Best mountain towns in America to live semi-cheaply and enjoy the outdoors?

educated hippie wrote:

I've realized that being outside in the mountains makes me happier than anything else in life, to the point that I would consider living out of a tent or trailer for a few years . Anyone have suggestions?

Fruita, CO., Livingston, MT

stay away from Woonsocket, R.I.

Not sure if she made the move but I did the same thing about a year ago. I considered several places. I ended up moving to Bozeman MT. Very happy with it here. Not too big or small of a town and mountains everywhere. I would be curious to know where she picked if she still looks at this message board.

riley stops wrote:

Flagstaff is pretty amazing, as is Boone, NC. Both are fairly inexpensive to live in and both have decent sized colleges, so there is always a lot of energy and events taking place.

Flagstaff was named the most expensive town in its size in the country to live in-per the AZ Daily Sun, Flag's newspaper. No affordable housing or entry level jobs, and if you have kids the school district is cutting resources and teachers by about 10-15% per year the last several years.

Thomas, West Virginia

BozemanBro wrote:

Pretty much all mountain towns are going to be cold in the winter, that comes with the territory. Bozeman, MT gets exceptionally cold during the winter months, but its bearable. I would definitely look into living in that area, it is not that expensive if you get an apartment with roommates or don't mind living in something relatively small and low key, which it sounds like you're okay with. There will be countless outdoor activities available, the people are friendly, and there's not many other places as beautiful. I've been to a lot of places and Bozeman is still my favorite. I highly recommend checking it out!

Don't shit in the nest, bro.

Ogden is the best kept secret in Utah. Beehiver has clearly never lived there. It's basically the Outdoor Mecca for Outdoor companies. Tons of bike and running paths both in the city and in the mountains. The Ogden Valley and Snow Basin Ski Resort are 10-15 minutes away too with everything you could ever want for outdoors.

I can really relate to living in the mountains as the best place for your happiness. I lived in ne Vermont in the mountains for 5 years and loved the summers and fall, but winters were brutally cold and long. I would prefer western n.c. or out west more. I also would like to bicycle train in high mountains above 5000 ft. I'm a former bicycle racer and one year I stayed in boulder and rode up mountains above and was really much fitter when I came back to east coast. I'm looking now at Nederland , co. or beech mountain n.c.(the highest mountain town in the east-5300 ft.). Anybody have any experience with these towns?

Nederland, CO. Might be a little pricey being within driving distance of Boulder, though.

I don't like Banff. I worked at the hotel for a year, then at CIBC for another 4 years, moved up in the bank and got a transfer to Calgary.

Banff is just too small. The outdoor opportunities are great, but the social opportunities are almost nonexistent, unless you enjoy sucking Japanese tourist d!ck.

Even Boulder would be much better imo

Virgin River, CA

ddwtg wrote:

Stone Mountain, Georgia. There's nowhere better in the lower 48.

You need to get out more.

Stone Mountain is not too bad, except for the peckerwoods.

I've seen a fair amount of CO/UT/WY/MT/OR/WA, not so much in Cali. Below are towns as opposed to the mini-cities of Boulder, Bozeman, Bend, Ogden, Missoula, Santa Fe, Flagstaff. Great places, but not mountain towns.

semi-cheaply?

Paonia, CO

Dillon, MT

Leavenworth, WA

Twisp/Winthrop/Mazama, WA

Livingstone, MT

Cascade, ID

Lander, WY

Not as cheap:

Gunnison, CO

Ridgeway, CO

Glenwood Springs, CO

McCall, ID

Whitefish, MT

Salida, CO

Buena Vista, CO

Not Cheap:

Carbondale, CO

Eagle, CO

Fraiser/Granby, CO

Durango, CO (borderline mini-city)

Victor/Driggs, ID (zombie lots are selling)

Taos, NM

Those places are still cheap in comparison to my town: "The 2015 average Aspen single family home price per sq ft increased 25% in the past year to $1,311 sq ft. Aspen condo price per sq ft increased 2% in 2015 to $1, 201 sq ft."

Someone mentioned Estes Park earlier - shoot me before I live there. Have you seen the mini-van hordes in the summer???

Down the highway is the aforementioned Nederland. Nice idea, but the concept is played out: true weirdos who showed up decades ago and a bunch of pseudo-intellectuals who "don't live in Boulder."

Missoula Montana is the best place on earth. National park land just miles from your house, downtown has a little bit of everything, and an AMAZING running community including many former female Olympians. I only lived there for 4 months and it changed my life.

isla del sol wrote:

Southwestern Colorado and all the small towns along the highways (that aren't overpriced ski towns, unless you're ready). Gunnison could be good. Montrose. Glenwood Springs. Durango. Etc. I'm really not that into Colorado as "a place to move and start a new life in" (because there are way too many people here doing that), but... there are good options if you want a brief escape, etc.

Lived in Rocky MTNs ski town and traveled all over... like the Roaring Fork Valley, ie: Glenwood Springs, El Jebel and further west, Montrose or Grand Junction. Bear in mind its hard to make a living in such environs since everyone else wants to be there, too, and it may not bother you when you're younger but after 30, when you have to move again for the ???the fricking time and you have shitty roommates it seems no worth it. But people wanting to start a new life aren't necessarily so bad to be around, rather than people who are stuck in their current lives who are frickin' miserable and therefore miserable to be around.

Reality Speaking wrote:

Lander, WY: No brainer. Do it.

No?

Somewhere near Salida, CO

Both these places would be perfect. Trust me.

Years and years and years there, and saw maybe one day in the 90s. Our home did not have an A/C. There are three seasons.

1. Winter. 130 inches of snow or something. (A lot of snow, if you're wondering.)

2. Mud. This goes on for months. See above.

3. Summer. This is about 5 weeks, if sometimes 80s for temps are summer to you. The good news is, it always cools down at night.

That said, Lander IS a great 'mountain' town which will allow you to enjoy the outdoors. Just be a bit winter-focused, and you'd be okay. And be okay without ANYTHING else anywhere near. Seriously, a big outing will be Burger King in Riverton or something. There's just nothing out there. Your choices are Salt Lake, Bozeman, or Denver on a weekend if you can.

California.

If you want to be near Los Angeles (and why not), look at Wrightwood, and anywhere off the 18 until Big Bear. A huge advantage here is that you can always escape winter by heading down into the IE.

Or Bishop or near, if you don't have an issue with the middle of nowhere, and paying quite a bit more than above.

Hopkinton wrote:

Bend, OR

It's expensive!

I wonder where this educated hippie ended up? Probably went back to school, got an MBA, and is a Financial Planner living in south Philly for all we know.

If not, and the person is still out there. Try Greenwater, WA very small town near Mt. Rainier. Other nearby towns would be Packwood, WA. Great running and mtn biking nearby as well as hiking, skiing, and alpine climbing.

Greenwater, WA

One house for sale: $1.4 million or something.

Zero rentals.

Good idea.