Ginsu Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 I'm not sure if there's already a string on this topic but I figured it won't hurt to ask again. I'm doing personal research to try and find the best place to live. I'm looking for a place that's within 30mins to a good ski area, under $300k for a nice 3bd/2bth house, has a good infrastructure for goods and materials, and most importantly has good paying jobs, which for me would be in high tech and for my wife the mortgage industry. So far I've been focusing on these major city areas, Burlington VT, SLC UT, maybe Montana areas, and possibly Bend OR. Any others or comments or links to research already done? I think this could be a good place to see what people think of where they live now also. Which for me is the West side of Portland, and at least 1hr plus for the nearest Resort. Not to mention the great Portland traffic and Ice incrusted 26 in the Sandy/Zigzag area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike T Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 I'm doing personal research to try and find the best place to live. I'm looking for a place that's within 30mins to a good ski area, under $300k for a nice 3bd/2bth house, has a good infrastructure for goods and materials, and most importantly has good paying jobs, which for me would be in high tech and for my wife the mortgage industry. Regarding Bend: -30 minutes: check. -under 300K: missed it by about a year. My new place was literally pennies under 300K, but the offer was made at late 2004 prices and I hear it's worth quite a bit more now. -infrastructure: getting there. -mortgage industry: booming -hi-tech: limited options. email me offline and let me know what specifically you're looking for... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ak_rider Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 ever consider anchorage, ak? great infrastructure. loads of job opps, unless you're a snowboard instructor :( and about 30 min from alyeska once youget used to the highway, although if you don't like ice encrusted roads it might not be a good option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARCrider Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 sorry can't help I can tell you not to come to Toronto. I've been wondering about my own relocation at retirement. Don't really know where yet but Ontario will be left behind at least for the winters. We've finally got some of our hills open. short season with limited vert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skategoat Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Kelowna baby. But don't wait too long or the prices will be out of reach. Kelowna has the most sunshine days in Canada. It's wine country and three good ski mountains are within 1 hour drive. Plus, there are direct flights from Toronto. This info is mostly for Rob (arcrider) but Ginsu, if you have a university degree and high tech skills, we'll let you in the country. Hell, we let 50cent and Martha Stewart in recently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 There's very little for tech stuff going on in Kelowna AFAIK. Most of the money there is retired people from Vancouver. The housing market is nuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Randy S. Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Reno, NV? Awesome skiing close by. Some tech (not as much as down here in Silicon Valley). Or maybe Boulder or Colorado Springs? Those both have tech stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jutta Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 but it takes 1 hour and 45 min to get to Summit County (via Hwy 24 to Breck) on a good day. I've spent almost 3 hrs one way to Breck and so far my personal best for A-Basin (via I-25/I-70) was just over 4 hrs. It's doable for a day trip, but not a whole lot of fun... I second the SLC thought, though. Where else do you have the chance to have the best of both city and mountain living? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skategoat Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 There's very little for tech stuff going on in Kelowna AFAIK. Most of the money there is retired people from Vancouver. The housing market is nuts. You could teach the old folks on how to find dates on the Internet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Sub Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 sad about bend, really. just more rich people f-in it up for others. even the folks that have lived there all their lives are being phased out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jared Q Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Wasatch Front/SLC area is where it is at. Although we do have two resorts that frown on snowboarding (Alta and Deer Valley). You still have Park City, Brighton, Solitude, Snowbird, Canyons, and Sundance all within about an hour or less from SLC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jutta Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 which means that while they can ban you from using their lifts, there isn't much they can do if you hike over from Brighton and use their runs... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snow|3oarder Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 Wasatch Front/SLC area is where it is at. Although we do have two resorts that frown on snowboarding (Alta and Deer Valley). You still have Park City, Brighton, Solitude, Snowbird, Canyons, and Sundance all within about an hour or less from SLC. mmmmmmmmm....SLC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdurgin Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 SLC, can't beat it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Randy S. Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 There's tech in SLC, but keep in mind that tech there, like most businesses there, is run/dominated by Mormons. I don't have anything against people choosing whatever faith they want. Heck, I'm Jewish and we've been persecuted for generations. That said, I've worked for tech companies run by mormons and worked with those companies a lot over the years. If you aren't Mormon, and don't attend church with them, it makes it very difficult to break in/move up. They'll tell you this isn't true and wave all sorts of rainbow inclusiveness/diversity flags (not as big as the rainbow flags we wave here in SF), but its just not f'ng true. There's more crony-ism and exclusion in Mormon run companies than any other I've seen (and I've lived in CT and NY where we Jews, plus the old-line protestants take old-boy to legendary heights). I suppose if you know this going in, and are accepting of it, you'll deal with it. If you want to be a cog at a company, it probably won't matter. If you want to move up, it might be hard. Sorry for not being PC about this, and for essentially bringing politics/bias into the discussion, but I've spent a bunch of time there, had family live there, and know lots of folks there. Just trying to call it as I see it. The riding is awesome in Utah. I even break out the skis so I can ride at Alta(great steeps) and Deer Valley(great slope-side food and service). