# If you could live anywhere in the USA...



## TheMan (Aug 24, 2012)

*Breckenridge!*

I live in downtown Breck and it's incredible.


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## Beeb (Mar 13, 2012)

Never been myself, but my wife has family there  And pictures look great!


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

North Cascades...beer, mtns, sea but no warm sandy beaches and the pow could be alittle colder; and I'd guess there is
still IT but idk.


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## HoboMaster (May 16, 2010)

Not the midwest or the eastcoast.

Narrowed it down for ya


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## Beeb (Mar 13, 2012)

haha, I see what you did there!


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## jbernste03 (Aug 20, 2012)

*DC moving West*

Hi,

I am thinking of relocating also. So I'm interested in hearing what people have to say. I live in DC right now. While an amazing place to live (education and job wise) the snowboarding is lacking. our biggest mountain around is 7 springs. I am constantly paying for big trips to fly out west every year to board. My fiance and I are looking into moving out West in the near future. We have both talked to our jobs and they will let us relocate. I can work from home remotely (IT sales). and she can transfer to a new location. We have it narrowed down to Colorado or California. 

Our wants:
Me: Big Mountain boarding, I also like the city life, bars , food, nightlife walking distance. 
Her: Just anything new instead of DC/Baltimore area, She likes sandy beaches so she is leaning towards San Fran, but has never been to CO, and we are going in November to Wolf Creek, so im hoping she will fall in love with CO. 

We are looking at Denver and San Fran. In San Fran I will have my big mountain boarding in either location with Tahoe being driving distance from the bay area and she will have her beaches(she boards also though, but just learning stages). In denver we have the city life, and boarding very close and it is LOTSSS cheaper than San Fran. We are not ballers, so San Fran cost would be a stretch for us but we would be very very comfortable with the CO living cost. Any insight from people living in these areas would be great!!

Also on the radar are other areas of Cali and CO. If someone knows of cheaper areas around the bay area, i have open ears. Sorry to hijack your thread buddy


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## snowklinger (Aug 30, 2011)

I love the Bay area, but CA is obscenely expensive and also the Bay area is really just OUT of reach(4-6hours depending where you start and weather) of proper mountains if you are moving to enjoy riding. If going to Cali one of the best choices would be Reno(Nevada wtfever ) with its access to Tahoe. However I hate that town. You could also find a small town near Mammoth to work from home. 

More reasonable west coast towns for riding are Portland all the way up to Vancouver.

Sadly in CO, the bigger towns that are NOT Denver are also NOT closer to ski resorts. So that leaves you with Denver, which I think is awesome. If you can swing being out of the city, the foothills are nice, the real mountains like Summit and Eagle county are fantastic.

Don't forget fire insurance.


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

Sacramento is another option to bring you reasonably close to the ski areas. Not the greatest town though and that Valley gets awfully hot in the Summer. 

I agree that the Bay area, though beautiful, is a pita for riding. You'll need to budget hotel money, or something. Plus I80 weekend traffic is every bit as bad as I70.


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## jdang307 (Feb 6, 2011)

How near do you need to be, and how warm do those sandy beaches need to be?

:laugh:

You have to prioritize those things.

Good jobs. Sandy warm beaches. Near mountains.

Pick two out of 3.


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## RightCoastShred (Aug 26, 2012)

Utah, salt lake city is 30 minutes from a bunch of good resorts


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## Toomeyct (Apr 4, 2012)

I would recommend Denver. I had job offers in the bay area and Denver along with a few other places. After visiting them all, it was down to the bay area and Denver. After looking into the cost of living, nightlife, and activities Denver was the clear choice. At the time, I didn't snowboard so that wasn't a factor. But man am I happy with my choice. Great city, great scenery and great boarding. I would recommend looking at places near the front range though. Maybe golden. 

I can't speak for places in the pnw, though I have heard great things so those may be options as well.


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## NWBoarder (Jan 10, 2010)

For me, there is no better place in the world than the great PNW. I love living where I do, albeit, I could handle moving to a town that's a little closer to the mountains, but they are all still very do-able drives for me. The thing about Washington for me is that it has access to everything I could want to do. Snowboarding, skating, biking, surfing, music, whatever. It's all here. Also, the climate is very temperate, so it's never to hot, and never to cold.


