[Toshi]

ok monkies: in light of recent talk of people moving to seattle, to flagstaff, to boston, etc. it might be a good idea for a thread like this:

where do you live? (in general, non-stalker-friendly terms ) why is it great? why does it suck? does it cost an incredible amount to buy food, to buy a house? do people dress in overalls, fleece/jeans/hiking boots, gucci/prada/versace, business suits, nothing (for you nudist colony types)? how's the riding? how's the skiing? does salt eat up your cars in 2 years flat? you get the idea. now get to it

 

[N8 v2.0]

Red state!

 

[MtnbikeMike]

the 909 isn't as bad as it is made out to be, I've got 3 trailheads within a five-minute ride from the front door. plus plenty of places to road ride with big hills, without stoplights

'cept the air isn't the best

 

[BurlyShirley]

I know no one will want to believe this, but Tennessee is the BEST.

Cost of living is low, jobs are easy to find and the girls are nice and laid back. Theres alot of forests, mountains, streams and people dont really care what you do so long as you dont worship satan or have every tooth capped in gold and walk with a fake limp whilst making wierd "whooping" noises and rubbing your belly with your shirt pulled up (WTF is with that?) and your pants hanging down below your a$$.
Biking here IS only what you make of it, which can be alot really. It owns.

 

[TheMontashu]

i live in a blue state but the state government is RED as it gets(and im not talking republican)

 

[snotrag]

Hey, i'm randomly up in the middle of the night ( 3am here ) and this caught my eye...

I live in Yorkshire UK. Love it... We have lots of countryside, plenty of mountains ( well, hills... ) its central within the UK. Its looads cheaper than living in the south of England. People are friendly, beer is cheap. Riding is good, we have lots of moors and dales, and all the big cities are very close to rolling greenery...
My local spot i hit twice a week is Wharncliffe woods, where a certain Mr Peat learnt his trade. Cool eh...

 

[Toshi]

seattle good things:
- good riding all around, or so i hear. i've only seen the xc side of things since moving up
- whistler and the shore are very close by
- housing is expensive but not exorbitant
- bus system within seattle proper is workable if slow
- it's a beautiful part of the country
- people are nice, speaking generally. think rei for style of dress (hiking boots, jeans, fleece or ski jacket is typical among people my age, early 20s)
- seattle symphony has $10 student tix!

seattle bad things:
- housing is expensive but not exorbitant
- traffic is horrible, so either reverse commute, live nearby to work, or suffer
- yes, it rains. if you have seasonal affective disorder then lights and such can help, but there's no easy way out.

----

boston good things:
- great mix of people with so many colleges and the like (again mind my age group)
- awesome subway system for the most part
- small dirt jumps right in town!
- chinatown is a great place for food following movies in downtown
- boston symphony, new england conservatory, berklee for jazz... lots of cultural goings-on

boston bad things:
- winter is horrible. snow and slush galore
- subway system doesn't go everywhere and closes at 12:30 or so!
- no mountains nearby
- impersonal nature of large-ish city
- ridiculously expensive
- driving and parking is horrible

----

portland (oregon) good things:
- great transit system
- pretty decent weather, better than seattle's imo
- AWESOME shuttle trails a little over an hour away (hood river, or)
- not hugely expensive
- bike-friendly skateparks nearby

portland bad things:
- not much of a downtown or cultural scene, no good symphony
- feels much smaller than seattle
- still rains quite a bit

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

The city of Lima, Peru.

Good things.

extremely cheap everything.
big city with lots of stuff to do.
lots of dh and mountains around. our local downhill club has around 300 full-time members.
never rains, summers in the 80s, winters in the 60s
surfing kicks ass

bad things

sucks ass to get a job. if you get one, it pays peanuts. damn third world.
not so nice outside the nice parts of the city.
skiings sucks ass, virtually non existant. its like 5 hours away plus its around 15000 ft high. i guess if you dont mind the nosebled...
traffic sucks ass.
with bogota, colombia, and mexico city, the kidnapping capitals of the world.

 

[Rip]

Don't know, still evaluating things.

