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Where to live in pacific nw?

searching7

Chimp
Mar 3, 2005
44
0
I'm moving to the pacific NW in the spring. I want to close to better riding than where I am currently at. Bellingham in WA is what I am thinking about. In short, I looking for a place where there is good riding, some dirt jumps and fairly close to BC. I not set specifically set on the pacific northwest though. I also thought about whitefish Montana, which I here is close to Fernie. Ah ... I've thought of Bend OR too. Any suggestions or info on the places I've mentioned would be great. Thanks for your time.
 

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thegoodword

Chimp
Oct 29, 2003
32
0
Walla Walla, WA>Boise, ID
There are so many cool places in the Pacific NW... I could go on and on...
Are you so super skilled that you can find a job anywhere you go though? Are you wealthy enough that you don't need to work? Bend, Missoula, Whitefish all have great areas to recreate, but I do not hear good things about job opportunities. Can you handle the rain? Then west of the Cascade Mountains might be fine. My sister lived in Bellingham and talked about it being in the rain shadow; thus not getting the precipitation that Seattle receives. That may be a good choice if you want to be close to B.C. Boise has sweet cross-country trails everywhere and some jumping at Usery. Walla Walla has wine, road riding, some insanely awesome mountain bike riding that nobody knows about and colleges. Eastern Washington and Oregon has bible thumping red necks with some nice folks too. The only thing keeping the radical right-wing politics in check are the voters west of the Cascades. Coeur d' Alene, Idaho is cool too but it definitely rains more there than Southern Idaho.
 

geargrrl

Turbo Monkey
May 2, 2002
2,379
1
pnw -dry side
Eastern WA chiming in here. Boise close to BC, I'd say that's kind of a stretch...

Average rainfall for Spokane is 18", 26" for CDA, not what most people think of as rainy.
There is lot of great XC riding here, and we've got Beacon which some would consider a great place for DH and DJ's. There's some interest in getting a DJ park going in CDA, too.

Housing costs will be lower here than any resort based community. The climate is very nice 4 season, it's a 2 hour drive to Rossland. I hear it does suck to be single in Spokand, but I have no first hand experiece, being a very married person.

There are bible thumpers everywhere, I guess people have that impression of the dry side,but it hasn't infringed on my lifestyle any.

geargrrl.

spokane riding:
www.fttrc.org
 

odiwik

Monkey
Mar 2, 2004
252
0
If you are moving to mountain bike, head over to the west side of the mountains. Bellingham would be ideal if you are skilled enough to guarantee a job, or weathly enough to vacation for a few years...
 
Jun 18, 2004
945
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Mt or Id have more opprotunity... you won't like the rain/Cascade Concrete here... it will warp your mind... that's why there are more serial killars per capita here... take it from some body that's lived here since 1969... Switzer is the place to move to... either that or Ut...
 

geargrrl

Turbo Monkey
May 2, 2002
2,379
1
pnw -dry side
Str8OutaBallard said:
Mt or Id have more opprotunity... you won't like the rain/Cascade Concrete here... it will warp your mind... that's why there are more serial killars per capita here... take it from some body that's lived here since 1969... Switzer is the place to move to... either that or Ut...
You mean Schweitzer (Sandpoint?) Housing has gone through the roof up there, it's been "discovered"....and wages have NOT kept pace. :mad:
 

ride

Monkey
Jan 11, 2005
471
0
Bellingham is where I'd reccomend if you can find work. I assume that is not qa factor as it was not stated as one of your requirements for possible locations. I moved here from Seattle a year and a half ago for a 60 day employment stint. I decided after 1about 10 days that I owuld stay here wether I had a permenent job or not. Check it out.
 

pangeist

Monkey
Mar 18, 2005
327
0
Santa Barbara
As long as we are counting the Sonoran Desert as part of the NW I would say move there, but as long as you are referring to the cold, damp, wet, most northwestern part of the country, my suggestion would be....DONT DO IT!!!!! Winter is SUICIDE. I have lived in western WA for 8 years and cant wait to leave for some place where the sun shines consistently and there isnt constant moisture in the air. Its bad for so many reasons: allergies, joint pains, mold growing everywhere, days that get only 7 hours of light (if you can call it that), days where it looks like dusk all day long.......etc. Yeah, maybe I am just a puss, but I think it sucks up here. Good Luck.
 

odiwik

Monkey
Mar 2, 2004
252
0
You are all insane or have problems... Buy an artificial sunlight lamp and get over it. If you think about it, the PNW is probably the best place to live in the world...
 

