

[ewade07]

Alaska

 

[Farmingdale's Finest]

Wyoming.....don't look back.

Where should I look with the parameters I put in my first post?

 

[Dustin the wind]

Just don’t go to Colorado. ID, MT, WY

 

[Broomd]

Where should I look with the parameters I put in my first post?

If it had to be Montana--Northwest/Western....without question. Hamilton area...I'd be living in the Bitterroots.

We're actually in the extreme Western edge of them here in Idaho--the Bitteroot foothills. This is our front door view. About 4000' peaks around us.

 

[Dustin the wind]

Northwest Montana....without question. Hamilton area...I'd be living in the Bitterroots, we're actually in the extreme Western edge of them here in Idaho, The Bitteroot foothills.

Kinda central to SW really. Actual NW around Thompson Falls or Noxon is where I’d end up if we could find a job there.

 

[Ucsdryder]

Can I speak for all of us and say, please stay.

 

[Gunnersdad49]

If you don’t want liberal politics, Colorado is out. Add Utah to the list to investigate.

 

[Fisherkid1]

MT is a crazy kind of cold winter that doesnt seem to end.
Co offers some relief.
Nm can get warm
Ive searched these and AZ offers it all and has business districts to keep careers.
Seemed to be the best for me if i pull the pin

 

[Mt Al]

West end Billings is great, nice homes and neighborhoods for reasonable money, decent sized town/city. IMHO, Billings is the place for someone who likes to bird, deer, antelope and predator hunt with decent access to awesome fly fishing to the West and South. Hamilton And Missoula are awesome. Liberals are moving to Montana like crazy, we’ll take anyone who counteracts their votes.

 

[Legend]

I will second Hamilton MT. Take a look at Helena if you like tailwater fishing and reservoirs. Dillon is a sleeper but pretty small. Personally Billings isn't my favorite.

Feel free to pm me if you have questions.

 

[ramsdude47]

Politics alone is a pretty poor reason to dismiss CO. Only you can define how liberal is too liberal, but I can tell you CO is not even close to NJ or CA.

Plenty of good options out there, ideally you would be able to take extended vacations in these places before moving.

 

[Bowhunter65]

Montana is awesome place to live and raise a family. I have been out west 40 years. My dad moved us west and I never looked back, I lived in Upstate New York. Look to western montana though. If you have any question fee free to ask. good luck, Terry

 

[PablitoPescador]

I’ve done more less the same researching as you.
I’m coming from CA though.
My first requirement, like you, is NO liberal politics, and unfortunately CO fails there. Though the outlying rural areas have very conservative holdouts the majority of the population is in the major (liberal) cities. I have several friends that moved there and i warned them and sure enough they want out now.
Montana, by statistics, is the most conservative state in the US (last i checked, last year).
But the snowfall for you might be a dealbreaker

Montana isn't really that conservative sadly. We've had a democrat governor forever and Bozeman is becoming the most yuppy liberal hellhole I've ever seen. It's changing fast and I think in the next 10-15 years will probably be a swing state. We just don't have enough populace in the rural areas to make up for the coastal liberal transplants. If you want a solid red state Wyoming is the place to be. That being said, my wife and I just relocated from Bozeman to Laurel, just west of Billings. Nice little town with that Montana feel to it and still pretty close to Billings. Roundup kinda has the same feel to it. I wish more of the transplants here were people like you that don't want to bring the coastal elitist ignorance with them but sadly most are hellbent on ruining what we have.

 

[bobr1]

There are a tons of threads on this subject. But my just my 2 cents. If your wife isn't a big fan of snow, MT can be pretty bad, they just got nearly a foot of snow 2 weeks ago in the Butte area. There are a ton of transplants from liberal cities moving there faster than they can build houses. I talked to my buddy who is a realtor in Montana, he said over half of the homes he is selling are being bought site unseen from out of state..... I think this is primarily due to covid and that fact that a lot more people realized they can work remotely and get good salaries from major cities and have lower cost of living. If you are truly trying to get away from liberal policy, I don't think Montana will be to far off from Colorado soon. Also, there are a ton of areas on the west side of Colorado that are pretty nice. And if you find places for sale that are cheap, there is usually a reason. Also, if you are blindly going to buy a home in an area you have never visited just buy something in Wyoming, it will be the last hold out in the lower 48 and no state income tax.

 

[Farmingdale's Finest]

There are a tons of threads on this subject. But my just my 2 cents. If your wife isn't a big fan of snow, MT can be pretty bad, they just got nearly a foot of snow 2 weeks ago in the Butte area. There are a ton of transplants from liberal cities moving there faster than they can build houses. I talked to my buddy who is a realtor in Montana, he said over half of the homes he is selling are being bought site unseen from out of state..... I think this is primarily due to covid and that fact that a lot more people realized they can work remotely and get good salaries from major cities and have lower cost of living. If you are truly trying to get away from liberal policy, I don't think Montana will be to far off from Colorado soon. Also, there are a ton of areas on the west side of Colorado that are pretty nice. And if you find places for sale that are cheap, there is usually a reason. Also, if you are blindly going to buy a home in an area you have never visited just buy something in Wyoming, it will be the last hold out in the lower 48 and no state income tax.

Don't get me wrong with the snow. She likes snow but she doesn't want to live someplace where you can get 10+ feet in a single event. Our friends in Tahoe go all over the world to ski and at 80 the husband Heli skis in BC. They even said that winter was a lot. We went the third week of July and there were still remnant piles at 6400 feet and quite a few slopes at 9k plus still covered completely in snow that they said would normally not have any.

We would do a vacation to look and then most likely after selling out house rent to see if we like it where ever we move.
I have nothing against Wyoming but from what little I saw driving through last fall I am not sure where to look that would fit the parameters I said in the original post.

Our motivation is not covid related it is where we are at our stage of life where we can now move and the biggest thing is the miserable next door neighbor.