Where is your dream place...

[Pax]

I'm in awe of those of you who are right where you want to be. I've had a serious case of wanderlust my entire life and ALWAYS want to be someplace else...the fact that we're house hunting right now scares the crap out of me.

[Xrayted]

Wahine - What a gorgeous pic. Is that Mt. Hood in the distance? I was in Beaverton recently and when I saw Mt. Hood from afar, I felt a very strong pull in that direction. I know I'm making the right decision to move, I just need a specific town to settle down in for the long haul. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[salsabike]

Wow, Salsa.
I was down at the lake (Sea of Galilee) this arvo and there was not a breath of wind and there was a whole pile of coots coot-ing tranquilly and a kingfisher screaming behind and 3 Great cormorants and a cattle egret...
and I thought of *you*. So it was nice to open up TE and see this pic.

That is really nice to hear. I would have loved seeing it, too. Someday maybe we'll manage an exchange visit. I was just telling someone last week about you and your bee-eaters.

Wahine - What a gorgeous pic. Is that Mt. Hood in the distance? I was in Beaverton recently and when I saw Mt. Hood from afar, I felt a very strong pull in that direction. I know I'm making the right decision to move, I just need a specific town to settle down in for the long haul. Any suggestions? Thanks.

X, I know quite a lot of people who really love Portland.

[Crankin]

I have ignored this thread because I thought about it for a long time. I don't want to move anywhere else permanently! I think Lisa S.H. sort of described the way I feel. I am a born and bred New Englander. I lived in a large suburb next to Boston until I was almost 16. My growing up life was really perfect. We had enough woods and open space for me to wander by the brooks and wetlands and yet I was 6 miles from Boston. I was taking the train into the city when i was 12. Then I moved to Miami. Yuch. I hated the politics (this was the late 60s), the environment, the lack of culture. I lived there until I was 21 and then moved to Scottsdale AZ. where my parents had moved. I liked AZ better, but as the years went on, especially after I married and had kids, I yearned for the east coast again. My husband is from Philadelphia and we really wanted to bring our kids up the way we were. We had a great house and jobs in Tempe, but it felt sort of "plastic." When my friends started flying to LA to buy gold bracelets, I said, "that's it." Plus, you couldn't go outside for almost half the year and the air pollution was horrible as the valley grew. I have lived in 3 different towns since moving back to MA. I love Concord, even though I don't feel that much of an attachment, since we moved here last year and my kids went to high school in a neighboring town. I love the fact that we have two village centers. It's a bit far for a quick walk (3.7 miles), but it is a quick bike ride. One center is a little upscale and historic (lots of visitors all year round) and the other is more artsy and funky. We are only about 25 minutes from Boston and it's just much closer to a lot of the city type things than the other 2 places we lived in. My house is really different; it's a contemporary house, with 4 levels, in a very diverse neighborhood, with plenty of woods and a community pond. I hated living in the typical 8 room colonial in a development in my last house. There are tons of local hiking/snow shoeing trails and lots of cyclists. It's not quite as rural as the cycling in my last town, but we are close enough to that area that it's not an issue.
I love the changeable weather in southern New England. It's not brutally cold for long periods of time, like in the mid west and there is a diversity of scenery. I can be at the beach fairly quickly and in the mountains in about 2 hours. We moved here because we were enamored of being near the ocean, but since we started cycling we hardly ever go to the beach. The cycling in those areas is horrible. So, I guess what I am saying is that there is more to life than endless summer. I think I might get sick of cycling if I could do it 365 days a year. I like having a short winter sports season; it's just enough to give me a different perspective on things. I might like to take a longer "visit" to someplace warm for a few weeks in the winter when I get older, but definitely will not be moving to Florida or anywhere else where people follow the sun. I like to travel, but I always like returning home!

[Wahine]

Wahine - What a gorgeous pic. Is that Mt. Hood in the distance? I was in Beaverton recently and when I saw Mt. Hood from afar, I felt a very strong pull in that direction. I know I'm making the right decision to move, I just need a specific town to settle down in for the long haul. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Sorry X. I didn't catch this until today.

Yes, that is Mt Hood. I live in White Salmon and work in Hood River so I cross the toll bridge/state line every day. I get views of Hood on the way to work and Adams on the way home.

I love this area and would recommend it to anyone. It has gotten a little pricy though, realestate is as expensive as it is in Seattle. It is a very liberal community with a lot of artists and music. Tolerant of alternative lifestyles. But, it is still small town. Not much, well any really, night life. DH and I went for a walk last night through town and we saw 2 cars that were moving, in a 1 hour walk. Once you travel out of town into surrounding farming communities the tolerance level tends to drop.

Stevenson is a town in WA that I also considered moving to. The prices are still reasonable there and you're only 40 min from Downtown Portland. Downside - winter is a constant grey and it rains like crazy. they have a very high incidence of seasonal affective disorder in the community. Summer is spectacular.

There are lots of little towns all around here. I can give you a tour the next time you're in the area. We can even do it on bike (there's a great shop in Hood River that rents Specialized road bikes).

[emily_in_nc]

I'm in awe of those of you who are right where you want to be. I've had a serious case of wanderlust my entire life and ALWAYS want to be someplace else...

Me too, Queen. Since my husband and I married in 1985, we've lived in North Carolina, (2 different houses/towns), then Florida (briefly), back to NC, then Ohio (briefly), Wisconsin (briefly), back to NC (two different houses/towns). We just aren't quite sure where we want to be next. Places that appeal are Key West and certain other parts of Florida (while other parts are very un-appealing, to be sure), New Mexico, Arizona, and some of the tropical isles....who knows where we'll end up next. And whether our road will always lead us back to NC!

Emily, a bit of a nomad at heart

[margo49]

I'm in awe of those of you who are right where you want to be. I've had a serious case of wanderlust my entire life

We moved a lot when I was a kid (not as much as you - only 8 schools) and being here 21 years and knowing it is/as "home' for the first time *ever*.
Best is seeing the 3 kids growing up in *one* place and being connected to it and the community, not just us as a nuclear family (boom!)