Ever thought about moving accross the country? Need some help

[nmu98]

I have no plans on moving, but my wife and I keep talking (OK maybe more me than her) about moving closer to the mountains. We try to make a trip to Montana or Colorado every two years because we always feel at peace around them. We live in an area that is very close to water, and are surrounded by the Great Lakes... and we are kind of getting sick of it.

We currently live in a rural area, and would like to also do that if we found a place to move. But we also need to be fairly close to a semi populated area for my wifes business.

I have a hard time thinking about, or coming up with a decent way of coming up with a spot to move. I also want an area that is VERY VERY safe for my kids to go to school. Our area seems to be changing a bit and I am unsure it is where I want my kids to go to school?

I have been around colorado springs, Denver(way to big) and pegosa springs. We normally go to yellowstone and hang out ince it seems easy to plan a trip there and keep the young kids happy.

Any suggestions?

 

[warhammer]

When my wife and I packed up, gathtered the kids and left L.A. 15 years ago for Austin we had read a book called Places Rated that helped make the decision. Lots of info on many cities and towns across the US.

Warhammer

I have no plans on moving, but my wife and I keep talking (OK maybe more me than her) about moving closer to the mountains. We try to make a trip to Montana or Colorado every two years because we always feel at peace around them. We live in an area that is very close to water, and are surrounded by the Great Lakes... and we are kind of getting sick of it.

We currently live in a rural area, and would like to also do that if we found a place to move. But we also need to be fairly close to a semi populated area for my wifes business.

I have a hard time thinking about, or coming up with a decent way of coming up with a spot to move. I also want an area that is VERY VERY safe for my kids to go to school. Our area seems to be changing a bit and I am unsure it is where I want my kids to go to school?

I have been around colorado springs, Denver(way to big) and pegosa springs. We normally go to yellowstone and hang out ince it seems easy to plan a trip there and keep the young kids happy.

Any suggestions?

 

[WarrenF]

I have no plans on moving, but my wife and I keep talking (OK maybe more me than her) about moving closer to the mountains. We try to make a trip to Montana or Colorado every two years because we always feel at peace around them. We live in an area that is very close to water, and are surrounded by the Great Lakes... and we are kind of getting sick of it.

We currently live in a rural area, and would like to also do that if we found a place to move. But we also need to be fairly close to a semi populated area for my wifes business.

I have a hard time thinking about, or coming up with a decent way of coming up with a spot to move. I also want an area that is VERY VERY safe for my kids to go to school. Our area seems to be changing a bit and I am unsure it is where I want my kids to go to school?

I have been around colorado springs, Denver(way to big) and pegosa springs. We normally go to yellowstone and hang out ince it seems easy to plan a trip there and keep the young kids happy.

Any suggestions?

First of all....you need to give thought to the difference in climate. The highlighted sentence in your post above, tells me that you must live in the Michigan area. There is a huge difference in the climate from there to out here. Also you will find very few heavily wooded areas similar to your area. That is a huge, huge consideration if you have lived in your area for life.

Second....When I lived back in that area, people would talk about "being out in the booney's." You must understand, not just in your head, but in your heart, that back there compared to out here is worlds apart. Have you ever been on a highway with car trouble and it was fifty miles or more to get some help? Have you ever been up at 3 am in the morning with a sick child needing some type of medication and it is a 75 mile round trip to the only open pharmacy?

Third.....Are you ready to completely divorce yourself from your "roots?" Generally people out here in "Jesus land," as the politicians call us....do not take too kindly to those from out of state areas who come in and try to change our way of life. Could you stand in front of a mirror and say I am proudly from Montana, or Wyoming, or Colorado?

Fourth.....Do you have the tenacity to "Do things on your own?" Are you tough enough to live the real America where people figure things out on their own? Can you take pvc pipe and fashion a fix for your watering system, until you get into town to get the real parts you need?

Fifth.....Are you able to understand that your local plumber may not have every part he needs to fix you plumbing, and you may have to wait a week until he gets the part? Will you live gently, without any temper fit, when you are told it will be a couple of weeks before your "special" problem can be fixed?

Some things to think about....coming from a person who has lived in many communities from the coast of Washington State, to Michigan. All things being equal, you will find that your cost of living will be about the same from one area of the country to another. While some areas vary dramatically in certain expenses, for example property taxes....I have found that when all is said and done....it will cost you roughly the same to live your life in your area as well as out here.

Best of luck to you. To take on what your thinking is really a challenge. It can or will be the best or worst thing you have ever done. However, from your post, you probably should at least get headed in that direction. Once a dream like yours takes root inside you....it will eat at you continually. Probably the worst thing a person can say at the end of his/her life is...."we should have."