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## iechoi (Apr 20, 2012)

Here's a bump for Seattle. I'm a tech worker in Seattle, so most of my post will be about the jobs. I figure others can fill in the rest about the fantastic outdoorsy things 

There are a ton of IT opportunities up here. In terms of major league software, we invented Microsoft and Amazon. You can also be a vendor/contractor for one of these companies but it's hit or miss in terms of work environment. Facebook has a campus up here and Google recently opened up a second campus. I live about 2 blocks from Valve headquarters (as in Steam and Half-Life). Starbucks is also headquartered up here and Boeing still maintains a massive presence despite moving their headquarters to Chicago. They don't just make coffee and airplanes; companies of that size require a LOT of IT people. University of Washington is our state's flagship school and has a strong computer science and information school program, which spawns a lot of smaller tech companies and attracts and feeds bigger ones.

Oh, and keep in mind that WA has no state income tax, whereas if you live in California or Oregon, you get taxed about 8% on income.


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## IdahoFreshies (Jul 9, 2011)

SLC, Im planing on living there in the near future


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## Beeb (Mar 13, 2012)

We were looking at Colorado before I posted due to my wife having some family there and I believe Denver is an hour and a half away from them which would be great.

I was wondering how much locals get to ride? 
Over here in the UK I get 30 days holiday, 8 public holiday days and sickness doesn't come out of holiday time here. So in the winter we can spend plenty of time in the Alps! Also during the summer we tend to ride in the fridges a couple of times a month on park days too for kickers and rails.

Could you get discounted lift passes for a whole season if you lived in Denver? And do you guys have snowdomes over in the US?


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## Kapn.K (Jan 8, 2009)

Denver. Maybe Salt Lake City.


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## kctahoe (Nov 14, 2010)

Discounted lift tickets for a whole season=season passes


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## jdmccright (Apr 8, 2011)

Tbh I live 2 he from the beech and 3 from the mountains so really not a terrible place to live. If I was rich though I would spend my winters in SLC.


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## mixie (Mar 29, 2011)

jbernste03 said:


> =f someone knows of cheaper areas around the bay area, i have open ears. Sorry to hijack your thread buddy


there is nothing cheap in california. Don't move here, you'll regret it. 

I live in an area with lots of crime and horrific schools. There are regularly shootings in my city. I live in the fucking ghetto with bars on my windows because I wanted to be a home owner. The house across the street from me just sold for 300k. Yes, thats post crash. It's fucked up. I live in the greater Los Angeles Area. The Bay Area is even MORE expensive. Really. Good luck finding anything under half a mil up there. 


If you want kids they will most likely need to go to private school. Most schools here have metal dectors and NEED them. 

Don't forget we have 10% state income tax and sales tax ~8-10% depending on county. 

any beaches that are clean and not polluted and crowded are so far north it's freezing cold. 

I personally like donning a thick ass wetsuit and jumping into 55 degree water I like cloudy and over cast beaches. But a lot of people come here and expect hot sunny sandy beaches. Which we do have but they've been destroyed by humanity. Also, the water gets deep fast and we can have some gnar rip tides and currents. There aint no wading a half mile out into the sea like many places on the east coast or tropical locations. 



Yes my dear Klinger there are LOTS of great things about Cali, but none of them are things these peeps are looking for.



and if you're curious how people in LA or the Bay Area afford to ride a lot, it's because we don't get hotels. Last season me and 7 other people (6 boys 2 girls) rented a condo for the season. It was about 220 a month per person. It was less clean then a college doom room and probably the kind of place your wife would divorce you for taking her to.


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## HoboMaster (May 16, 2010)

mixie said:


> there is nothing cheap in california. Don't move here, you'll regret it.
> 
> I live in an area with lots of crime and horrific schools. There are regularly shootings in my city. I live in the fucking ghetto with bars on my windows because I wanted to be a home owner. The house across the street from me just sold for 300k. Yes, thats post crash. It's fucked up. I live in the greater Los Angeles Area. The Bay Area is even MORE expensive. Really. Good luck finding anything under half a mil up there.
> 
> ...


This is the truth, I think you've been sold the "iconic" image of California, and as someone who has lived in S. CA and the Bay Area for years it's not what it's cracked up to be. 

Unless you make a lot of money you're just another rat in the trap fighting for survival.


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## jbernste03 (Aug 20, 2012)

jdmccright said:


> Tbh I live 2 he from the beech and 3 from the mountains so really not a terrible place to live. If I was rich though I would spend my winters in SLC.


Where do you live?


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## Argo (Feb 25, 2010)

I love living in vail personally.... You can live in eagle-vail, Avon, Edwards or mint urn and have 10 minute access to being on a lift. 

