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The Best Place to Live is...

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Benton

Monkey
Aug 8, 2003
118
0
SLC
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.
 
SuboptimusPrime

SuboptimusPrime

Turbo Monkey
Aug 18, 2005
1,666
1,651
NorCack
I would donate an organ to live in Vancouver. But as a NC resident, I agree with stevew...Boone would be an AWESOME place to be as far as riding, climbing, people, etc.
 
dogwonder

dogwonder

Nitro
May 3, 2005
1,849
0
Walking the Earth
I didn't see beer drinking as a priority, so if I were you I would go to SLC. Convenient major airport, close proximity to epic skiing & riding and can get to Moab and back in a day trip.

Would be Utopia if it weren't for those damn Mormon beer laws.
 
narlus

narlus

Eastcoast Softcore
Staff member
Nov 7, 2001
24,658
65
behind the viewfinder
how easy would it be for you dreamers to pull up stakes and settle in Vancouver? assuming yr all 'muricans, right?

out of the places you listed, i've only really spent more than a few days in Portland, but i've been in all of the others. i'd go w/ Sante Fe, personally.

i know nothing about rock climbing.
 
MTB_Rob_NC

MTB_Rob_NC

What do I have to do to get you in this car TODAY?
Nov 15, 2002
3,428
0
Charlotte, NC
I gotta say after moving to Charlotte, NC a year ago I couldnt be happier.

Pretty much year round riding
5 or 6 Good riding spots within 20-30 minutes of my house
unlimited Epic stuff an hour - 3 hours away.
Good housing market
relatively good airport to travel out of
good social scene for the young professional
great housing market.
 
bluebug32

bluebug32

Asshat
Jan 14, 2005
6,141
0
Floating down the Hudson
personally, I'm partial to New Paltz. The rock climbing's awesome and there's enough singletrack to keep you occupied for weeks. But if you want snow you might want to check out CO or VT. We get more freezing rain than anything here in the winter.
 
in the trees

in the trees

Turbo Monkey
May 19, 2003
1,210
1
NH
The Burlington, VT area is awesome! It sounds like you won't mind the long winter. And it fits most of your requirements. The change in seasons and beauty of the area are wonderful. I love living in VT!

toby
 
buildyourown

buildyourown

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2004
4,832
0
South Seattle
Consider the political leanings of the area. Living in an area where the majority of people think your going to hell gets old. I couldn't live in SLC or Denver for this reason.
 
stevew

stevew

resident influencer
Sep 21, 2001
41,107
10,063
buildyourown said:
Consider the political leanings of the area. Living in an area where the majority of people think your going to hell gets old. I couldn't live in ......... or Denver for this reason.
Click to expand...
You don't know what the fvck you are talking about.

Period.
 
Jim Mac

Jim Mac

MAKE ENDURO GREAT AGAIN
May 21, 2004
6,352
282
the middle east of NY
I would skip New Paltz, NY: As more and more people move up from NY (and despite the "lowering" housing market), prices there continue to climb up and up. In fact, neighboring cities (i.e. Kingston, NY) are having trouble keeping rent prices down, thus forcing a lot of service workers and long time locals to move out of the area.

And before anyone bitches: yes, I used to live there. and many of of my relatives (who, coincidentally, moved up from NY!) are there now - Main Street in New Paltz now has full on traffic jams.
 
aviatorsman

aviatorsman

Chimp
Oct 28, 2006
51
0
MTB_Rob_NC said:
I gotta say...Charlotte, NC
Click to expand...
I'm not trying to cause problems, but I wouldn't move to Charlotte if I were you (Jim Mac). But then again I've lived there most of my life. In, NC I'd recommend Boone/Blowing Rock like others have said.

Ideally, I'd love to live anywhere in CO. But I haven't been out there in years, so I'm not too sure about a specific city/area to recommend.
 
Tame Ape

Tame Ape

BUY HOPE!!!!!!!
Mar 4, 2003
2,284
1
NYC
Jim Mac said:
I would skip New Paltz, NY: As more and more people move up from NY (and despite the "lowering" housing market), prices there continue to climb up and up. In fact, neighboring cities (i.e. Kingston, NY) are having trouble keeping rent prices down, thus forcing a lot of service workers and long time locals to move out of the area.

