Missoula, Montana

[Guest rapunzel]

University of Montana - Creative Writing

Someone tell me about the town!! Is it within walking distance from the campus?

How's the weather?

How are the people? Are they nice? Are they racist (as opposed to an urban environment where there are many immigrants and minorities)?

[Guest Guest]

I have never lived there, but I know people who have. It is supposed to be just about the harshest winter you will get in the US, a small, flat town, but this was the place these people wanted to eventually move back to. Their favorite town to ever live in. If it helps, they worked for the BLM in Utah, very earthy people, not closed minded.

[UnlikelyGrad]

UM is the only school I've been accepted to (so far), so I'm eager to hear any advice/info people have about living in Missoula. I've done a bit of research online, but nothing takes the place of first-hand experience...

[kdilks]

All I can tell you from google maps is that there's an airport and two golf courses, but apparently no University of Montana .

[UnlikelyGrad]

All I can tell you from google maps is that there's an airport and two golf courses, but apparently no University of Montana .

It's in the northwest corner, just south of the river. Look for "the oval".

I will post what I know here:

http://www.mountainline.com/ Bus Service. I like public transit so this was one of the first things I looked up. As a nice bonus, their downloadable route map is a great guide to the city: it not only has all the streets, but all the "attractions" (Southgate mall, Walmart, grocery stores) marked. I'm easy to please! :wink:

There's no Missoula Craigslist: You have to go to the "Montana" forum, pick the category you want, and then search for "Missoula". How annoying is that?

For rentals, try the Missoulian http://www.missoulian.com/rentals/. It's an annoying site though. I check real estate for sale on realtor.com instead. (We will probably rent until our house here sells, then buy.)

I'm curious to know which neighborhoods are good and which I should avoid.

GirlAtTheHelm: You are limited to owning six chickens. Isn't that sad? We may have to live outside city limits.

[saritapie]

Okay, Missoula advice.

The town is fantastic-- lots of live music (including big names at the U), film festivals, coffee shops with wireless that will let you work there for hours and hours (Break on Higgins is my department's unofficial annex-- I'm there now with 3 others in my program. We did not coordinate this. We all just showed up. This is normal.), fancy food for special occasions, funky old movie theatres (Wilma and Roxie), a co-op, an amazing giant locally-owned and operated non-chain version of Whole Foods called the Good Food Store, obviously great hiking and skiing and beautiful views. It's a pretty bike-friendly town, too

[kdilks]

My point was that it's not labeled on the map like most Universities are.

[GirlattheHelm]

GirlAtTheHelm: You are limited to owning six chickens. Isn't that sad? We may have to live outside city limits.

Oh no! I might have to reconsider Montana all together!

j/k...

[sdakgrl]

I've lived in Missoula for the last two years as a grad student. It's not bad. I've grown to like it well enough.

I think saritapie above has covered a lot of the upsides of living in Missoula. It's absolutely gorgeous here during the summer (usually) - dry heat, long days, lots of sunshine, and most of the students clear out of town. The first summer I was here, though, there were forest fires, which meant lots of smoke and haze. The Saturday farmers' markets in the spring/summer/early fall are kind of a fun Missoula experience. And coming from South Dakota, I've actually found the winters to be much milder than I was accustomed to - if you're from the upper midwest, you won't mind it here at all. I am going off for another degree in the fall, but I really hope that I'll be able to spend this summer here before I go.

As far as the negatives posted above, I honestly haven't had that much trouble with the bus service. I haven't owned a car since I've lived here, and I've not had much trouble at all getting around on the bus. You definitely have to plan around when the bus is coming, since they usually only run about once an hour (and no evening/Sunday service at all), but I've never had any huge issues.

Agreed that plane transportation is expensive and a pain. Very few direct flights, and only to hubs like Denver and Minneapolis. Amtrak runs through Whitefish, MT, on a line that runs from Seattle to Chicago, so especially if you have transportation to/from Whitefish, that's another (cheaper) option to get out of Missoula.

Apartments get snapped up pretty quickly. If you come in late August with nowhere to live, you're going to have a really tough time finding a place. A lot of the property management companies will deal with you via e-mail, though, so getting something arranged isn't difficult. I had my apartment arranged here in May and I didn't move until August. I know people who live in the campus apartments and I haven't heard many complaints about them. You might want to give them a shot. There are both campus and city buses that run between the apartments and the University.

I live in the lower Rattlesnake and I love it here. It's within walking distance of downtown, the University, and groceries, and there are some really nice parks and recreation areas here in my neighborhood. Knowing the city as well as I do now, if I had to pick anywhere to live it would be here.