 

[narlus]

boston good things:
- i really like my house and neighborhood
- i like the change of seasons. it's very picturesque right now, watching the snow outside my window
- the xc riding is very good, esp given the relative lack of elevation. plenty of technical challenge.
- there are excellent restaurants in boston
- plenty of good bands play all the time. for instance, slint is doing a reunion tour and they are only playing london, san fran, seattle, nyc, chicago, and boston.
- the biotech industry is strong here, so if i wanna job hop i have options.
- i'm not surrounded by bible-thumping neocons
- as close to europe as you can get, in the US

boston lows:
- even w/ the big dig about done, traffic still sucks
- relative high cost of living (although i bought my house almost 10 years ago, so i'm relatively shielded from it, and just reaping the benefits now)
- no spring. slides from wet, coolish late winter into summer
- too far away from western MTB'ing
- no DH within 2 hr drive
- no good zoo

dublin highs:
- pub life. best place for a pint in the world
- freshest guinness ever. see above.
- friendliest people around
- a 2 hr plane trip can get you to a ton of different places and cultures
- history. something severely lacking in the states.
- decent DH (but you have to push, no shuttles) 30 min from city center

dublin lows
- xc riding is very limited. no state park system
- cost of living is very high
- traffic is fiendish
- customer service is a joke
- impatient americans accustomed to high efficiency can be frustrated
- no sushi or bbq; good food can be had, but it'll cost you

 

[Snacks]

Seattle Good Things (from someone a little older that Toshi )

- Good jobs to be had
- Good food to be eaten
- Coffee on EVERY corner
- Five sport teams to cheer on
- GREAT DH and XC riding less than 40 minutes away
- Summers are great
- Lots off places to run outside
- Brand new downtown library
- Good public transportation
- Whistler and the Shore are close

Seattle Bad Things

- Traffic
- Price of living is high
- King County Elections Committee
- Houses are expensive
- Traffic
- Yes, it does rain, but you get used to it
- Far away from my parents
- The city is too worried about being politically correct

 

[dhriderII]

- no good zoo

im sorry this i found to be very funny.!

 

[chicodude]

I like it here because it a bike friendly town, not too many people.

I don't like it because, No one the lives near me rides.
Too many hippies.
Too many rednecks

 

[caputo1989]

Colorado Just look at my location Box. Being invaded by Caiforninas.

 

[stevew]

I live in Denver now.

I will be in NC in May.

I am over the winter months and the native Coloradans who can't drive worth a sh!te.

 

[ummbikes]

Centralia good things.

1. Low, low, low cost of living.
2. Close to Seattle, close to Portland, I access to the best both cities.
3. Quiet, but then I'm a family guy so that is important.

Centralia bad things.

1. No jobs for people with degrees.
2. Very little nite life.
3. Food sucks, except for Mexican.

 

[Westy]

Charlottesville VA.


Good:
Managed to find a nice house, after refinancing my mortgage is cheaper than rent in most places.
Short winters
Have great riding, tons of trails within an hours drive
Great riding community
Great road riding
Managed to not go on a killing spree yet
Damn purdy
Did I mention great riding?

Bad:
Few other choices for employement other than the job I have
Not a good place to be single once you get older than 22.
Rains too much in the summer
Population seems to consist of elitist snobs or hillbillies.
Lots and lots of fat people

 

[.:Jeenyus:.]

Ashland, OR

Good:

-small town (20,000)
-nice downtown
-VERY good riding
-lots of really laid back people
-Shakespere festival
-on the west coast
-45min away from a 7500ft mountain
-1.5hrs away from a 14000ft mountain (Shasta)


Bad things:

-expensive to buy property in
-absolutley full of hippies (some are ok but some are just....yea)


Keep in mind this is coming from a 15 year old so my values will be different then most of yours.

 

[Echo]

I hate this place right now. I hate winter. But I make good money here, and all my friends are here, and my GF is here, and summer is amazing here, and I got a nice house for under 80 grand here, and generally on my commute I see about 3 other cars. So I guess I can deal.

 

[ito]

Santa Barbara:
Highs:
My favorite trail is 5 minutes walking from my front door
The "mountains" are perfect for everything from climbing, to riding, to driving fast, to taking girlies up for sunset vistas
Beach or mountains in 15 minutes flat
A chill downtown with good mexican food
job market is OK
nice air
far enough from LA that we only really notice at about 5pm on the 101
Some pretty cool people and hot girls!
EDIT: 50-80 degrees almost year round!

Lows:
$$$$$
Cost of living is HIGH!
Not much to do for under 21ers after dark
A lot of rich pricks and pricks in general
Tourist season


In all the city is a great place to live, absolutely beautiful You have mountains and the beach right next to you and thanks to our lovely strict City Council their are no high rises or really ghetto parts of town. It is also expensive to live here and I don't see myself making the money to move back there anytime soon.

Places I'd consider moving: Santa Cruz, CA; Oregon; Colorado(sorry, another CA boy heading out there); New Mexico; Arizona; Washington; Idaho; possibly Montana, I'd at least like to spend some time there.

The Ito