If I was to live in summit county it would be frisco.....

My wife, son and I love the vail area though... It's 90 minutes to downtown Denver and a 5 min free bus ride to the lifts. If you don't have to live in Denver, don't..... It's a decent town but if you do have to then live in evergreen or west Denver to be as close as possible.....


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

Argo said:


> I love living in vail personally.... You can live in eagle-vail, Avon, Edwards or mint urn and have 10 minute access to being on a lift.
> 
> If I was to live in summit county it would be frisco.....
> 
> My wife, son and I love the vail area though... It's 90 minutes to downtown Denver and a 5 min free bus ride to the lifts. If you don't have to live in Denver, don't..... It's a decent town but if you do have to then live in evergreen or west Denver to be as close as possible.....


Living close as possible doesn't buy you much in the Denver area. 15 minutes for most spots. Personally, I'd choose to live closer to where ever your job is located. This goes for just about anywhere. You spend more time there than on the hill, fwiw.


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## jbernste03 (Aug 20, 2012)

killclimbz said:


> Living close as possible doesn't buy you much in the Denver area. 15 minutes for most spots. Personally, I'd choose to live closer to where ever your job is located. This goes for just about anywhere. You spend more time there than on the hill, fwiw.


I agree with you on this. 15 to 20 min doesn't mean much to me. I want to live somewhere with good food and fun walking distance. Distance to work doesn't matter to me because I will work from home. Where are the best places in Denver to live for a mid to high 20s couple?


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

Hipsters live in Highlands. Which is just West of Downtown. 30th & Lowell and the 44th & Tennyson area is a good place to start. 

Golden is a nice town too. Though not quite as big or as happening as Denver, Downtown Golden is nice. You are closer to the mountains too. Plus you have access to Clear Creek for rockclimbing and Kayaking, White Ranch for Mountain Biking, North Table (climbing), and various hiking trails off of Lookout Mountain and other areas. If you are not commuting, it's not a bad spot. 

Other spots, Capitol Hill Neighborhood, near the State (duh) Capitol. Governor Park, near the Governor's (another duh) Mansion, Cheeseman Park are all decent areas. The Pearl street area near Evans Road is another spot. Washington Park is always a hit too. Just about anywhere East of Downtown within 4-6 blocks north or south of Colfax can be fun. There is some junk show with that. Stop looking East of Colorado Boulevard for that area. 

There is also all the new development, apartments and such just West of downtown. The Skatepark is right there, Downtown is right there, tons of bars, restaurants, shops and such. Pretty high density, but mostly young 20 somethings running around there. Most of that is off of Little Raven or Platte street. Commons Park runs through the area and is pretty nice. 

About the biggest problem living in the Denver Metro are the homeless. Most are pretty harmless and are just trying to get by. A few of them can be jerks. As with anywhere I suppose, but I would be remiss not to mention it. A mean attitude with those ones tends to get them to back off right away.


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## snowklinger (Aug 30, 2011)

killclimbz said:


> Living close as possible doesn't buy you much in the Denver area. 15 minutes for most spots. Personally, I'd choose to live closer to where ever your job is located. This goes for just about anywhere. You spend more time there than on the hill, fwiw.


This is also true because of the speed of 6th. You can get from downtown to the bottom of the hill as fast as you can from almost anywhere on the west side. 

There are great neighborhoods strewn all over the city from the foothills to Aurora, and from South Littleton to Boulder.

If there's traffic and weather or you ride weekends your fucked anyway :cheeky4:


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## TheMan (Aug 24, 2012)

I grew up in CA and moved to Breckenridge for the snow. I would recommend Denver also. Cheap season pass,lower cost of living,much shorter drive to ride,direct flights to amazing Costa Rican beaches for under $300.


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## Argo (Feb 25, 2010)

My walk/ride/drive/bus ride to work is 3.6 miles and 3.4 to the gondola... My suggestion To live in vail was based on the fact that he works from home and I have really no clue what the wife does.... I guess i do break the rule, I'm closer to the lift than work! Mid 20s couple still looking to party fits the summit bill well. Downtown Denver seems interesting too but I have spent VERY limited time in Denver. I moved up here to live as close to the mtn as possible and I refuse to move even to eagle-vail or Avon....


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## backstop13 (Jun 27, 2012)

if I could live anywhere in the US, it would be...

not Tennessee. But, my communist wife has family here, and doesn't board that much. Third time out boarding last year, and she broke her leg at the knee joint. So, after that episode, she has sworn off boarding and has no desire to move anywhere on account of me liking to board. She thinks Ober Gatlinburg is a good enough place to go for me.

