Or maybe I should re-label the heading, *my* ideal locale...
It's currently 96 degrees outside right now, with the heat index in the triple digits. Its days like this (but not limited to only days like this) that I dream of packing up and relocating once my daughter heads off to college in 8 years (currently tied down by an ex-wife). It just beats me down and makes it difficult to find motivation to be outdoors. I'd love to be camping, hiking, biking or, heck, even working on my project VW, but stepping outside feels like stepping into a bathroom that has had water running on its hottest setting for 30 minutes with the door closed. I tried to take my daughter camping last weekend and we had to suck it up and drop $150 on an unexpected night's stay at a hotel because it was too hot for us to get to sleep.
I'll occasionally think about places I'd like to head to, and will pull up statistics on the area to see how we'd fit each other. So I thought I would just pose the question to spark up some discussion.
I've spent some time in Ogden, UT and love it out there. The scenery is amazing (I can take the ocean, and even enjoyed living on the Crystal Coast for 6 years, but prefer the mountains) and there are activities to do year-round. It has built such a niche for itself among outdoor enthusiasts, that they have flocked to the area and created indoor activity arenas for those days when the weather gets too bad. I just checked, it's currently 55 degrees out there!
I have a buddy that works for Lockheed and gets sent to Mountain Home, ID every few months and he said I would absolutely love that area. He calls Boise-Mountain Home the outdoorsman's paradise.
I know there are several areas of Colorado that offer similar levels of activity, but the cost of living in that state is way more than I would be comfortable paying.
Actually, I'll pose two questions:
1) What is your "dream" location based on outdoor activities? This is a no_holds_barred question, so money/population/weather/etc is of no concern.
2) What location would you choose/recommend based on the following criteria:
- An offering of activities,year-round. Hiking/biking trails, kayaking waters, fishing waters, etc
- Mild weather. Well, mild summers, at least. Mild winters would be nice, too, but I can deal with colder weather better than I can hotter.
- Population. People mean problems (crime, traffic, housing costs, etc). I grew up in a small Appalachian town of 1100 people, with the nearest town having a population of 14k and the nearest "big city" being about 35k. I don't want desolation, per se, but I like the small town feel (Greenville, SC manages to accomplish this even with a population of 6-figures).
- Cost of living. I'm a single father, and just a lowly state employee. I don't foresee hitting the lottery or landing some inheritance any time in the next 8 years, so I need to be able to support myself (which rules out places like Boulder, which has a median home value of $469k).
I guess, ideally, I'd be looking for a medium-sized city (40-60k); not too big that I feel suffocated, but with enough of an economy that there would be good jobs available.
Anxious to see what suggestions y'all come up with!
It's currently 96 degrees outside right now, with the heat index in the triple digits. Its days like this (but not limited to only days like this) that I dream of packing up and relocating once my daughter heads off to college in 8 years (currently tied down by an ex-wife). It just beats me down and makes it difficult to find motivation to be outdoors. I'd love to be camping, hiking, biking or, heck, even working on my project VW, but stepping outside feels like stepping into a bathroom that has had water running on its hottest setting for 30 minutes with the door closed. I tried to take my daughter camping last weekend and we had to suck it up and drop $150 on an unexpected night's stay at a hotel because it was too hot for us to get to sleep.
I'll occasionally think about places I'd like to head to, and will pull up statistics on the area to see how we'd fit each other. So I thought I would just pose the question to spark up some discussion.
I've spent some time in Ogden, UT and love it out there. The scenery is amazing (I can take the ocean, and even enjoyed living on the Crystal Coast for 6 years, but prefer the mountains) and there are activities to do year-round. It has built such a niche for itself among outdoor enthusiasts, that they have flocked to the area and created indoor activity arenas for those days when the weather gets too bad. I just checked, it's currently 55 degrees out there!
I have a buddy that works for Lockheed and gets sent to Mountain Home, ID every few months and he said I would absolutely love that area. He calls Boise-Mountain Home the outdoorsman's paradise.
I know there are several areas of Colorado that offer similar levels of activity, but the cost of living in that state is way more than I would be comfortable paying.
Actually, I'll pose two questions:
1) What is your "dream" location based on outdoor activities? This is a no_holds_barred question, so money/population/weather/etc is of no concern.
2) What location would you choose/recommend based on the following criteria:
- An offering of activities,year-round. Hiking/biking trails, kayaking waters, fishing waters, etc
- Mild weather. Well, mild summers, at least. Mild winters would be nice, too, but I can deal with colder weather better than I can hotter.
- Population. People mean problems (crime, traffic, housing costs, etc). I grew up in a small Appalachian town of 1100 people, with the nearest town having a population of 14k and the nearest "big city" being about 35k. I don't want desolation, per se, but I like the small town feel (Greenville, SC manages to accomplish this even with a population of 6-figures).
- Cost of living. I'm a single father, and just a lowly state employee. I don't foresee hitting the lottery or landing some inheritance any time in the next 8 years, so I need to be able to support myself (which rules out places like Boulder, which has a median home value of $469k).
I guess, ideally, I'd be looking for a medium-sized city (40-60k); not too big that I feel suffocated, but with enough of an economy that there would be good jobs available.
Anxious to see what suggestions y'all come up with!