Potential job opportunity with the Military in Bozeman. It would be a 3 year gig. Probably by last one before retiring. I always loved the are after driving through 18 years ago. What are some of the pros/cons? Are their good jobs to fall into after retirement?

I’m currently in Kansas and actually enjoy it.

Overall, the biggest concern I would have is housing.  Like elsewhere in Montana right now, Bozeman and the area has seen housing sale prices take a huge jump, and there is not a lot of availability. Same for renting. Actually had a Bill introduced in the current legislature around the gouging people are doing for rentals, such charging a fee just to look at a place etc. So, there could be a chance that you may not get a rental, or buy a house, for some time after you start looking. Recently heard of a house going up for sale and 80 offers in 3 days.  Rentals with 40 applicants in a matter of days too.

It has a pretty good population flux due to the University, and it also is a tourist attraction and jumping off point. If you like the outdoors, it can be awesome.   There are tons of recreational opportunities in Montana.

Cons: the drivers and amount of traffic.

This. Buddy of mine sold a house recently. Bought in 2015 for $150k. Sold for about $380k.

i like bozeman but i'm not cool enough and/or rich enough to live there.

if you can figure out a place to live for a few years i say go for it.

That's nothing. A person I know bought a lot in October for 80k and sold in February for 200k.

Born and raised in Montana, graduated from MSU in Bozeman and worked in Bozeman. Housing outpaced wages. Left. I now make 3x what I made in Bozeman and housing is about a third of the cost. There are better places to hike/ski/float that pay much more with reasonable housing prices.

Pretty much what everyone else is saying.  I love living here, but housing is insane, and wages don't match it.  Bought a standard 3 bedroom neighborhood house for high 300k's last July, and Zillow is estimating it at just under $630k right now. Judging by similar homes I'm seeing sell, I actually believe it.  I'm still glad I live here, but unfortunately it would take some pretty special financial situations to get me to move here with the cost of everything right now.

If you can swing it, go for it, but housing prices are insane in this state right now.  Even here in Billings, which was never high on anybody's MT priority list when I was growing up, is absolutely mind-boggling.

If you haven’t heard, the housing market is

The 6 plates are a plague to the rest of the state. They have infected more of MT than Covid could ever dream of. Don’t be surprised when you come back to a trailhead to find your truck’s door handles have been pissed on.

Housing is clearly the biggest concern, but .mil BAH is probably going to cover your housing costs for the time you serve there, so why not go for it? Spend 3 years in Bozo, take the opportunity to do some networking, and maybe something great in the Gallatin Valley works out for you.  

Like some others here, I was born and raised in MT and graduated from MSU 21 years ago. I recall a good friend of mine trying to convince me to invest in Bozeman property with him circa 1998, when you could buy a condo near campus for ~$100k. That was crazy money back then, but those properties have quadrupled, and my friend is living large after the investments in Bozeman real estate he initiated back then.

Whoa - there's a great example of how crazy Bozeman is on Realtor.com. I lived in this house with several roommates from '97-'00. My share of the rent was $250/mo because I had the master bedroom/private bath on the upper floor, but WOW - who'd ever imagine this would be a nearly $700k house.

I bought a small 900 sq ft 3 bed, 1 bath, 1 car garage place between Grand and Poly back in 2006, then ended up leaving Billings for work that's kept me on the wrong side of the Mississippi. Renters have been paying the mortgage for 13 years, and now the mortgage balance is less than a new mid-size car. I've often thought about selling it, but with the way things are going, I've decided there's no way I'd sell my little piece of Montana.

Smart move. Not like it's going to be any cheaper to replace and the value will rise nicely with inflation the way it is. Real estate like that is an excellent hedge.

Just took a trip down to Arizona.  Stopped in a gas station in Utah.  Group of man bun wearing types sitting out front discussing their chai teas they were drinking and I'm looking at their car with it's Thule rack and box covered with "save the whales" type stickers and remarked to my wife that I was surprised it wasn't a Subaru.  When I pulled out I noticed the 6 plates.  I also got stopped for over an hour for a wreck in southern Utah behind a car with the notorious 6 plates.  The guy came back to my car to chat (ask stupid questions) with his obvious California accent.  

I remarked on here a few months ago about how it seemed that every time I saw someone driving like an asshole they had Gallatin Co plates and wouldn't you know it, the very next morning before I made it a block from my house, one pulled out right in front of me forcing me to hit the brakes to keep from hitting them, as if to reinforce the stereotype.

It's so bad anymore that if I see you are from Bozeman I assume you're a "big city thinker" douche transplant until proven otherwise.

"Big City Thinker", eh.....