[go-ride.com]

Uhhh... I can't believe no one has mentioned Park City, UT. There's only 300 miles of marked and maintained true single track right out your front door. No driving necessary. There's some OK DHing at Deer Valley (5 - 15 min from PC), and the Canyons is building a true lift accessed terrain park for 2012 (started late 2011 and was a huge hit). There are two official public stunts trails (built by city sponsored organizations), and a couple other semi-secret. There's a large public DJ area and 3 or 4 pump tracks. During the winter if you don't like skiing/boarding (which is world class), they maintain XC ski trails and allow biking on them.

Lastly, if you don't want to live in PC you can live in Salt Lake City, and all those trails are only 15 - 30 mins away. I drive up 3 days a week to riding in the mornings with no complaints.

 

[djjohnr]

Public transportation? Its in North America. Our public transportation blows compared to what Europe has.

Average house price in Van is ~$740,000 CDN. No idea what an apartment costs. My sis rents a place the size of a closet in downtown Van for ~$1000/month.

If you go further east out into the valley the prices are better but you have to have a vehicle to get anywhere.

That's really not that bad considering Vancouver's mix of desirable living and high population density. If it wasn't so cold I'd move there in a heartbeat.

San Francisco - Average listing price: $1.1 million USD, Median sales price: $632k USD
New York - Average listing price: $1.9 million USD, Median sales price: $1.0 million USD

 

[Benton]

Uhhh... I can't believe no one has mentioned Park City, UT. ...
if you don't want to live in PC you can live in Salt Lake City

Seconded. Salt Lake City and Park City are great especially if you also like to ski and rock climb. Moab Utah is a much smaller city and doesn't have lift-served, but it does have a 30 mile 7,000' vert shuttle run, epic technical riding, rock climbing, and even some back-country skiing. Oh and, Moab is only 4 hours from SLC and Park City great for weekend trips. If you're willing to drive 4-5 hours you can ride year round living in SLC, but most people end up putting the bike away and skiing in the winter.

 

[-BB-]

1) Ashland OR (my hometown)
2)Bellingham WA
3) Boulder CO (my college home)
4) Grand Junction CO
5) Moab UT
6) Truckee CA
7) SF Bay Area
8) Auburn CA (for decent dh and proximity to downieville)
9) Bend OR
10) Government Camp OR

Having lived in SF for MANY years, I would have to say that Orange County CA blows away SF in terms of riding. China Camp? Pacifica? Um... Skeggs? Is Lime Ridge still open? I have about 3-4 times the amount of riding here in OC and all of the trailheads are within a 15min radius. Plus we have a lot of places with DH that is 10 times as technical as the crack etc and it can all be shuttled.

There is a reason that a ton of pros live around here, and why even more of them come here in the off season. Hans Ray, Lopes, Athertons, Sam Hill... need I go on?

 

[W4S]

Having lived in SF for MANY years, I would have to say that Orange County CA blows away SF in terms of riding. China Camp? Pacifica? Um... Skeggs? Is Lime Ridge still open? I have about 3-4 times the amount of riding here in OC and all of the trailheads are within a 15min radius. Plus we have a lot of places with DH that is 10 times as technical as the crack etc and it can all be shuttled.

There is a reason that a ton of pros live around here, and why even more of them come here in the off season. Hans Ray, Lopes, Athertons, Sam Hill... need I go on?

sshhhh, still trying to keep what we have on the DL... j/k

but yeah, the OC and greater LA region has so much good riding that it's ridiculous, and the fact the we can ride 12 months a year, well

 

[xy9ine]

Bellingham is all fall line chunder fest, with no flow. And too many hippies. Don't move here.

haha. never mind the crappy non existent hippie laden mountain bike trails; i'd move there to be closer to boundary bay brewbub and mount baker. that said, vancouver does rock. you just have to mortgage your soul to make it work. it pains me to look at how (relatively) cheap r/e is outside our little bulletproof bubble, but we've yet to find the right mix of amenities to playgrounds to draw us away.

 

[SCARY]

Except for the 4.5 Million other reasons not to live there and hotter than the blazes of hell. Why have you guys not found a new place to shuttle down there?
South mountain way too crowded

Shut up JP!You're a backwoods,redneck, heat hater that has lost all sense when you lost your hair.I rode 2.5 hrs the other day,shuttles are tommorow afternoon,moto in the evening.

What did you do?Shoveled your driveway and shaved your head.

Hater,Sam hill fan boy.

 

[SinatorJ]

Shut up JP!You're a backwoods,redneck, heat hater that has lost all sense when you lost your hair.I rode 2.5 hrs the other day,shuttles are tommorow afternoon,moto in the evening.

What did you do?Shoveled your driveway and shaved your head.

Hater,Sam hill fan boy.

Yes I do hate the valley. How many hours did you sit still on the 101 last year? Place is a living hell, just hope to god you don't get kidnapped or get valley fever from a dust storm you Bizutch fan boy Besides, winter is for Snowboarding.

 

[kidwoo]

haha. never mind the crappy non existent hippie laden mountain bike trails; i'd move there to be closer to boundary bay brewbub and mount baker. that said, vancouver does rock. you just have to mortgage your soul to make it work. it pains me to look at how (relatively) cheap r/e is outside our little bulletproof bubble, but we've yet to find the right mix of amenities to playgrounds to draw us away.

Well to be fair, once you leave vancouver it's all poison tipped beavers, grizzlies and frozen rotting british explorers on the tundra right?

Well until you get all the way to quebec. But no one finds quebec because of all the cigarette smoke anyway.

 

[Nagaredama]

SoCal, year round riding of any variety you can imagine. There is a reason why 20% of the bike shops in the US are in SoCal.

 

[marshalolson]

gotta say the idea that boulder, co is some kind of MTB dreamland is total crap.

golden/west denver is WAY superior for immediately accessible trails, and is way closer to shuttles and lifts.

also, colorado springs adn grand junction deserve mention (though further from lifts, the shuttles are very legit).

 

[JRogers]

Gotta agree with others on Vermont. I went to college there and really liked the riding- good DH, XC and amazing road riding. I think the Kingdom Trails are my favorite place to ride in the country so far. Only downside to VT is the length of the winter...and I guess finding a job could be tough there too if that counts.

I live in SoCal now...I haven't done too much exploring in different areas, but there's good stuff around. It's a lot different than most of the east coast riding I've done, better in some ways and worse in others. One thing that is not so good is the road riding in this area. Any place I lived in the east (NJ, VT and CT) was better than this area.