Where to Live?

Off Topic
1

I have come to one of those points in life when someone needs to move on and shake things up. Usually I let my life dictate where I should live versus going where I would want to live so this time I would like to try it different. I am looking to find a place to have hopefully have as a permanent home and settle down. To narrow it down I will list some criteria for my ideal place in order of most important, please keep in mind I have nothing holding me back no Wife no Kids and no other issues.

  1. I love to snowboard, would do it everyday if I could so I would ideally like a place that is close to a snowboard area. I mean close by say 30-45 min max in distance driving. Also since I would like to maximize my time on the mountain night hours under the lights would be ideal as well.

  2. I am into mountain biking and would like to get back into some serious rock climbing.

  3. I prefer colder weather to hot weather.

  4. City size would be medium. Not LA or New York but not _____ (insert smallest city you know here).

  5. Also I am meaning to stay in the continental US.

Keep in mind these are just some ways to narrow things down.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

2

Check out Denver or Boise, Idaho.

They fit what you’re looking for.

3

Bellingham, WA has everything you are looking for, except jobs.

4

Thanks for the suggestions.

5

Take a look at Ashville, NC.

6

Ann arbor Michigan. Lots of good snoboarding round here, a great place that I used to indoor climb at called Planet Rock and lots of Mountain Biking areas to.
Ann arbor is voted in the top 10 best cities to live in by Mens Health pretty much every year

Plus its just a kick ass town. And its cold in the winter, hot in the summer.

Our economy up here is taking a beating though. If you got a good job lined up, I would say thats the important question.

7

North Jersey buddy. There’s no more interesting state in the country than here.

You’re an hour from the mountains, an hour from the shore, and 20 minutes from the greatest city in the world.

Although if you drive slow, you might want to go to Idaho like the other guy said. We don’t take kindly to that here.

8

Madison, WI. Rated many times as one of the top US cities to live in. I love it here…Though moving soon…Want my apartment?

9

Seattle, WA, Portland, OR, San Francisco, CA, I’d say Sac, but it’s bloody hot here, you may also want to check out Mt. Shasta, CA and Arcata, CA.

10

Thanks again

11

How about the Jewel of the Sierra’s?

Beautifull Lake Tahoe California!

I live, literally, 3 minutes from one of the state’s top ski resorts. About 8 other major ski resorts around the lake. I can sleep in and still get a full day of riding in!

10 minute drive to the gym. A good one at that, owned by an ex-competitive bodybuilder. Arnold even came by one day!

About 25,000 permanent residents, but at any given time we average about 50,000 people in town.

Six major casino’s 5 minutes from home ($4 cab ride), complete with good restaurants, hot foreign women looking for a good time, upscale clubs and bars with gogo dancers, comedy clubs, big-name music concerts,ect…

Mountain biking fucking galore! Sit on a chairlift on the way up, and fly down!

And, a sunset to die for almost every, single, freaking, night.

Oh yea, great boating and fishing too!

12

You mentioned rock climbing also. I took a summer school class on it up here locally. OR, Yosemite’s only 3 hours away.

13

Let me just reiterate what the other guy said about Ann Arbor- its a kick-butt place to live. Nice and safe, with a low cost of living, but lots to do. The University of Michigan is there also so you have bigtime college sports as well.

14

There’s always Michigan.

15

While I love living in southeast Michigan, I have to disagree about the good snowboarding. More like downhill iceskating. And the economy sucks right now. Ann Arbor rocks, but it is expensive to live there.

16

I’m about in the same bout too. I was going to move out to Charlotte NC, then a job with a beer company came up so it sidetracked me for a bit. Charlotte is dirt cheap, and the mountains and ocean are just two hours away or so…BUT, I can second everything about Ann Arbor MI. It is a great city, with some nice bars, every place has sidewalk dining, the University. I find it interesting that every year “the best places to live” are always medium-sized college towns…Madison , Boise, Minneappolis, Bozeman MT, Flagstaff AR, San Francisco if you can afford it! Those are the places I’d head of too!!!

Good luck in your decision!

17

Kalamazoo, MI is a college town, much like Ann Arbor, only smaller and a little less hip. But the cost of living is far less, and if you have any children (or plan on any), their tuition will be free to any state university via the Kalamazoo Promise (only such program in the nation).

Outdoor activities: We get more snow than the east side of the state. There’s two or three ski slopes within a half hour ride. There’s indoor rock climbing at Climb Kalamazoo and superior mountain biking at Fort Custer. Lake Michigan (better than the ocean, imo) is less than an hour’s drive.

18

New Hampshire. Low taxes, less government, snowboarding, surfboarding, more motorcycles per capita than any other state. The only state in the nation to NOT require seatbelts. Boston is less than one hour drive away, and NYC is about 5 hours.

State motto: “live free or die”.

19

I’ll second Arcata, CA. Anything along the Pacific North Coast would seem to be up your alley, as long as you don’t mind hippies and rain.

20

[quote]Testy1 wrote:
While I love living in southeast Michigan, I have to disagree about the good snowboarding. More like downhill iceskating. And the economy sucks right now. Ann Arbor rocks, but it is expensive to live there.[/quote]

I was thinking Boyne Mountain. Beautiful snoboarding there and not too expensive considering its Michigans top resort

I wasn’t sure on what his housing plans were. Houses are expensive in ann arbor, but not worse than any other really nice mid sized town. But you can find extremely nice apartments here that are affordable.

And its an amazing college town.