Where should I move?

[Muleski]

I have two siblings, and a cousin who spend winters, and a lot of their non ski months in Steamboat.

One lives on a very large property, about 10 miles outside of town. Incredibly private, amazing views, essentially a compound.

One lives RIGHT downtown in a house that I love. They built it about 20 years ago. Really nice piece of land....maybe 5 acres.

The third owns what was her parent’s home, built in the 1970’s, and ON the mountain. It’s been rebuilt, as close to a teardown as permitting would allow at the time.

For my wife and me, the house downtown wins by a landslide. As one moves farther out of town, it feels like you are a long way from the town...and town is so great.

Prices can “fool” you, IMO. Very close friends and very long term residents just jumped on a home for their 30 year old daughter. Based on location. And I mean jumped. Nice $1.3Mil starter home. The home could probaly sell for half of that in another part of town, with different exposure, views, etc.

BTW, none of my family have budged since COVID hit. No rushing to head East. Normally they would be home before May 1st, and planning 2-3 trips back.

New England out of the question? Maine, coastal Maine has so many pluses. And Sugarloaf, in particular has great skiing. May pull our adult kids back. They have lived in Truckee, Aspen, Steamboat, Jackson, Bozeman. I think the small city, on the ocean with incredible recreation and interesting people is a big draw......

 

[Corgski]

I do not totally get the requirements. If I had to suggest a Colorado location based on the opening post, I would have thought a place like Evergreen or neighboring towns (which is probably pricier than when I last scouted it out). Steamboat just seems to be somewhat remote for the lifestyle described. If everyone is ready for a more remote town, great. If someone has reservations it might be wise to go back to the drawing board. Also be aware that the dream of a large lot can lead to a lot of isolation. Even something simple like kids walking to school or to each other's houses becomes impossible.

New England out of the question? Maine, coastal Maine has so many pluses. And Sugarloaf, in particular has great skiing. May pull our adult kids back. They have lived in Truckee, Aspen, Steamboat, Jackson, Bozeman. I think the small city, on the ocean with incredible recreation and interesting people is a big draw......

I suspect the OP is a Western skier at heart and is unlikely to consider New England. Nevertheless it is one of the few places in the world where you can get an acre or two at a not too ridiculous price, live close to a major international city, or a smaller city if you prefer, easy access to major airports, lakes and mountains. I had New Zealand family over last summer, they were astonished by the standard of living and lifestyle that fairly average people were able to have here. But yes, you need to like ice .

 

[David Chaus]

I’m going to suggest Hood River, OR. It’s beautiful on the Columbia River, in between Mt Hood and Mt Adams, with Mt Hood Meadows a 45 minute drive, and Portland about an hour down the river.

Also Spokane/Coeur D Alene/Sandpoint. Re: the comment about Schweitzer not being big enough, it’s got 2900 acres. There are 4 other ski areas within 1 -1/2 hours of Spokane, and 3 hours away you have Red Mt and Whitewater in BC.

 

[Wilhelmson]

I avoided suggesting New England but southern Maine or New Hampshire check the boxes. Funny Farm would be a mandatory primer on small town life.

For a higher quality of life consider avoiding highway traffic which rules out most of the northeast and parts of the rockies.

How is the weather in Idaho?

 

[ksampson3]

How is the weather in Idaho?

I spent a lot of time in Couer D'Alene and Athol/Bayview for work but only skied Schweitzer a couple of times. (We'd work 12 hour shifts 6 days a week and I was too wiped to do much on my day off. Yeah, I know. Lame.) The couple of times that I did ski Schweitzer, I always managed to run into white out conditions. I'm sure that someone more local could you give a better gouge on how it skis on a regular basis, though.
I just know that spending all that time in Northern Idaho in the winter months made me want to get back to the mid Atlantic. The skies were often slate grey - day after day after day. It really got to me after a while. Think Seattle winters with a LOT more cold.

 

[Bad Bob]

Reading this thread brought a rare thought to this empty old head.

We are such a bunch of cheerleaders for our own regions, and I say that in the very best way.
Whenever a "Where Do I ............" thread pops up we normally give a plug for our own region or mountain or town. We each chose our own regions for different reasons (this is where they finally caught me and put me in jail so not too many options). But we show our love and pride to each other and that is very cool.

Thanks PugSki for being full of really good people that are in a pretty good place. Okay, back to the ra-ra session.

 

[wooglin]

We are such a bunch of cheerleaders for our own regions, and I say that in the very best way.
Whenever a "Where Do I ............" thread pops up we normally give a plug for our own region or mountain or town.

Region? Yes. Mountain? Sure. Town? Never. It’s full.

 

[Sibhusky]

She's under the impression that Montana winters are too similar to Minnesota. She's also worried Montana could be too much off the grid.

I haven't ever been to Minnesota, so can't tell you how they differ. It's less rain than New England, more just actual snow. Living in the valley vs. the higher areas also makes a huge difference. I'm 600 feet above town. Way more snow.

Which part of the "grid" do you care about? No civil unrest here. Almost no Covid. And yet we do have Internet. And there's box stores in Kalispell. But to buy a Jaguar or get a complicated operation you'll have to go to Seattle.

 

[Sibhusky]

Also be aware that the dream of a large lot can lead to a lot of isolation. Even something simple like kids walking to school or to each other's houses becomes impossible.

