Which US city is the... Cheapest, Most beautiful,West Coast Mountain City to live in?

[stinkfinger]

I am moving in Jan-Feb and have narrowed my choices for states that I am thinking of moving to. Colorado is my first choice I have a couple buddies already out there and they love it. I was thinking Denver area (Lakewood,Glendale,Englewood, and Wheat Ridge are all areas that I have been looking). Housing is fairly expensive($1000/month rent puts you in the ghetto) around Denver area and most homes are old, NO central HVAC, and all your neighbors are on top of you. I love the mountains, progessive thinking governments, and pretty much anything involving the great outdoors....Other states that I am interested in are Washington, Oregon, Arizona, and maybe NorCal. If anyone could give me some city names, and places of interest that would really kick ass!

 

[Guest]

If you're looking for mountains in Arizona there are some nice places up in the northern part of the state. personally i prefer the valley where it doesn't get too cold but if you like cold weather there's all kinds of places in northern AZ

 

[inverse]

you might want to throw nor cal out. although incredibly beautiful, the cities here are some of the most expensive in the country.However,i don't know about smaller towns

 

[Guest]

have a look at flagstaff and surrounding areas... very beautiful place. the only problem is Arizona's harsh laws in regard to marijuana.

 

[chrones]

if you are thinking of Arizona take a look at Sedona it is amazing there red rock mountains but it does get cold

 

[Merman]

I live there and I'm not telling! Locals only!

 

[Guest]

look into los altos hills, ca. it's really nice and super cheap.

 

[simpleword]

look into los altos hills, ca. it's really nice and super cheap.

Haha nice joke man.

 

[TwoOhSix!]

Seattle is beautiful, not all that cheap though, but reasonable in a lot of areas. Colorado is awesome though I kinda wanna move there. Definitely not cheap either though.

 

[OzzBozz]

Theres a nice little area in Watts, California... on top of the watts towers, amazing view of some very entertaining wet and crack deals! It's great!

hahaha
nah

anyways, dont move to so. cal if you want cheap housing!

i say Oregon!

its a great place, and nice weather to grow umm... tomatoes

 

[Guest]

i second oregon... although colorado is nice too. had a friend move there a couple years back, they sold their home in a subdivision in CA and with the money from it bought a bigger one in a mountain town with over 10 acres.

 

[zymos]

Hate to break it to ya, neither AZ nor CO are on the "West Coast".
sorry, I'm a smartass...

 

[Guest]

I'd check out Oregon, some good prices on land if you look around. Has some pretty progressive areas too.

 

[gdawg]

pahrump, nevada. an hour above vegas surrounded by mountains. rent is not too bad.

 

[Irishslappop]

Mt. Shasta California.

 

[Brain]

South Lake isn't that expenisive for California. Prices are pretty reasonable in small towns. Look in that area or up in the Trinity Alps. Trinity is very cheap.

 

[BACKCOUNTRY]

I live in South-west Oregon, and I am in love with it and the northern 1/4 of California.

The land itself is pristine, very clean. Summers are warm/hot, and winters can be mild to harsh depending on how high in the hills you want to be, and how close you are to the coast.

Weaverville California is a great little town, on the edge of the Trinity alps that Brain mentioned, its withen commuting distance of Redding California, which is a up and comming metropolis.

Another area nearby that I like is the Scotts and Shasta valley areas, Fort Jones and Etna are great places that have a great small town feel, and plenty of Mountains nearby.
Yreaka and Weed California are also great places to look at, they are on I-5 so they have more business going on.
Mt. Shasta/McCloud California are very mountain feeling, the land is very volcanic and beautiful, tons of Pine trees, mountains and lakes. This area can get very nasty weather in the Winter, with chains/studded tires needed for portions of the winter.
The extreme end of this region would be the Susanville area, which sits on the east side of the Cascades, its a very pretty local, and is a halfway reasonable drive to Reno Nevada.

Southwest Oregon is also a consideration, this would be Jackson, Joesephine, Klamath and Douglas counties. There are many small towns spread around with few cities over 10,000
In the western part of the area is the lower coastal range, which gets very little snow(until you reach the higher areas near the Cali boarder). The eastern part is dominated by the Cascades mountain range, and is very similar to the Mount Shasta/McCloud area I mentioned before. As you get higher in elevation it can get pretty hairy in Winter.

Central Oregon is another place to consider. It is the fastest growing area of Oregon, and is centered around the Bend/Redmond area. It sits on the east side of the Cascades, much of it withen sight of the three sisters mountains, and many other prominent peaks of the Cascade mountains. Nearby mount Bachlor is a snowboarders paradise. Summers are warm/hot, winters are cold, and the sun shines about 300 days a year, and their is very little rain compared to Portland and Seattle. The area is a boarder zone between the mountains and high desert, and is considered a hiker/camper/hunters/fishermans paradise.

Things to keep in mind about this aras of Oregon/California:

Oregon has no Sales tax, California does.

Both states have Medical Marijuana programs, Californias tends to be easier to use.

Most of the areas I mentioned have somewhat depressed economies, the exception would be Central Oregon. Unless you have a pretty solid career you can bring with you, be prepared to look hard for a job, and be prepared to be paid a bit less than you may be used to.

Your climate can change alot depending on which side of which mountain range you live on. The driest areas are on the east side of the Cascades, the next driest would be the areas on the west side of the Cascades, and the east side of the coast ranges/Klamath mountains, like the Shasta, Scotts, Rogue, and upper Klamath river Valleys. The Umpqua valley and especially the west side of the Coastal/Klamath mountain ranges can be very wet in winter.
Generally all of the areas I mentioned have summers with highs from 70-105F, and almost no rain, areas with more than 2000' of elevation often can have pretty cold winters, with periods of sitting snow in heavy winters.

Hope this helps!

Toketee falls, in eastern Douglas county Oregon, Cascade mountains-

Crater lake national park, and Mount Thielsen, Klamath and Douglas counties Oregon, Cascade mountains-

 

[ap00]

Ok, I'm moving to Oregon^^.

 

[Guest]

great pics backcountry!

 

[high_hopes]

How about Portland?