 

[nmu98]

First of all....you need to give thought to the difference in climate. The highlighted sentence in your post above, tells me that you must live in the Michigan area. There is a huge difference in the climate from there to out here. Also you will find very few heavily wooded areas similar to your area. That is a huge, huge consideration if you have lived in your area for life.

Second....When I lived back in that area, people would talk about "being out in the booney's." You must understand, not just in your head, but in your heart, that back there compared to out here is worlds apart. Have you ever been on a highway with car trouble and it was fifty miles or more to get some help? Have you ever been up at 3 am in the morning with a sick child needing some type of medication and it is a 75 mile round trip to the only open pharmacy?

Third.....Are you ready to completely divorce yourself from your "roots?" Generally people out here in "Jesus land," as the politicians call us....do not take too kindly to those from out of state areas who come in and try to change our way of life. Could you stand in front of a mirror and say I am proudly from Montana, or Wyoming, or Colorado?

Fourth.....Do you have the tenacity to "Do things on your own?" Are you tough enough to live the real America where people figure things out on their own? Can you take pvc pipe and fashion a fix for your watering system, until you get into town to get the real parts you need?

Fifth.....Are you able to understand that your local plumber may not have every part he needs to fix you plumbing, and you may have to wait a week until he gets the part? Will you live gently, without any temper fit, when you are told it will be a couple of weeks before your "special" problem can be fixed?

Some things to think about....coming from a person who has lived in many communities from the coast of Washington State, to Michigan. All things being equal, you will find that your cost of living will be about the same from one area of the country to another. While some areas vary dramatically in certain expenses, for example property taxes....I have found that when all is said and done....it will cost you roughly the same to live your life in your area as well as out here.

Best of luck to you. To take on what your thinking is really a challenge. It can or will be the best or worst thing you have ever done. However, from your post, you probably should at least get headed in that direction. Once a dream like yours takes root inside you....it will eat at you continually. Probably the worst thing a person can say at the end of his/her life is...."we should have."

Very good stuff. Thank you. As far as climate. I could do with less snow, or more. I am fairly open. I lived for 4 years in one of the snowiest climates in the US and it was fun. I would move back, but I fear that the college area is not the best for my kids.

I cannot live in the boonies. I am very self sufficent, but the wife will need a population to continue her career.

A lot of this started after an elk hunt I went on a few years ago. We spent 10 days in the mountains of Colorado. I would love to wake up in the moing and look out to the sight of Mountains. Also, shortly after this trip, my mother passed away from cancer. I honestly have very few ties to where I call home anymore. So family ties are not an issue.

I would also like to have a few acres of farm land. Not the 200 we have now, but 10 or 20 or so...

 

[LBrown59]

All ready in the best spot/no need to move.

 

[Tom_H]

The places already mentioned are all places I'd love to live, but I'll save my comments for places not mentioned.

If you could live with smaller mountains, and winter rain instead of snow, I know of some areas that might strike the right compromise between your wife's work needs and some sense of partially rural isolation and small mountains.

West-northwest of Portland, Oregon along U.S. 26 is semi-rural and in the foothills of the Coast Range. As a metropolis, Portland should give her the work opportunities needed. Also, there are some sizeable cities (Salem, Eugene/Springfield, Roseburg) up and down the Willamette Valley, with the Coast Range to the west and the Cascade Range to the east. This is where hundreds of thousands of pioneers took the Oregon Trail to get to long before the Rocky Mountain region began to be settled. The farmland is Eden-like, with mountains on each side of the valley. We love the little town of Cottage Grove just south of Eugene. Just over the pass to the south, Ashland, Medford, and Grant's Pass offer civilization, with mountains right there.

All in all, not as cold or snowy as the Rockies, but lots of winter rain, beautiful mild summers though, with a mix of mountains, rural space, and urban area.

You might think about a vacation just to see how you like it. I'd recommend starting in Portland, drive south to Ashland, then back north to Roseburg, all on I-5. From there, take OR-42 to the coast at Coos Bay and drive up the beautiful OR coast on US-101 to Seaside. From there, take US-26 back to Portland. There are numerous side trips you might make as well. Best of luck.

 

[Tom_H]

All ready in the best spot/no need to move.

Lee, this is exactly what we were talking about in that other thread. This adds nothing to the conversation. It doesn't address the topic. It is just jumping up and wanting to be noticed. This is the type of post that draws those reactions we were talking about in the other thread where some people get rubbed the wrong way, then you get your feelings hurt. I'd recommend avoiding making posts like these.

 

[WarrenF]

Very good stuff. Thank you. As far as climate. I could do with less snow, or more. I am fairly open. I lived for 4 years in one of the snowiest climates in the US and it was fun. I would move back, but I fear that the college area is not the best for my kids.

