Thinking about relocation near the mountains, recommendations?

[big_slacker]

Draper: Isn't this where the rich folk of SLC live? I have an acquaintance that is super rich (like private jet rich) and I think he lives there. Not that I mind living in a nice place, and HFS it looks like you get a lot for like $350k there! That won't buy a condo here.



St George: I've been there, used to live in Vegas and pass through on the way to Zion trips! Will research.

Wenatchee: I've only camped at lake Wenatchee which of course is an hour away. Nice area, wouldn't mind a drive out there this summer anyway to check it out.

I have some convincing to do here though, had a talk this morning with my wife and she's back to really liking the Seattle eastside. :(

[dude]

Others have mentioned the SLC area, which I LOVE, but not sure about living there (I need proximity to the ocean!).

Let me be the first to pipe in and pimp the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  North Conway and its environs are beautiful. Excellent snowboarding (both resort and backcountry, though obviously generally not Utah champagne powder), a lifetime of hiking trails, killer ice and rock climbing venues, beaches within a 1.5 hour drive, no state income tax, and reasonably priced.  Proximity to Portsmouth, NH (a really nice town) about 1.5 hours away, and Boston about 3 hours away.

[lightmyfire]

If you are trying to make a comparable and mustachian move Denver and Santa Fe are poor choices. Both are considerably more expensive than the other options presented and don't in my opinion offer enough return to make self imposed moves worth it. If you want to live in a town that small, Santa Fe would be placed at the top of my list, including Flagstaff and Sedona but I was under the impression we were looking for comparable cities. I mean hell Las Vegas is a great choice too but these places did not seem good recommendations based on your criteria.

Santa Fe is the highest and oldest State Capitol in the west with stunning culture, architecture and natural beauty. The weather is excellent in my opinion if you like cold semi-arid intermountain west climate. Cons are it is expensive, small and lacks many amenities of a larger metro area including a real airport. ABQ is not a suitable replacement for SEA, DEN, LAS or SLC.

Albuquerque has a world-class research university and hospitals, gorgeous scenery in all directions (including 30-45 minutes to a ski slope and mountain hiking trails), a river trail system about 10 minutes from downtown, more microbreweries than you can shake a stake at, varied and interesting cuisine, a thriving live music scene, unique architecture, art museums, good airport, Petroglyph National Monument...oh, I could go on and on, but I won't because honestly I'd rather Albuquerque stays under the radar rather than becoming the next Denver.

[GhostSaver]

Draper: Isn't this where the rich folk of SLC live? I have an acquaintance that is super rich (like private jet rich) and I think he lives there. Not that I mind living in a nice place, and HFS it looks like you get a lot for like $350k there! That won't buy a condo here.

I would describe Draper as kind of nouveau-riche McMansion country, at least up on the bench. The more established coin is probably in Emigration Canyon, the Avenues, or up in Park City. I would also dispute the mountain bike access down there in suburbia. I think you actually get better mtb access in Salt Lake proper unless you happen to own one of the McMansions that is immediately adjacent to Corner Canyon. Dimple Dell park isn't great riding and most of the trails around the cottonwood canyons are unrideable or off-limits. Down there, you've got great access to climbing and skiing, though sensible housing options will be more common in Sandy or Cottonwood Heights. Also: that stretch of I-15 is the worst traffic in the metro area. Still, if you've got the right house figured out and your job is in one of those suburban office parks, it's almost a no-brainer option to live there. Hopping a short bus ride up to Snowbird is pretty sweet.

[DMAC]

I'll put another vote in for Draper, UT.  Specifically the Suncrest Community.  At 6300 ft you'll be comfortably above the inversion (smog) as you can see from the pic below taken from my back deck.  You'll be 30 mins to downtown SLC and less than that to numerous ski resorts.  You'll also have direct access to the corner canyon trail system (hiking and biking) from your backyard.

[CptCool]

I'll put another vote in for Draper, UT.  Specifically the Suncrest Community.  At 6300 ft you'll be comfortably above the inversion (smog) as you can see from the pic below taken from my back deck.  You'll be 30 mins to downtown SLC and less than that to numerous ski resorts.  You'll also have direct access to the corner canyon trail system (hiking and biking) from your backyard.

What's the average home price there? Also, is it generally only 4br/3ba mass built type of houses, or is there some variety?

I just went skiing in Utah for the first time this year and I know it was a better-than-average year, but it was seriously amazing.

[DMAC]

What's the average home price there? Also, is it generally only 4br/3ba mass built type of houses, or is there some variety?

I just went skiing in Utah for the first time this year and I know it was a better-than-average year, but it was seriously amazing.

Most homes up here are going for around $125/sq ft.  There is definitely a variety of homes.  There are multi million custom homes, track homes, and condos all within a few square miles.  My home was part of a slightly more upscale builder development so the homes have more variety with large lots ranging from 0.5- 1 acre.  That is one of the reasons I chose to buy here, I didn't want to live in a cookie cutter community.

[jjandjab]

Others have mentioned the SLC area, which I LOVE, but not sure about living there (I need proximity to the ocean!).

Let me be the first to pipe in and pimp the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  North Conway and its environs are beautiful. Excellent snowboarding (both resort and backcountry, though obviously generally not Utah champagne powder), a lifetime of hiking trails, killer ice and rock climbing venues, beaches within a 1.5 hour drive, no state income tax, and reasonably priced.  Proximity to Portsmouth, NH (a really nice town) about 1.5 hours away, and Boston about 3 hours away.

