Perfect city rehash

Another "tell me where to live" thread.

In about 6 months my wife and I will be done with school and will be able to live anywhere we want within reason (yay medicine). We've talked about where to go job hunting after that but aren't coming up with a lot. Outlined below are some things we want.

Acceptable traffic, some is OK. Denver for example is too much.
Decent local (afternoon trip) rock, good (4hrs) weekend rock
Culture, art, music, activities. Monoculture, whitebread gets old
Cool people
Proximity to mountains, within driving distance
Non oppressive cost of living.

Of the cliche answers, let me cross those off the list. I've been on the front range too long. Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs, we will never move there again.

So far my ideas include

Santa Fe
Flagstaff
SLC (whitebread?)
Grand Junction (whitebread?)
Durango (cost of living?)
Bend
Reno

Please expand on these if you have insight.

Other ideas? Tell me about Washington and Oregon.
East coast?

Does California suck to live in as much as it looks like it does?

You should move to Vegas... I've no idea how bad the traffic or culture is, but I sure like having more places I can crash at when I visit in the winter.

reboot wrote:You should move to Vegas... I've no idea how bad the traffic or culture is, but I sure like having more places I can crash at when I visit in the winter.

Only if you move to Slade.

Grand junction doesn't give you much in the way of afternoon climbing, but it is close (2-4 hrs) from a lot of cool stuff. The city is a tough adjustment coming from the front range like I did.

I haven't lived in SLC in many years, but even in the mid-2000's it wasn't as "whitebread" as you might think. Worth looking into, for sure.

Fair enough, but I don't think the 2 are comparable. You got actual jobs in one place & superb easily accessible local climbing of all styles (if not all rock types), unlike the mediocre or more spread out stuff in the front range, easy weekend access to multiple world class destinations, combined year-around climbing options vs no real jobs & one world class destination of a specific style of sport climbing + weekend access to a few good destinations of other styles (but no alternatives in the winter months or dead of summer).

The air in slc will kill you in the winter unless you live above it and make it worse by commuting.

Chattanooga, TN
North Conway, NH
Lake Placid, NY (skip NY if you're a gun owner)
Santa Fe is great. Sedona too. Especially if you MTB.
PNW (Burbs E of Seattle)

Most east coast places will kill you with humidity/traffic/weather/cost...most.

Laramie ? Missoula ?

john strand wrote:Most east coast places will kill you with humidity/traffic/weather/cost...most. Laramie ? Missoula ?

Dude lived on the Front Range...with already a high cost of living. Sperlings says 50k in Chatty is the same as 88k in Boulder.

Eric Carlos wrote: Dude lived on the Front Range...with already a high cost of living. Sperlings says 50k in Chatty is the same as 88k in Boulder.

I spent 2 weeks at T-wall a few years back. I didn't hate it but I am reasonably certain that I couldn't handle a summer there.

I like the NH idea.

I lived many years around Boston..front range is cheap and traffic free in comparison

Manchester NH is OK....really psyched local climbers, reasonable airport..North Conway is a bit culture dead except for the climbing i'd say.

There's always Amherst MA..pricey but kinda OK

The weather .....

Really there's no reason to live in southern NH unless you find a job there. Manchester and Concord are typical cities. You don't move to NH to live in places like that if you're into the outdoor scene. North Conway has a great local climbing scene for rock and ice and as long as you're not a douche you'll get welcomed in right away. It is northern NH so there's certainly not a ton going on for night life, but there are plenty of good restaurants and 2 really good breweries within 15 miles of each other. There's a shit ton of hiking within an hours drive in every direction and the same goes for climbing. Drive about and hour south and you have lincoln which has 2 more good breweries and some great restaurants. Lots of back country skiing and resort skiing opportunities really close by as well. This year has sucked for us so far but when its good the places nearby are pretty awesome. Rumney is also close by and has some killer sport climbing and an awesome tavern witj good food and music on the weekends all year round. No sales tax or state income tax and a reasonable cost of living as far as rent goes. Car reg is a little high but you don't pay income tax so that helps to offset it. It's a goddamn great place to live.

highaltitudeflatulentexpulsion wrote: Does California suck to live in as much as it looks like it does?