Tenchiro

Attention K Mart Shoppers
Jul 19, 2002
5,407
0
New England
Seattle is nice, if you like being driven to a near murderous rampage every day during rush hour. Seriously though if you like your weather 60° and gray we are second only to London.
 

allsk8sno

Turbo Monkey
Jun 6, 2002
1,153
33
Bellingham, WA
odiwik said:
You are all insane or have problems... Buy an artificial sunlight lamp and get over it. If you think about it, the PNW is probably the best place to live in the world...
shhhh everyone will want to mover here...

yeah its sucks big time up hear go to utah or something i hear the riding is awesome down there...cause it sucks up here in wa...
 

Projectpat

Chimp
Oct 26, 2004
26
0
bellingham
pangeist said:
As long as we are counting the Sonoran Desert as part of the NW I would say move there, but as long as you are referring to the cold, damp, wet, most northwestern part of the country, my suggestion would be....DONT DO IT!!!!! Winter is SUICIDE. I have lived in western WA for 8 years and cant wait to leave for some place where the sun shines consistently and there isnt constant moisture in the air. Its bad for so many reasons: allergies, joint pains, mold growing everywhere, days that get only 7 hours of light (if you can call it that), days where it looks like dusk all day long.......etc. Yeah, maybe I am just a puss, but I think it sucks up here. Good Luck.


sounds like some of us up here might need a waamburger and some french-cries! ...and possibly an after meal pacifier.
:thumb:
 

searching7

Chimp
Mar 3, 2005
44
0
Thanks for all the info. Hopefully I'll be able to check out bellingham for a while before I make a decision whether or not I'm going to stay. In general, I'm looking for a place where I can DJ and FR. I know the weather is an issue there, but if you can ride year round it may not be a huge issue for me. Who knows though. I've been trying get to BC for like three years now, and something always comes up, stopping my trip. I would like to be close to there so it's easy to get there and ride. Thanks again for all the info.
 

Transfer

Monkey
Jan 23, 2004
545
0
Seattle, WA
The only jobs to be had in Bellingham without your own (successful) business are coffee stands and minimum wage retail. And those you have to fight with the 11,000 student college population for. Bellingham is mildly expensive and you won't make much money there.


Native from 1980-2005.
 

The Amish

Dumber than N8
Feb 22, 2005
645
0
Im headed to bellingham. Taking out some serious loans and going to western washington university for the next 4-5 yrs. Its the only way I could think of that I could afford to move there and ride. so Education it is.
 

thesacrifice

Monkey
Aug 4, 2004
451
0
360
bham = small town feel, with a pop of 75000ish. It has a lot to offer. If you snowboard, you're super close to Mt. Baker, biking you have Galbraith..there's a town sponsored dirt jump park (not that great) Vancouver is up the road, and whistler a little beyond that...wtf why not move there?
 

searching7

Chimp
Mar 3, 2005
44
0
Thanks for the info. I guess it'll be the weather that will be the deciding factor. Thanks again. Anymore info would be great.
 

krustydude

Monkey
Mar 16, 2004
198
0
Richland, WA
If you can handle the wet, western wa is cool. I've lived in eastern wa all my life and i think it's a perfect ballance. If you can handle the cold you can ride year round. We have pretty good job opportunities and low housing cost. The local riding is ok, but there is great riding no more than three hours in any direction and whistler is close enough to make a few trips a year.
 

Mut

Monkey
Dec 23, 2004
165
0
Renton, WA
krustydude said:
If you can handle the wet, western wa is cool. I've lived in eastern wa all my life and i think it's a perfect ballance. If you can handle the cold you can ride year round. We have pretty good job opportunities and low housing cost. The local riding is ok, but there is great riding no more than three hours in any direction and whistler is close enough to make a few trips a year.
Low housing?! have you tried to buy a house lately
 

thesacrifice

Monkey
Aug 4, 2004
451
0
360
oly said:
2 words for ya...

South Sound....

We got 5 acres and a nice home with garage and barn for under 200, and im only 30 minutes to tacoma....
i bet your property starts going way up in value soon, seen hawks prairie lately? sdflajk!23434
 

oly

skin cooker for the hive
Dec 6, 2001
5,118
6
Witness relocation housing
thesacrifice said:
i bet your property starts going way up in value soon, seen hawks prairie lately? sdflajk!23434
yea, but so are my f$#king property taxes....#!@#!@#!@#!@# When the rezone us from 1 per five i'll cash in... i figure i can get 15 homes on my porperty then... haha.

Also, dont know if you've been over on Yelm hwy betweeen College and Ruddle, but that area is also getting another buisness development put in. I bet there will be 4 starbucks within that area soon... there is already 2.... housing is also going up all over the place... most notably the area by the amtrack/monty jumps in the woods. Ever been in there??