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The Best Place to Live is...

Qman

Qman

Monkey
Feb 7, 2005
633
0
Benton said:
Hey Folks,

I've got a potentially exciting prospect ahead of me. I might get a job I can do from wherever I want. So, if I could live anywhere, where would the best place to live be?

Here's what I'm looking for:
1. I want to be able to ride my bike to the mountain bike trails.
2. I want to be able to drive less than an hour to go rock climbing (close is better of course).
3. I want to live near a medium sized city(80-200,000 maybe?) with other single people in their 20's and 30's.
4. The cost of living should be lower than where I live now, Palo Alto, CA (that shouldn't be too hard).
5. The weather is important to me. I'd prefer someplace sunny, but I don't mind snow at all.

What would you suggest?

Here are some places I've thought of:

Just about anywhere in Colorado
Salt Lake City, UT
Vancouver, BC
Portland, ME
Santa Fe, NM
New Paltz, NY
Burlington, VT

Where would you live if you could live wherever you wanted?

I'd like to hear people's opinions.
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I'd probably try living in Fruita if I had that kind of freedom. SLC area is one of my favorite places despite the Joseph Smith followers.
Vancouver is probably bigger than you think but it is a pretty cool city. You could live in Squamish and have the best of all worlds: climbing and riding from your door, (sailing and diving right there too) Whistler ~45 minutes away, Vancouver ~45 minutes away. You might be able to get housing cheaper than both Whistler and Vancouver too. There's a bunch of new condos going in there.
 
bluebug32

bluebug32

Asshat
Jan 14, 2005
6,141
0
Floating down the Hudson
Jim Mac said:
There are plenty of other areas just north of the Mid Hudson Valley that are still bargains and offer great riding. It's my opinion that No Pulse area as a whole is getting crowded. Hell, check out the border of Ulster and Delaware county (my Plattekill bias!)
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Not sure how an area with world-class rock climbing, nearby skiing, singletrack and downhill, top-notch restaurants, wineries, shopping, music, art and theatre with half a dozen colleges in the area and just an hour and a half from a major metropolitan area could be classified as not having a pulse.

I went to college in another unique, small, cultural city, but would never want to live there, so maybe that's why you're drawing this similar conclusion. I spent 18 years in upstate NY and, yes the prices are good, but it's also colder and isolated from lots of things too. You pay for what you get.
 
Jim Mac

Jim Mac

MAKE ENDURO GREAT AGAIN
May 21, 2004
6,352
282
the middle east of NY
bluebug32 said:
Not sure how an area with world-class rock climbing, nearby skiing, singletrack and downhill, top-notch restaurants, wineries, shopping, music, art and theatre with half a dozen colleges in the area and just an hour and a half from a major metropolitan area could be classified as not having a pulse.

I went to college in another unique, small, cultural city, but would never want to live there, so maybe that's why you're drawing this similar conclusion. I spent 18 years in upstate NY and, yes the prices are good, but it's also colder and isolated from lots of things too. You pay for what you get.
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Keene Valley/Lake Placid has all you mentioned and it's only an hour or so to Montreal from there!
 
corey_rideDC

corey_rideDC

Turbo Monkey
Sep 1, 2004
1,368
0
DCmetro
i'm trying to get to denver, specifically parker or centennial sometime in the future. great housing prices (compared to DC), proximity to real mountains and more space per person than the crowded east.
 
bikebabe

bikebabe

Monkey
Jul 31, 2002
133
0
Maryland
If you're seriously considering Canada, check out how it would affect your taxes. As far as I know, expats (not military) have a bigger US tax burden....plus you may also need to pay Canadian taxes.
 
B

Benton

Monkey
Aug 8, 2003
118
0
SLC
Thanks for all the advice so far folks!

Here are a couple of points of clarification: The job situation in the area doesn't really matter to me. I can work from anywhere. I don't mind the cold. I grew up in upstate new york, and lived for 6 years on the New Hampshire/Vermont border so I'm used to New England weather even though I live in California right now. Still, I'd rather have more sunlight than not. I don't really care about proximity to skiing, but if it puts me close to lift served mountain biking that would be pretty sweet. I've been to a lot of the places mentioned but here's some more specific questions:

What's the riding like in New Paltz? I've done a lot of climbing there and know that's awesome.

What's riding and climbing like in Burlington? I've been through there before and like the town, but don't know what the riding and climbing scene is like.

I like the idea of Boone, but I'm worried that it's too small a town.

How far from Denver to good biking and climbing? What about the towns outside of Denver like Boulder or Fort Collins?
 
tonyhawk

tonyhawk

bikerag.com whore
Sep 21, 2003
512
0
CT
A climbing buddy recently moved back to CT from Ft. Collins, but wants to move back. He went there specifically because of proximity to good climbing.
 
bluebug32

bluebug32

Asshat
Jan 14, 2005
6,141
0
Floating down the Hudson
Benton said:
What's the riding like in New Paltz? I've done a lot of climbing there and know that's awesome.
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Refer to Rob's previous post on all the nearby places to ride. I've not been riding in CO or out west, so I can't compare it. I just know that lots of people (other monkeys included) come here to ride and love it. I've yet to be bored.

