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Post by bradmacmt on Aug 25, 2015 16:34:36 GMT -8
Sven, thanks for the comparison with current data.
But I wasn't going by data, I was going by experience. I went to Bend in 2010 and it was absolutely devastated by the "economic downturn"... Bozeman was relatively unscathed by comparison. Housing in Bend was, at that time, a bargain compared to Bozeman. Obviously things have turned around... good news for Bend!
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jazzmom
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Post by jazzmom on Aug 25, 2015 17:27:45 GMT -8
Flagstaff, AZ.
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Post by swimswithtrout on Aug 25, 2015 18:32:32 GMT -8
Ely, Nevada - innumerable, remote mountain ranges over 10,000'. Snow up high, mild down low. I don't know about innumerable Ranges but the Ruby Range has always looked interesting. I've also been to Ely, MN multiple times, for canoe trips into the BWCA. Nice,though buggy during the summer, but I couldn't handle the Winters up there !!
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toejam
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Post by toejam on Aug 25, 2015 19:37:37 GMT -8
Since I do more than just hiking, there are other things that figure into the equation. I'd like to be a little closer to the big mountains, but I feel really lucky to be where I am, and I'm glad it's not on a list of cool places for people to move to.
Sure love a lot of places you guys have mentioned. Didn't see anybody echo the Bellingham, WA sentiment - I've lived there and thought it was miserable a lot of the time.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Aug 25, 2015 21:05:45 GMT -8
Ely, Nevada - innumerable, remote mountain ranges over 10,000'. Snow up high, mild down low. I don't know about innumerable Ranges I just did a drive across all those mountains and then turned around and drove back. I'm going with "innumerable." Though for all that, the mountain ranges are the good part of the drive. Heaven spare me another trip past Sevier Lake anytime soon!
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Aug 25, 2015 21:06:54 GMT -8
Didn't see anybody echo the Bellingham, WA sentiment - I've lived there and thought it was miserable a lot of the time. It's not the rain, so much as the darkness. Which is partly due to the rain, and partly to being so far north. I don't think I can go back to the PNW, at least not to the west side.
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desert dweller
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Post by desert dweller on Aug 25, 2015 21:30:08 GMT -8
Flagstaff would be an excellent choice.
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on Aug 25, 2015 21:38:35 GMT -8
Ely (MN) was fun for the brief time we were there. As a native midwesterner, count me among those who would forego another winter such as they have in Ely.
I've been to Asheville a couple times, once for a week-long family reunion with plenty of hiking. Although I enjoyed the recreation and the food, the humidity was brutal.
I've only been to Bellingham for work. It was OK, but it didn't captivate me as much as Portland. Another place I enjoy around there is Hood River. It's far too touristy, but I love walking all the streets from the river up over the hill to the back side of town. I love watching the little weather systems fighting each other over the river, even if it means always being ready for rain.
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toejam
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Post by toejam on Aug 26, 2015 4:29:08 GMT -8
Was it too rainy, Toejam? Not Olympic Peninsula rainy, but most of the year is rainy & chilly. Summers were cool but spectacular when the weather was nice. Lots of charming small towns and remote mountains, and seeing Mt. Baker on sunny mornings was great.
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Post by cweston on Aug 26, 2015 6:53:20 GMT -8
Was it too rainy, Toejam? Not Olympic Peninsula rainy, but most of the year is rainy & chilly. Summers were cool but spectacular when the weather was nice. Lots of charming small towns and remote mountains, and seeing Mt. Baker on sunny mornings was great. When we lived in the PNW, it just seemed that some people could take the weather and some people couldn't. (I'm talking about west of the mountains.) Winter can be fairly bleak--not so much the rain, which is mostly drizzle and fairly innocuous, but the lack of seeing the sun and the short days. It's really a two-season climate: the rainy season, and summer. I generally found summer spectacular enough to offset the tedium of the rainy season, but some folks literally run away screaming after their first PNW winter (Meriwether Lewis, for example.)
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Aug 26, 2015 7:02:18 GMT -8
cweston--I lived through 20 of those PNW winters (well, okay, actually only 15, as I was in Spokane for 4 and Europe for 1). I was raised there. And I still found they dragged me down. I don't want to go back.
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Post by cweston on Aug 26, 2015 7:27:03 GMT -8
Exactly, Rebecca. Plenty of people feel that way. After settling in Kansas where the sun shines 300+ days a year, I'm not certain I'd be able to go back, although I'd gladly give it a try if the circumstances presented themselves. Not sure I'd go back to Seattle, though--the traffic is awful, and the city is much more Californicated than when I lived there.
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Post by ashepabst on Aug 26, 2015 8:37:20 GMT -8
I forget about Boone and Asheville --different but both with great mountain access. Asheville's got a great music scene, too.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Aug 26, 2015 12:26:08 GMT -8
RS, I wasn't that keen on Spokane's weather, either. There was definitely more sun than in Seattle, which was good, but there was also a lot of slush and ice. I sometimes thought it would be nicer there if it were a bit colder--seemed like all it did was snow and melt, snow and melt, which was a mucky mess. But fall and spring were nice, in my memory. I never stayed there for a summer--would probably have found it too hot.
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Post by Lamebeaver on Aug 26, 2015 12:47:02 GMT -8
Having driven through Cheyenne Wells several times, I am puzzled. It's kind of an inside joke. Anytime someone would post a "Hi I'm looking for a great place to drive my ATV in Colorado" Jim Fuller would always suggest Cheyenne Wells.
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