Where should I move?

[Starfish]

Do you LOVE where you live (or have lived before)?

I have the opportunity to move in the next year or so, and I would love to hear why your area (in the U.S.) is cycling nirvana and a great place to live & work!

I love a dry climate, lots of sunshine, snow OK in winter, mountains, and at least one big body of water (large river, lake, etc). Prefer small/medium town with access (maybe 1-2 hour drive) to larger town/city. And, I want a GREAT place to be a roadie (and maybe a place to learn X-country biking, too). I'm more of a western U.S. kind of girl, but who knows?

I would love to hear from the wonderful TE women!

[KnottedYet]

Eugene, Oregon.

[pooks]

Estes Park, Colorado would be my choice.

[Starfish]

Pooks...details, details!!

[Starfish]

Knot...Eugene does not have a dry climate...does it? Or, is that an incorrect stereotype I have?

[pooks]

Well, Rocky Mountain National Park is my favorite place to camp, and I'd love to live in Estes Park (right there at the national park entrance) which is about an hour from Boulder, which is another way cool place, and not much farther to Denver.

It's dry in the mountains. The only thing not so available is the large body of water, though there are mountain lakes and streams all over.

Chasm Falls:



And cyclists riding up Fall River Road in the park:

[KnottedYet]

Knot...Eugene does not have a dry climate...does it? Or, is that an incorrect stereotype I have?

Well, drier than around here!

www.eugene-or.gov

[Trek420]

Don't tell anyone about what I think is the most beautiful part of CA; Sonoma County.

Small towns I'm thinking Sebastapol, Healdsburgh, Pt. Reyes, Fairfax whoops, that's in Marin county let's go back to Sonoma ... Petaluma, Calistoga ... you might like Santa Cruz to the south of the Bay ....lots of small towns to choose from.

Snow aka the Sierras and Tahoe not too far away, got everything else you need.

[KnottedYet]

Pt. Reyes, Fairfax whoops, that's in Marin county let's go back to Sonoma

you threw those in for my benefit, didn'tcha? sneaky, sneaky.

[SadieKate]

Does X-country biking mean mountain bikiing or touring on a road bike?

If XC mtbiking plus all your other criteria, Bend, Oregonia.

The dry side of the Cascades with mountains on one side and flat on the other. Fabulous mtbiking, road biking, skiing, water sports, etc. ,etc., etc. Distilleries, breweries, Washington pinots within reach. What's not to like?

That's where I'm headed.

[maillotpois]

I love where we live: Marin County, CA.

We are 15 minutes to San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge and 3 - 4 hours to Tahoe. And we're smack dab in the middle of cycling nirvana: farms, cows, ocean views, hills, dirt trails for the MTB'ers. We live on the side of Mt. Tamalpais, which is a beautiful small mountain overlooking the sea and SF Bay.

In spite of being so close to a wonderful big city, much of Marin is very small-towny. My 11 year old daughter can walk around town by herself without a worry. And a huge percentage of the county is designated as either open space land trust or agricultural use.

Oh - and BJ Hunicutt from MASH lived in my town! You know, with Peg and the kids.

Of course the cost of living is tough. It took us 7 years living in DH's parents' house to finally be able to afford to move out on our own. But there are areas in the northern part of the county, or next door Sonoma County which Trek referred to, where it's not so expensive as Southern Marin.

[mountainchick]

I grew up in Fort Collins, CO...stones throw away from Estes Park, Denver, Wyoming, etc.

I wish I could go back now, I miss CO so much. I'd vote for CO (just not Denver or Co Springs)...

Tahoe/Truckee is good too!

And BTW...CO has just as many sunny days as San Diego San Diego is nice (lived there too) but it doesn't beat CO.

[mountainchick]

So I did that spot, and my first match was Wisconsin...I never would imagine myself there! Only mountains for me baby!

[spazzdog]

Austin Texas - The hill country. Colorado River runs through the middle of town. Lake country to the north. The very roads Sir Lance trains on.

Not to mention great music, great food and its a college town, techno center so supposedly lots of jobs.

I lived there in the 80's and get back there on occasion. Love the place!

spazz

[Aggie_Ama]

Austin Texas - The hill country. Colorado River runs through the middle of town. Lake country to the north. The very roads Sir Lance trains on.

Not to mention great music, great food and its a college town, techno center so supposedly lots of jobs.

I lived there in the 80's and get back there on occasion. Love the place!

spazz

A shout out to my hometown! I was born and raised in Austin, left for college and then ran home.

The climate is exceptional all year round. Okay the summers are dang hot, but we can ride all winter. Snow is just a freak event and the town shuts down.

The hill country is challenging and quiet road riding. I live on the cusp of the hill country and we can ride out our door and 15 minutes later be out on country roads with little traffic.

Although we do have several colleges here, the colleges don't rule the town. You really have to get downtown to be immersed in the college kids- thank god! I left my college town because I was done with college life. Job market is good but competitive because the people who move here for school seem to stay.

Oh and the food- YUM! Who can't love Chuy's? Lance does!