And before anyone bitches: yes, I used to live there. and many of of my relatives (who, coincidentally, moved up from NY!) are there now - Main Street in New Paltz now has full on traffic jams.
Click to expand...
nuts, thats exactly what would have brought me out of NYC...:banghead:
 
N8 v2.0

N8 v2.0

Not the sharpest tool in the shed
Oct 18, 2002
11,003
149
The Cleft of Venus
I have friends who live in SFe and they love it... BUT...

It is NOT a cheap place to live though. Albuquerque is 80 miles south and offers more reasonable housing costs and job opportunities.

You can bike everywhere in the city, and with the Sandia Mts on the east side of it, you can hit the slopes in Dec then come down to the valley and ride bikes. That's the cool thing about NM... you can visit snow without having to live in it.
 
Jim Mac

Jim Mac

MAKE ENDURO GREAT AGAIN
May 21, 2004
6,352
282
the middle east of NY
Tame Ape said:
nuts, thats exactly what would have brought me out of NYC...:banghead:
Click to expand...
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!)
 
narlus

narlus

Eastcoast Softcore
Staff member
Nov 7, 2001
24,658
65
behind the viewfinder
bluebug32 said:
personally, I'm partial to New Paltz. The rock climbing's awesome and there's enough singletrack to keep you occupied for weeks.
Click to expand...
how much riding is out there? all yr rides seem to be Stewart-centric.

i rode minnewaska (sp?) years ago and we got lost in a swamp at some point; overall, the ride rated a 'meh'. maybe there's a bunch of good stuff out there?
 
narlus

narlus

Eastcoast Softcore
Staff member
Nov 7, 2001
24,658
65
behind the viewfinder
people, remember that the OP was looking for a med-sized city of about 80-200K...not a backwater spot. in a place that size, there's gonna be some traffic...
 
ÆX

ÆX

Turbo Monkey
Sep 8, 2001
4,920
18
NM
santa fe, nm

you have eveything, weather, ski, desert, bike, summer mountains, rivers, large airport at albq.
 
Jim Mac

Jim Mac

MAKE ENDURO GREAT AGAIN
May 21, 2004
6,352
282
the middle east of NY
narlus said:
people, remember that the OP was looking for a med-sized city of about 80-200K...not a backwater spot. in a place that size, there's gonna be some traffic...
Click to expand...
FYI to all, New Paltz (when school's out) is a village of 7,000. when school's in (and on weekends), it swells to well over 20, 000.
 
spincrazy

spincrazy

I love to climb
Jul 19, 2001
1,529
0
Brooklyn
Dood, consider what the weather is going to be like. You really want to freeze your ass off for a good 4-5 months a year, worse, stuck home. You are in CA remember.. REAL winters will kill you.
 
robdamanii

robdamanii

OMG! <3 Tom Brady!
May 2, 2005
10,677
0
Out of my mind, back in a moment.
narlus said:
how much riding is out there? all yr rides seem to be Stewart-centric.

i rode minnewaska (sp?) years ago and we got lost in a swamp at some point; overall, the ride rated a 'meh'. maybe there's a bunch of good stuff out there?
Click to expand...
Stewart is close, easy, fast, and we know it.

There's stewart, 909, jockey hill, Hyde park, vassar farms, wilson state park, blue mountain, and anything in northern jersey or the capital region, really. I think that includes allamuchy, diablo, and ringwood (I'm sure I missed a bunch of them, but anything within maybe an hour and a half drive?).

Minnewaska is pretty easy stuff, lots of scenic views but that's pretty much all. The climbing is pretty top notch though.
 
LordOpie

LordOpie

MOTHER HEN
Oct 17, 2002
21,022
3
Denver
buildyourown said:
Consider the political leanings of the area. Living in an area where the majority of people think your going to hell gets old. I couldn't live in SLC or Denver for this reason.
Click to expand...
WTF?

You need to elaborate on Denver cuz I've been here five years, explored the greater Denver area and the mountains extensively... and I don't know wtf you're talking about.
 
narlus

narlus

Eastcoast Softcore
Staff member
Nov 7, 2001
24,658
65
behind the viewfinder
LordOpie said:
really? Why?

I was only there for four days, but I didn't really like the place at all.
Click to expand...
i liked the small-town feel of the town, the surrounding area was awesome (i love the high alpine/desert combo), great restaurants, and the riding was superb (winsor trail, plus 10K/otero? trail in the Sandias).

you ever see that movie _The Tao of Steve_? they filmed that in NM...beautiful.
 
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