Yes I was reading through and thought it took a while before the Northeast came up. I second NH or VT as worthy choices based on your list of wants/needs.

Great places to live with access to skiing and hiking; generally excellent schools (both k-12 and college). Plenty of access to tech jobs due to proximity to Boston and NYC corridor. NH is lower cost of living and a bit more of a "red" state - but only when compared to the rest of New England, so basically just somewhat less liberal. VT is awesome, but higher taxes, although I personally like the skiing and atmosphere a bit more - Burlington VT is an awesome small college city, although getting more expensive by the day....

And all of NE geographically small when compared to out West, so great easy access to multiple airports in small, medium and large cities.

[big_slacker]

Thanks for all the help everyone. Talked it over with my wife in several sessions over the last few days. She really likes it here and doesn't want to move away. But she is fine with buying a condo back home in tahoe that I can go to when I need a break, do summers down there with the kids and so on. It also gives us an out if it gets too insanely expensive up here, and a place to retire.

AirBnB/VRBO along with my local friends should keep it cheap or perhaps even turn a profit. Got a little number crunching to do there to see exactly what level of place to get, but there are affordable places at the lake. :D

[ditheca]

St. George, Utah?  Isn't that the town that suffered terribly from nuclear fallout?

Wow. I'd never heard that story.  Yes, it did get hit with fallout back in 1953.

[tralfamadorian]

Wow. I'd never heard that story.  Yes, it did get hit with fallout back in 1953.

Yeah, I had remembered reading an article about how half of the population had radiation induced cancer by the 1980s and even today if they dig in the soil- with a backhoe for instance- people wear radiation suits and use Geiger counters.  It's supposed to be safe now but I can't imagine adding it to a dream list of future places to live!

[SimplyFinanciallyFree]

The problem with the Denver area is that many of the towns are actually quite a drive from the mountains and from what I have heard mountain ski traffic is horrendous.  I personally would look at SLC over Denver as you have populated areas much closer to the mountains without the traffic issues (even though my sister in law and her family just moved to the Denver area I still wouldn't go there as my first choice).

[Mika M]

I'll throw in Couer D'Alene/Hayden, ID area. Beautiful area with close by ski mountain options and a good amount of people with cute downtown areas.

Western Montana towns like Missoula or Butte?

Maybe the eastern-most suburbs of Portland, OR?

For Colorado if you want a closer drive to the ski areas than Golden I imagine you'd have to actually move to a ski town like Breckenridge; which I'm guessing isn't all that LCOL unless you get the most humble of apartment condos, as well as probably being too small for DW...

Being from the mid-Atlantic I'll also toss in Martinsburg, WV; Hagerstown, MD; and Roanoke, VA...

[big_slacker]

4 posts above yours. :D

Thanks though, I do appreciate the input.

I'll throw in Couer D'Alene/Hayden, ID area. Beautiful area with close by ski mountain options and a good amount of people with cute downtown areas.

Western Montana towns like Missoula or Butte?

Maybe the eastern-most suburbs of Portland, OR?

For Colorado if you want a closer drive to the ski areas than Golden I imagine you'd have to actually move to a ski town like Breckenridge; which I'm guessing isn't all that LCOL unless you get the most humble of apartment condos, as well as probably being too small for DW...

Being from the mid-Atlantic I'll also toss in Martinsburg, WV; Hagerstown, MD; and Roanoke, VA...

[waltworks]

Close to the mountains (me, snowboard and mountain bike bum)
Not hugely expensive. I can always make over $100k but that doesn't buy a place in Aspen for instance, we can be frugal but don't want to be terrified of our mortgage (both of us)
Outskirts of or reasonable proximity to a city of some sort (her, we moved here from tahoe which she thought was too provincial)
Decent schools and environments for the kiddos. I don't want my kids to go to a shit school just because I want to live in a ski town :D  (both of us)
Proximity to tech to have a backup if remote work falls through. Maybe not a must but wouldn't hurt (me)

Los Alamos NM checks all those boxes except proximity to a "city", unless you count Albuquerque (90 minutes or a little more) as a "city".
-Great skiing and mountain biking, great sport and trad rock climbing as well unless you're climbing 5.13+ in which case your options are a little limited.
-Best public schools in the US by a large margin and tons of activities for kids.
-Housing pretty cheap ($250k gets you a decent house, $100k gets you a livable half of a duplex).
-Tons of tech/science jobs and other nerds to hang around with.
-Great brewery.

Otherwise I'd look at Boise (cheap, skiing/riding kinda meh but not bad) or somewhere in New England (gotta love ice and wet roots/rocks, public schools can be great or horrible). All the housing in proximity to ski areas in the west costs a fortune (I should know, I've lived in/at a lot of them) and usually the schools suck to boot. We chose Park City because it actually has good schools (and a metric ton of trails).

The only other "ski town" I know of like that is Steamboat ($$$, as usual). Schools in places like Jackson or Vail are awful because most of the year-round residents send their kids off to boarding school.

I would not live in SLC simply due to the pollution/traffic/sprawl, but don't let the LDS thing scare you. Other than expensive beer, there's not much downside to having a lot of Mormons around. They are generally really nice.

-W