I cannot live in the boonies. I am very self sufficent, but the wife will need a population to continue her career.

A lot of this started after an elk hunt I went on a few years ago. We spent 10 days in the mountains of Colorado. I would love to wake up in the moing and look out to the sight of Mountains. Also, shortly after this trip, my mother passed away from cancer. I honestly have very few ties to where I call home anymore. So family ties are not an issue.

I would also like to have a few acres of farm land. Not the 200 we have now, but 10 or 20 or so...

Just a little advice....and as the old saying goes "advice is generally worth what you pay for it." However this is MOST important for you to pay close attention.

Should you get really serious about moving and begin to make exploratory travels to look at property....THE VERY FIRST QUESTION YOU SHOULD AN MUST ASK IS THIS....What type of water do I have with this property? Back in your country you generally do not irrigate the ground. Out here, and the areas you suggested you might like to look.....IF THERE IS NO WATER FOR IRRIGATION OF THE GROUND....THEN YOU HAVE NOTHING BUT A PIECE OF GROUND. You cannot grow food on it. You cannot do anything with it other than look at it....in other words it is useless!!! You might think that you can drill a well and use it as your source for water, but you must remember in this day and age GOVERNMENTS are in the business of severely limiting what you can and cannot do with your well water.

That is so critical to your decision about a purchase of any real estate....if I could I would copy and paste that paragraph ten times in this post so you could really grasp how critical it is. As an aside....on my place I have a domestic well that was drilled or dug in about 1917. I do not use it to water my lawn or my small acreage. IT IS FOR DOMESTIC USE ONLY. Not because there is so little water there....I could pump probably 65 gallons a minute if I had a pump large enough. My water for my acreage comes from water rights purchased from an irrigation district that has water rights out of a river. I pay about 100 dollars plus per year for those shares. I am fortunate, I turn the water down in the spring and let it run all year long, until the water goes out of the canal in the fall. My neighbor across the street from me, didn't pay his water rights bill one year....AND HE LOST THEM AND THEY WERE SOLD!!! He has ten acres that is entirely useless now....it has grown up to weeds and no one will buy the ground.

I wish you well....and like I said in my first post....when a dream gets inside of a man, it will either eat you up or you will move ahead and make it happen. Best of luck and HONESTLY, should you move out here to "Jesus Land" as the politicians describe it.....I would welcome you and then leave you alone to live your life as you deem fit for you and your family.

 

[wolc123]

Personally, I think the adirondaks are far more scenic than the rockies. I just like the rich forrest and lake land a lot better than the desert from which the rockies rise over much of thier range. If I was you I would think about heading east rather than west. No elk however, but lots of good whitetail hunting nearby.

 

[Pilot]

How big a populated are does you wife need?

Here are some examples of places to think about:

Kalispell, MT is a very nice area, about 20,000 in Kalispell and 80,000 in the valley. When we lived there for 3 winters, we never had more than 1 1/2 ft. of snow in the yard at any time, but some winters can get a lot more--this one for example. One of the best ski areas in the country is at the north end of the valley--Big Mountain. Gets snow when the other areas are bare; Canadians used to come down to ski there.

Bend, Oregon is one of my favorite areas, with about 80,000 people and a few other nearby (20 mi.) towns. At the foot of the east slope of the Cascades with a great ski area and beautiful mountain areas to play in, it is very popular with retirees from California. Dry climate, snow & rain in the winter totaling only about 20". Real estate has taken a BIG hit right now. Thousands of square miles of desert off to the east. BUT, see the comments about Portland.

Boise is also great, similar to Bend, a bigger town and several other towns scattered along Interstate 84, so there are plenty of people.

Yes, the area around Portland is nice, BUT Oregon has an anti-rural living mentality, thinking it's a sin to drive a car and you'll really go to **** if you drive an SUV. They believe everybody should live on a 3,000 sq. ft. lot, if not in a condo downtown. Very liberal Portland and Eugene have such large populations that they rule the state, with the state going Democratic when all the other cities & counties go Republican. If you are a Democrat, you may find the big city Democrats think differently from you and don't have your interests in mind. They pushed thru the restrictive land use laws which drive up the property prices and make rural land you can build on very scarce. 10 acres within 30 miles of Portland goes for around $250-300K, and the closer to Portland, the higher the price. Even desert areas around Bend are expensive. Lots of folks live in Vancouver and commute to Portland because land prices on the Washington side of the river are a lot lower. No sales tax in Oregon, no income tax in Washington, but if you live in WA and work in OR, you pay OR income tax.

One advantage of living out west that you'll appreciate: What's humidity? If the humidity hits 60% on a summer day, we think it's really humid.