Billing is a pretty good place
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12/18/2010
We lived there for two years and enjoyed it for the most part. My wife took a very good and high paying job at St Vincents running the business office.
She made a 6 figure salary which is a king's paycheck in Billings. I worked as a chemist making perhaps 2/3 of what I was used to in CO. Unfortunately her job was outsourced to a company in Texas which took over the revenue cycle duties (which has been a disaster we have been told) so we moved back to CO. Too bad, because we had just bought a great house in the wonderful Alkali Creek area. (fortunately we were able to sell the house in just a couple of months)
Pros:Extremely Laid back,Friendly, very good farmers market,good skiing at nearby Red Lodge, awesome hiking and fishing in the Beartooth Range,easy to fly in and out of, a few good restaurants (downtown). Cheap Allegiant Flights to Phoenix and Vegas (was 80.00 RT a couple of years ago)
Cons:the greenbelt trail is very fragmented. The city has turned it's back on the Yellowstone River as well. The West side and Heights are ugly and filled with strip malls, the longtime residents seem very sheltered,gray skies in winter (compared to CO anyway). Snow removal is the poorest I have ever seen-the unplowed snow will turn to ice and make driving around town very treacherous at times.
But it really is a pretty pleasant place-reminds me of Boise, say 25 years ago. If the wifes job had not been outsourced we would still be there.
Oh and in response to an earlier poster there is NO WAY Billings receives 340 days of sunshine-this on the level of Tucson.
CTC | Estes Park, CO