I'm disappointed that there don't seem to be any good Chinese places here in Missoula. It's also a big beer drinking town, which is something I've had to adjust to. People are really laid back - which can often cross a boundary into really casual rudeness and thoughtlessness. Both drivers and bicyclists are rude and careless (this is from the perspective of a pedestrian). Dogs run free and crap all over the place. Lots of hippies here, too, which can get tiresome. Montanans are perpetually late. I am not at all impressed with the undergraduates.

But even considering all of that - I like it here, overall.

[pears]

bumping this for more information! 

[MissC]

Most of the prior comments are spot on. Missoula is the "other " larger college town in Montana (I live in Bozeman- which as a side note has WAYYYY better skiing) but I have spent a ton of time there and if you can handle the cold, the rest is no sweat. Housing is a little challenging if you want something brand new unless you are willing to live a good distance from campus. Parking has always sucked at mid-day. Don't see that changing, but again- if you can walk a little way in the weather, NBD.  In the summer, on the hot-hot days, the river smells a little.  It really bothers some people, others couldn't care less.

 

In general, Missoula is probably the most liberal town in Montana. Fairly forward thinking population- relatively of course.  Crime is not going to be a big issue anywhere and there's a pretty active art/theater/music scene that you wouldn't expect to find in Montana. The worst thing going for UM right now is their reputation in athletics.  There are some current/former undergrad athletes and former athletes that have been in trouble for all sorts of crimes ranging from rape to drugs to gun violence lately. I don't imagine that undergrad student athletes are the biggest concern in this forum however- or at the top of the list for why we choose a certain grad school.

 

I'm not sure what the specific archaeology interests you have but I know that Both UM and MSU have good reputations/researchers in the Northwest so my advice would be to buy some Sorel's and a warm coat and come on up here.  It's a pretty damn cool place to live.

 

If you have questions about Missoula or MT in general, feel free to send me a PM. Been here my whole life and can tell you more than you'd ever want to know.

[pears]

C-Diggy: just PM'd you! thanks!

[Abrianna]

I was curious about the housing, I'm planning to move to Missoula and live with my grandmother the first couple of months before looking for an apartment. Do you think it would be more difficult to find an apartment come November rather then looking right away?

[Cactus Ed]

I was curious about the housing, I'm planning to move to Missoula and live with my grandmother the first couple of months before looking for an apartment. Do you think it would be more difficult to find an apartment come November rather then looking right away?

 

I grew up in Missoula and did both my BA and MA at the University of Montana, and I can tell you that it will be a bit harder to find an apartment in November than it would be in, say, July or August. However, it's not impossible, it's just that the availability of properties, in my experience, is very much tied to the university schedule. If you don't mind commuting by car several miles to get to campus, you should be fine, but it might be harder to find a place closer to campus in November since most lease cycles for students probably aren't coming to an end in the middle of the semester.

[WeirdOne]

Please, tell me what to expect in terms of the weather. Is it hot in May and August? I'm ok with cold winters but I hate the heat. And what about elevation? I am very ignorant, but I've heard that some people have troubles breathing in the mountains? Is there a problem for someone unprepared?

[jayedger]

Hi Decaf,

 

You won't have any problems breathing in the mountains. I moved here from the flat midwest of the United States and didn't notice much difference.  I've lived in Missoula on and off for almost decade and just love it here. The weather, in general, in Missoula is very mild. The summers are terrific and it doesn't get very hot. Of course, that depends on what you think of as hot. There can be stretches, particularly, in August when there will be 90+  (Fahrenheit)  degree days for weeks at a time. There will be no clouds and no rain for most of that time. It doesn't feel overly hot though because there's almost no humidity. The nights cool down though and are amazingly comfortable to the point you might need a jacket or sweater. 

 

The winters aren't particularly cold either. Rarely does it get much below 20 degrees, but there can be random cold stretches. In the city it doesn't snow a lot, but Missoula does a horrible job of removing the snow. They clear the main streets eventually, but never plow the side streets. If you drive, a car with 4 wheel drive is advisable. The bus system isn't bad though and it's free now. In reality Missoula is a very small town, so getting anywhere even by foot isn't that bad and there is a very strong culture of biking. 

 

Anyhow, I hope that helps a little. 

[stacymawie]

I am accepted into University of Montana's MS in SLP program and it starts at the end of August!

My fiance and I would love to know more about the city We love the outdoors so we are stoked to be moving to Montana where we can continue to access nature (we currently live in Portland, OR). We also love to go out and catch music - Funk, Electronic, and Latin (Cumbia, etc).

Any advice on fun places to go/things to do, restaurants, city life, good places to live, places to live near UofM, etc. I will gladly take any and all information!