California is awesome in a lot of ways. However, if you are looking for cheaper housing and less traffic than Denver (I have lived in Denver, LA, San Diego, and the SF Bay Area), that rules out most urban areas of California for you. "Whitebread" will eliminate most rural areas in California.

Greg Pouliot wrote:Really there's no reason to live in southern NH unless you find a job there. Manchester and Concord are typical cities. You don't move to NH to live in places like that if you're into the outdoor scene. North Conway has a great local climbing scene for rock and ice and as long as you're not a douche you'll get welcomed in right away. It is northern NH so there's certainly not a ton going on for night life, but there are plenty of good restaurants and 2 really good breweries within 15 miles of each other. There's a shit ton of hiking within an hours drive in every direction and the same goes for climbing. Drive about and hour south and you have lincoln which has 2 more good breweries and some great restaurants. Lots of back country skiing and resort skiing opportunities really close by as well. This year has sucked for us so far but when its good the places nearby are pretty awesome. Rumney is also close by and has some killer sport climbing and an awesome tavern witj good food and music on the weekends all year round. No sales tax or state income tax and a reasonable cost of living as far as rent goes. Car reg is a little high but you don't pay income tax so that helps to offset it. It's a goddamn great place to live.

As for a job in the medical field ??? Rather limited i think

I don't think NH is what you want. Not much going on in North Conway except for awesome climbing, small group of psyched locals, and a whole lot of tourists. Same for other northern NH towns. Do not move to Manchester or Concord. Seacoast/ Portsmouth may be worth looking into but probably a little "whitebread". It has some culture, close to Boston, 2 hr drive to North conway, some local rock/ice close by, local surf scene if you're into that. Check out Burlington, VT or Asheville, NC if you're looking for a cool city with awesome scene and good recreation close by.

What field are you in high altitude? RN? The job market may not be quite as rosy as you think, especially in popular places to live.

I moved down to Albuquerque from Colorado almost three years ago for work (I am an RN) and it has been nice, but I can't wait to get back to Colorado. Nothing quite beats the Front Range for access to climbing. Albuquerque has its pluses, plenty of climbing within 1.5 hours, no crowds, great weather, unpretentious, certainly not whitewashed. Despite all this I still miss the Colorado mountains.

I think that you might find Reno suits your criteria well. The landscape isn't too different from the Front Range, except you get the Sierra instead of the Rockies. Plus a lot fewer people. The outdoor access is really fantastic, with local climbing and skiing within 45 minutes and pretty much all the offerings of the Sierra and eastside within weekend distance. The city itself is a bit, well, Reno, but you can live on the west side of town in a nice area at the base of the foothills, and still be only a 10-15 minute drive, at rush hour, from downtown. Traffic is minimal. Cost of living is quite low.

My thoughts of Vegas, after living/working there for 3 months, were that it was an amazing place to be a climber, and a terrible place to be a human being. I couldn’t handle it, and bailed. Other people love it there. You’d have to see for yourself.

Have you thought about Flagstaff? Not sure about the cost of living, but otherwise would suit all of your criteria well.

The front range has changed a lot in the last three years. In my opinion for the worse. Noobs from every corner of the country head there to "be outdoorsy" and/or "fulfill their purpose of growing weed". Every weekend the same shit gets gang banged. Its rare NOT to see someone when you are doing things outside.

Also what the heck does "whitebread" mean?

john strand wrote:Most east coast places will kill you with humidity/traffic/weather

New England is a great place to visit, but the climate is dreadful for a rock climber.

Ice climbing much better than the front range, but do you really want to go down that path?

grog m wrote:The front range has changed a lot in the last three years. In my opinion for the worse. Noobs from every corner of the country head there to "be outdoorsy" and/or "fulfill their purpose of growing weed". Every weekend the same shit gets gang banged. Its rare NOT to see someone when you are doing things outside. Also what the heck does "whitebread" mean?

My thoughts exactly, only better stated.