Seriously this place sucks. You have no idea how annoying these ******* people are. From the buddy-buddy, good-ole boy job network, to the piss stained orange shit they wear to support their college football team, it all makes me want to punch a kitten.


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## TheMan (Aug 24, 2012)

*testify!*

I gave up a decade long whitewater addiction to snowboard full time. Tennessee is ground zero for class 5 whitewater. Yes, obergatlinburg is the worst excuse for snowsports I have ever witnessed. You outta take up kayaking, buy a vail resorts season pass for $500, and drive out to CO three or four times a year to ride. DO NOT GO BACK TO OBERSTANKENBURG!


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## Maierapril (Oct 25, 2011)

Even with all the negative comments, I still think that Los Angeles is the best. It has everything an active person would want:
-Beach / Surfing / Jet Skiing 
-Snowboarding (2 decent resorts within an hour drive from LA. Plus for the longer trips, you have Mammoth/Tahoe as great options)
-Great Hiking 
-Mountain biking
-etc

LA night life is hard to beat and there are options for every differing tastes you can imagine.

I will say that LA is expensive in terms of housing, but for the lifestyle that LA offers, I think it's definitely worth it.


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

If jobs weren't a necessity, I'd be in Crested Butte.


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## StrattonRider (Sep 16, 2012)

I live in NJ and have a vacation home in Vermont. I love the area but if i could i would move to colorado and ride backcountry everyday!!!


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## tigre (Mar 5, 2012)

Right here. Grew up down south, lived there way too long. Moved up here two years ago to learn about this snow stuff and now there's no way I can ever go back.


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## Beeb (Mar 13, 2012)

Thanks for the great replies. 

Having good kayaking nearby is great for us, we love kayaking. 

Living a little way out for a nicer home makes sense. The idea of a nice home is especially awesome for us since currently we’re in London, England where house prices are crazy. 

Also having a family here would ruin our chances of snowboarding since traveling to the alps during school holidays is twice the price. And my wife gets to be near her family who she misses all the time.


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## Grizz (Nov 10, 2008)

Snowolf said:


> For me, it would be Anchorage, Alaska and I am looking at doing just that in another 2 years.....:thumbsup:


Seriously? Always thought Anchorage was a hell hole on a mud flat. With so many great places up there why pick the town that licks biggest AK balls? 

At least live in Girdwood and commute.:thumbsup:


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## hoodrat (Mar 22, 2012)

Not sure if it's been mentioned yet but the Pacific Northwest is an awesome place to live, more specifically Hood River, OR. Good food, great local beers/wine, Mt. Hood is within 45 minutes, and when it's not winter there are about a thousand other outdoor sports to do. Plus, there are technology/IT jobs everywhere.


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## Beeb (Mar 13, 2012)

hoodrat said:


> Not sure if it's been mentioned yet but the Pacific Northwest is an awesome place to live, more specifically Hood River, OR. Good food, great local beers/wine, Mt. Hood is within 45 minutes, and when it's not winter there are about a thousand other outdoor sports to do. Plus, there are technology/IT jobs everywhere.


An hour away from Dogfish Head! What's the riding like out there?


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## hoodrat (Mar 22, 2012)

The riding is pretty epic. You've got Baker up in Washington and Hood, and Bachelor in Oregon. All great places to go and each with their own characteristics. We can get some pretty sweet powder days too. It might not be quite as dry as other places, but man can it get deep. For the record, I've been in a couple nipple deep situations.

I assume you were just asking about the snowboarding so I won't even get in to the mountain biking, kayaking, windsurfing, kiteboarding, rock climbing, hiking/backpacking or fishing. I know those all aren't 'riding' sports, but the list does go on.


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## Beeb (Mar 13, 2012)

Sounds great. Sure there are plenty of places with IT Jobs, space for a family and a mountain to ride, but London isn't one of them  Bit of kayaking and fishing sounds good too. :thumbsup:


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## Grizz (Nov 10, 2008)

hoodrat said:


> Not sure if it's been mentioned yet but the Pacific Northwest is an awesome place to live, more specifically Hood River, OR. Good food, great local beers/wine, Mt. Hood is within 45 minutes, and when it's not winter there are about a thousand other outdoor sports to do. Plus, there are technology/IT jobs everywhere.


HR is full. 

Cascade Locks is the new hotspot. When they put the cable park in at Goverment Cove the Locks will go off.


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