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jared Q Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 As an engineer working in SLC for the last 10 years, I have to agree with Randy. However, there are a handful of tech companies with corporate ties outside the state that are not all that bad. The trick is finding the right place to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stainless Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 I chose Reno. My job allows me to live anywhere in the US (on a modest professional salary), so I figure my opinion is qualified. Housing market is hot - but everything was undervalued 4 years ago, so it was an adjustment. Levelling off now. Developers are still building houses like there's no tomorrow. Nordstrom is moving in, new shopping malls, downtown is on a big 'revitalization'. ($millions spent moving the train tracks underground in the downtown area, whitewater kayak park, Tour de Nez if you're into roadbikes, Lemond and Hincapie are locals, so that's worth noting. Annual 'Arttown' Festival, newish art gallery etc). Reno is slowly gentrifying as the Californians are moving in and demanding their fancy-pants wines and coffee. My wife and I wish they would pay as much attention to building schools - the public system is overcrowded - my daughters are in private schools. I can be in my boots riding Mt Rose 45 minutes from my front door, mountain biking in 5, flyfishing the Truckee in 15, flyfishing Pyramid Lake in 45. And of course, Lake Tahoe is over the hill. Two decent craft breweries, lots of glitzy casinos, and you are never more than 30 minutes from a lap-dance if that's your thing. San Francisco is 3.5 hours drive away. I take my toddler daughters down there for some culture and so they will hopefully learn not to stare at black people (honest - my 2 year old had never seen any other skin colour but white). Good airport. NO STATE TAX!. 300 days of sunshine per year, bugger-all humidity. I grew up in New Zealand - I know a good thing when I find it, and Reno is pretty damn close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fleaman Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 Kelowna is slowly moving into the tech industry. I wish I could say the same for Penticton. I find it funny that the average wage here is something like 9 bucks an hour and the average house goes for $250 000. I lucked in and bought mine for $20 000 below market value Most people like carpets in the house but I have textured concrete floor which is great for dogs. Ginsu, You might want to try Kelowna. Lots of riding oportunities and a city of 100 000 with plenty of good weather in the summer at leastand a mild winter It is also the city with the most homes for sale over 1 000 000 dollars wich would be a boon for the mortgage industry. Did I mention that the beaches are full of nubile hot women in the summer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeW Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 Why not sticking to portland, oregon? Funny, during the reading of your post, i said to myself -- portland. Then I went "oh." when I saw where youre posting from. So, why the consideration to move out of PDX? Its pretty much the city I can think of with those criteria (as for 300K, Im not sure if Sandy, OR housing market is good or not as well as the prices -- cheap last time i saw it, 1998-2000). Its perfectly halfway between portland and mt hood. even better, why not "telecommute" instead if youre into high tech job market ? Edit: FINALLY, I get to reach 500 posts. Not bad. Wish it'd included my old posts from the old forums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartron Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 Check out findyourspot.com It's a great site that asks you a bunch of questions and then gives you a list of 25 towns in the U.S. that best suit your needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kipstar Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 Second dat...reno is great; really nice people there, easy goin lifestyle; Alpine an hour away, Mt Rose about 30 min or less on that side of town. Casino food rocks. Cheap places for friends to stay. Cheap flights to the Bay Area and the LA. Not bad at all, if I were living anywhere in USA, it would be probably there.... Property prices have shot up quite a bit; but my friends' places all seem well nice and new, but probably not too far off your price range... cannot comment on the IT market, but there are a few corporate offices there.... would guess any growing city has need for mortgages... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartron Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 I tried googling "best ski towns" and got this: http://www.skimag.com/skimag/feature/article/0,12795,410175,00.html http://www.americasbestonline.net/skitowns.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patmoore Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 About two years ago I stumbled on an amazing site: www.findyourspot.com You need to spend a fair amount of time inputting preferences in a wide assortment of topics - recreation, climate, health care, cost of living, etc but it's worth the effort. It will return about 20 locations with detailed info on all of them. For me the number one choice was Durango. We decided it was a bit too pricey for us (we're retiring in six years) so we did a findyourspot.com exploratory trip two months ago visiting: Bozeman, MT Missoula, MT Kalispell/Whitefish, MT Sandpoint, ID (my favorite) Two others that popped up on my list but we didn't visit were: Bend, OR Wenatchee, WA When you get a chance, try the survey yourself and share your results. Pat (BTW, my wife's top pick was Boston......Oh well) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 Kelowna is slowly moving into the tech industry. I wish I could say the same for Penticton. I find it funny that the average wage here is something like 9 bucks an hour and the average house goes for $250 000. That whole Okanagan valley is a bizarre economy. On the one hand, you've got these fabulous retirement homes, big boats on the lake, all that jazz. On the other, you've got people living in shacks and ****hole trailers working as fruitpickers or whatever. It's kind of depressing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike T Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 Why not sticking to portland, oregon? Funny, during the reading of your post, i said to myself -- portland. Then I went "oh." when I saw where youre posting from. So, why the consideration to move out of PDX? Its pretty much the city I can think of with those criteria (as for 300K, Im not sure if Sandy, OR housing market is good or not as well as the prices -- cheap last time i saw it, 1998-2000). Its perfectly halfway between portland and mt hood. even better, why not "telecommute" instead if youre into high tech job market ? I lived in Sandy for 4 years and moved to Bend. Sandy is a cow-town. You need to drive to Portland or at least Gresham for lots o' things - competent medical care, anything you can't buy at Fred Meyer, restaurants that don't smell like an ashtray. (For the latter you can also go to Welches, 16 miles toward the mountain). On the other hand, we sold our 3Bed/2Bath 1500sf house in a nice neighborhood for just over 200K in April '05 (and were suprised to get that *much*). If you're going to buy in Sandy, do it in the middle of winter while it's wet and muddy, the market seems to really bounce once it gets sunny and dry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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