Where is your dream place...

[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).

[wannaduacentury]

I like where I live right now for sentimental reasons. It's my old family farm--settled by my ancesters in the 1820's(I grew up here as well). It has a certain charm to it and I can walk to the river w/o a license and fish all I want b/c the game warden wouldn't fool w/ coming up the tangle of river to find me-good catfish too. There are several places I want to go of course- Italy, Norway, Maine, Alaska etc. There's a pretty little town in Oregon that was Peoria I think, where they filmed the movie Kindergarten cop, that's a charming little place on the west coast. I could live there. But I'm like many of you, be able to ride my bike everywhere and only use the car for long trips or hauling big things. The good thing is I can have a garden as big as I want where I'm at. Love fresh veggies in summer.

[emily_in_nc]

After a life of moving and things never staying the same, I love our little town and our little house just right for me and darling DH- I don't ever want to move again! Our cozy love shack:

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Lisa, your Cape is darling! And that gorgeous maple in the front yard! I can see why you're happy right where you are. It's very cheerful.

Emily

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Lisa, your Cape is darling! And that gorgeous maple in the front yard! I can see why you're happy right where you are. It's very cheerful.

Emily

Thank you Emily!
We just came back from a road trip to Asheville area NC visiting friends by the way- beautiful mountain country.

[Trek420]

We love Provincetown and go there a couple of times a year, usually in the spring and again during Women's Week in October. So, we would want to be somewhere near there.

P-town is on my list of places to see. I haven't been to the East Coast since I was a pup. There's a Women's Week here in the Russian River area Guernville CA each year.

I've never been, such a party animal ... not.

I love that area of Sonoma County, Redwoods, near the coast, lots of artists ... but another thing that happens yearly are floods. Seems people buying houses on the river never learn

[emily_in_nc]

Thank you Emily!
We just came back from a road trip to Asheville area NC visiting friends by the way- beautiful mountain country.

Yes, Asheville is gorgeous. Much more scenic than the central (Piedmont) part of NC where I live -- but a lot more serious hills too!

Emily

[Kimmyt]

I love that area of Sonoma County, Redwoods, near the coast, lots of artists ... but another thing that happens yearly are floods. Seems people buying houses on the river never learn

My dad lives in Yardley, PA which is right on the deleware river. He literally lives right behind the Canal and always gets flooded out. It's a shame, because Yardley is a great little town (sort of like the type that I would like to live in some day) but for the flooding which for the past 3 years has been reeeally bad.

Lisa S.H. your house is darling! But where are the windchimes??

[enzed]

I like Sydney because of the beaches, sunshine and city vibe.

But whenever I'll get around to settling down, I might move to Nelson, NZ. I've been there on holiday a few times. The township has heaps of cute wooden villas and has a relaxed vibe. The area around Nelson as alot of beaches & bush.

As much as I like living in Sydney, it does lack the lush green grass of my childhood & the relaxed feeling of small town NZ life.

[IFjane]

Colorado.

Hopefully things will work to move there around 2010-ish... though I really will miss the East Coast.

Basically I'd love to live in a large town/small city that has a distinct main street/neighborhood feel to it. I'd like to be able to ride my bike everywhere in town, to have 'my local coffee shop' and 'my florist' and lots of mys. I'd like to live in a small quirky house with a little porch that has lots of windchimes hanging off of it.

I don't know if it exists, but I hope someday to find this town/house.... and hopefully find that it exists in Colorado or some other mountainous area!

K.

Kimmyt - that town does indeed exist in Colorado - I found it last summer and my dream is to live there someday. Very artsy/funky town, mountains, cycling & a river runs through it....it's gorgeous. Parks, (did I mention cycling?? ) and it seems everyone in town owns a cruiser - up to 50 parked outside restaurant/bars at night!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Lisa S.H. your house is darling! But where are the windchimes??

Windchimes drive us nuts after a while. They seem to chime relentlessly, and our house is so small you wouldn't be able to get away from it no matter what room you go to. I guess we're a bit sound sensitive, we prefer to just hear the neighborhood birds. We had to turn off the cuckoo clock as well! We have some wonderful mockingbirds, wrens, and mourning doves that sing in the mornings in Spring and summer. In the winter we listen to the blue jays, chickadees, and crows. In the autumn sometimes we hear owls at night. I guess they are all our "bird chimes".

[Pax]

Windchimes drive us nuts after a while. They seem to chime relentlessly, and our house is so small you wouldn't be able to get away from it no matter what room you go to...

From a very, very light sleeper...THANK YOU! I love the sound of windchimes but my old neighbor had large ones on her back porch and they chimed endlessly on windy nights (very common here) making it very difficult to sleep.

[Kimmyt]

Kimmyt - that town does indeed exist in Colorado - I found it last summer and my dream is to live there someday. Very artsy/funky town, mountains, cycling & a river runs through it....it's gorgeous. Parks, (did I mention cycling?? ) and it seems everyone in town owns a cruiser - up to 50 parked outside restaurant/bars at night!

Oh now you simply MUST tell! Unless you're keeping it a secret! alas, I'm pretty sure it's not near Colorado Springs.. but that would just be too easy!

K.

[mimitabby]

. There's a pretty little town in Oregon that was Peoria I think, where they filmed the movie Kindergarten cop, that's a charming little place on the west coast. I could live there. But I'm like many of you, be able to ride my bike everywhere and only use the car for long trips or hauling big things. The good thing is I can have a garden as big as I want where I'm at. Love fresh veggies in summer.

Nope, that was Astoria, Oregon and my nephew was a movie extra, i guess scenes were filmed at his elementary school. TEEHEE!
Astoria is a nice place, but it's very very depressed, no jobs.

[mimitabby]

Windchimes drive us nuts after a while. They seem to chime relentlessly, and our house is so small you wouldn't be able to get away from it no matter what room you go to. I guess we're a bit sound sensitive, we prefer to just hear the neighborhood birds. We had to turn off the cuckoo clock as well! We have some wonderful mockingbirds, wrens, and mourning doves that sing in the mornings in Spring and summer. In the winter we listen to the blue jays, chickadees, and crows. In the autumn sometimes we hear owls at night. I guess they are all our "bird chimes".

We live 1/2 mile (as the crow flies) from an airport, so we LIKE the sound of the wind chimes. The down side of living in a city; we have lots of car noise and airport noise all day and car noise all night.. and OTHER curious noises too.

[snapdragen]

Oh now you simply MUST tell! Unless you're keeping it a secret! alas, I'm pretty sure it's not near Colorado Springs.. but that would just be too easy!

K.

Boulder maybe?