I think it depends on how large is large. And, ESPECIALLY, how many kids are in the neighborhood. I grew up in a neighborhood with fairly large lots and a ton of kids. And this was decidedly pre cell phone. We ranged all over the neighborhood. I was limited to our side of "the bridge" (over a highway which bisected the development) unless I notified my mom, but we walked or biked over a large area. My daughter was far more restricted in distance but it was a townhouse neighborhood with roughly equivalent kid count in 1/20th the area. Kids have energy. Now around here where we currently are, it would be a huge issue. But there aren't even remotely as many kids (zero within a five minute walk) and there's bears and mountain lions and it's quite hilly and steep. Older kids would probably be fine biking but not your five year old. I haven't seen a trick or treater since I left New Jersey. And during the school year, days are pretty short. But these are issues aside from sheer lot size. I'd think his proposed lot size of an acre or two would be fine in the valley if there's a lot of kids in a developed community.

 

[BC.]

Yah, Burlington was what I was going to mention. Lots of places in NH and VT actually fit the bill, though perhaps a little colder than wanted.

Here’s Burlington/Lake Champlain from 100ft. up...(buddy’s fire/ladder truck)

 

[karlo]

Anywhere else I should consider?

New Zealand?
just saying.

 

[pipestem]

I think we skipped over Ogden too fast. Someone even jumped over it to tiny Eden. I like Ogden... SLC is not far nor any Utah ski area not named brianhead. Ogden has a good vibe, interesting places, good community parks and trails. I could go there.
And it's a dry heat, just sayin.

 

[Sibhusky]

The house next door to us will be on the market shortly. The zEstimate is $600k+. Five acres. 16-20 minutes to the slopes. Not listed yet.

 

[socalgal]

The house next door to us will be on the market shortly. The zEstimate is $600k+. Five acres. 16-20 minutes to the slopes. Not listed yet.

Oooooh... that is tempting!

 

[Tricia]

We moved from Minnesota to KY in 1985. We were concerned about the culture change - north to south - if we would fit in, if we would like it. In talking to the realtor, he asked "do you like it where you coming from?" We said "yes, we love it for many reasons." He said "then you will like it here too".
He was right.

There is something to be said for that logic.

 

[Sibhusky]

Here's a 1.75 acre property right near me. Not a flood area. Slopes 20 minutes away. Nice houses, all custom built. Within your budget.

I think it's right up the hill from @offtraildog

35 Painted Hills Ln, Whitefish, MT 59937 | Zillow

35 Painted Hills Ln, Whitefish MT, is a Vacant Land home. The Rent Zestimate for this Vacant Land is $2,999/mo, which has increased by $2,999/mo in the last 30 days.

www.zillow.com

This listing has an offer on it. You?

 

[raisingarizona]

Santa Fe is pretty darn awesome. The local hill is really fun and you can get duel citizenship with a Taos Pass. Taos isn’t far up the road and one of the best ski areas in the country.

I’m definitely partial to the weather of the four corners region but we do get drought seasons.

 

[sparty]

I avoided suggesting New England but southern Maine or New Hampshire check the boxes. Funny Farm would be a mandatory primer on small town life.

For a higher quality of life consider avoiding highway traffic which rules out most of the northeast and parts of the rockies.

How is the weather in Idaho?

If you don't want it to be above 85 degrees in the summer, you're ruling out a lot of New England. Montana will get there, too, but as much as "it's not the heat, it's the humidity" is a catchphrase, there's a lot of truth to it. It may be just nostalgia, but I swear we get more consistent tough-to-sleep-in weather now (in Bethel, Maine) than we did when I was in high school 20-25 years ago.

If convenient airport access is a must-have, does it have to be a real airport, or does a JV airport work? Flying Maine to Montana (BIL or BZN, at least) sucks because both ends are second-tier airports, so it's virtually impossible to get a direct flight (and the costs are substantially higher); even out of Boston, it's at least a one-hop most of the time.

You'll probably also want to look closely at network infrastructure and Internet access options. If you need reliable network access with a reasonable upload speed, a lot of rural states get more expensive because you can't get too far out of town (if at all). Unfortunately, good Internet access and first-tier airports are both the type of thing that are easier to find with higher population density, which tends to bring with it a lot of downsides.

 

[Sibhusky]

Re: internet. Could be an issue. We pay for, but don't achieve, 3 MB. You can't even order it that high now. We're on the bleeding edge of that service speed. However we rely on DSL for all our TV and it's fine.

Re: airports. It depends on where he wants to go from here, I doubt it would be Maine. Minneapolis, Denver, Seattle, are direct year round. But, not good for many other metro areas and really hell if you want to fly into Innsbruck. (Currently an issue for me because of a trip I'm postponing.)

It can be miserably hot here, but we survive without air conditioning because it's impossible to grow tomatoes (goes below 55 every night). I open the windows at night, close them in the morning. Probably should not have done that last night, it's 61 inside today. This method is a real issue during fire season. Cool down or breathe?

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

I think we skipped over Ogden too fast. Someone even jumped over it to tiny Eden. I like Ogden... SLC is not far nor any Utah ski area not named brianhead. Ogden has a good vibe, interesting places, good community parks and trails. I could go there.
And it's a dry heat, just sayin.

Ogden is great, but it is below the inversion so you have to take air quality into account when considering it. Eden is probably a better option because it is a very easy drive to Ogden and you can live where the air is clean.

Don't throw Bend, OR out the window. It's one of my favorite towns - summer and winter. It does have warm days in the summer, but it's not overbearing. Personally, I think it's quite temperate overall and Redmond has an airport so it's easy enough to connect to Portland if preferred. It has a great restaurant, brewery, and arts scene and THAT river is amazing! It also gets many more sunny days than the other side of the Cascades. Bachelor is a great ski mountain and there are plenty of other ski areas including Timberline, Mt. Hood which is only a couple of hours away.