If I were going to move and a job wasn't a factor, I'd look at cost of living, political climate, the number of people there my age, weather and ability to find an actual job there should something happen to the old job.
 
B

blue

boob hater
Jan 24, 2004
10,160
2
california
If you're afraid of cold winters, check Vancouver...anywhere else on your list is damn cold. Vanc has killer riding, beautiful, Whistler, Canadia...I'd like to move there, but can't afford how much they want you to have in the bank to do so.

To compare Denver and Salt Lake for skiing/mtb, SLC hands down. Denver is far from real mountains. 0-30 minutes to hundreds of miles of singletrack, the best powpow in the world...I only want to move cause I've lived here all my life.

Salt Lake City is fairly devoid of Mormons, relative to the rest of Yoo-tah. Our mayor probably hotboxes his office.

Essentially the view from my apartment:
 
geargrrl

geargrrl

Turbo Monkey
May 2, 2002
2,379
1
pnw -dry side
bikebabe said:
If you're seriously considering Canada, check out how it would affect your taxes. As far as I know, expats (not military) have a bigger US tax burden....plus you may also need to pay Canadian taxes.
Click to expand...

Don't know what exactly the OP does, but it's awfully difficult for Americans to move to Canada.
 
sneakysnake

sneakysnake

Monkey
Apr 2, 2006
875
1
NC
Boone is quite beautiful, and it fits all of your requirements except for the size thing. Just out of curiosity, why the desire to live in a med. size town?
 
B

Benton

Monkey
Aug 8, 2003
118
0
SLC
Ok, so at the top of my list are Salt Lake City and Squamish, BC, but I'm still intrigued by options in North Carolina.

How hard is it really to move to Canada? I thought the big problem was just the fear of taking away Canadian jobs? Wouldn't a country like it if I moved there, didn't take their jobs away, and just paid their taxes?

Anyone know what's involved or where I should look to find out more?
 
B

blue

boob hater
Jan 24, 2004
10,160
2
california
Benton said:
Ok, so at the top of my list are Salt Lake City and Squamish, BC

How hard is it really to move to Canada? I thought the big problem was just the fear of taking away Canadian jobs? Wouldn't a country like it if I moved there, didn't take their jobs away, and just paid their taxes?
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If you overcome your fear of winter and come here, check the Avenues...awesomest 'hood in Salt Lake.

Check JBP's link...if you're a professional, moving to Canada shouldn't be too hard. Hell, I can move to Canuckistan on "skilled worker" status and I'm a 19 year-old college student. I just need 6 months worth of cash stashed in the bank to do so.
 
narlus

narlus

Eastcoast Softcore
Staff member
Nov 7, 2001
24,658
63
behind the viewfinder
sneakysnake said:
Boone is quite beautiful, and it fits all of your requirements except for the size thing. Just out of curiosity, why the desire to live in a med. size town?
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can't speak for the OP, but for me it's all about entertainment options and restaurants. living in Podunkville ain't for me.
 
GrapeApe79

GrapeApe79

Monkey
Sep 22, 2005
338
0
Issaquah, WA
Just saw this thread...noone has mentioned Seattle so far, and I'm sure its b/c all the rain, and possibly the cost of living, but let me state my case. I live in Issaquah, 20 miles East of Seattle. I can ride my bike to mountain bike trails, and am a short drive away from some great XC trails. For DH, I drive to Whistler which is 4 hours away. For skiing, Snoqualmie Pass is 30 minutes away. Sure, its not world class skiing by any means, but at least its close. The cost of living is high though. Ideally, I'd love to live in Squamish or Whistler, but then, where do you work?
 
SkaredShtles

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
65,940
12,880
In a van.... down by the river
GrapeApe79 said:
Just saw this thread...noone has mentioned Seattle so far, and I'm sure its b/c all the rain, and possibly the cost of living, but let me state my case. I live in Issaquah, 20 miles East of Seattle. I can ride my bike to mountain bike trails, and am a short drive away from some great XC trails. For DH, I drive to Whistler which is 4 hours away. For skiing, Snoqualmie Pass is 30 minutes away. Sure, its not world class skiing by any means, but at least its close. The cost of living is high though. Ideally, I'd love to live in Squamish or Whistler, but then, where do you work?
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Yeah - listen to this guy. Move to Washington!

:cheers:
 
LordOpie

LordOpie

MOTHER HEN
Oct 17, 2002
21,022
3
Denver
SkaredShtles said:
Yeah - listen to this guy. Move to Washington!

:cheers:
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I do love living here, but Denver all over feels like the suburbs. I wish this place had a little more culture. Any less and I'd be tempted to just be done with it and move to Evergreen, Bailey or something.
 
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