sneekyjesus

Hi everybody, I'm graduating from college this spring (fingers crossed) and I'm planning on moving out west from the beast that is the east. I'm not really sure where I want to move to, Idaho sounds really nice, but I know I want to live close to mountains so I can try to get into backcountry snowboarding. So, my questions are: wheres good? Is it hard to find work out there? I'm thinking of part time, flexible schedule work (I'm a dishwasher now but I'm gonna try to get on the line at my restaurant for the spring). How bout info on ski or climbing clubs in your areas? In general I'm hoping someone can suggest towns to me, that hopefully aren't gigantic cities, are near mountains, and have access to some nice road riding as well. Thanks everyone
-Mike

donnamb 

Bend, OR?

sneekyjesus

I dunno, is it good?

mike_khad1

Bend Oregon, The Sisters Oregon, Government Camp Oregon

donnamb 

Yeah, it's a nice town. Lots of stuff going on and excellent snowsports.

BengeBoy 

Some Washington options:

1. Bellingham, Wash. University town, very close to Mt. Baker for snowboarding, access to Puget Sound for kayaking. Under 4 hour drive to Whistler, BC. Little bigger town then Bend, but easy access to Seattle, Vancouver, the San Juan Islands and the rest of British Columbia.


2. Enumclaw, Washington. On the far Southeast edge of the Seattle metro area. Part rural, part small town, part suburb. Easy access to Crystal Mountain for skiing and boarding, easy access to Mt. Rainier national park for hiking and mountaineering in the summer. You can join the annual RAMROD ride around Mt. Rainier. Enumclaw is more "suburban" than the other options but if you're really interested in the snowboarding, check out the information on backcountry-snowboarding at Crystal Mountain; it's a big back-country area there.

stringbreaker

If you move to Encumclaw or Bellingham be prepared for lots of wind in the stormy season and as my daughter said when she was attending WWU "people in Seattle don't know what rain is till they have lived in bellingham. FYI

sneekyjesus

Rain is a pretty big turnoff as far as a locale is concerned.

East Hill

Sounds as if you don't want to live on the west side of any of the mountains in either Washington or Oregon then! So, perhaps Bend in Oregon, or Roslyn in Washington?

But if you don't have rain, then you have heat, so it's a tradeoff.

East Hill

BengeBoy 

Yes, you will get rain if you live West of the mountains. Since you're a boarder, though, you have to think, "If it's raining in town, it's snowing in the mountains." A rainy day in town = powder on the slopes.

East Hill mentioned Rosyln. I was going to mention that as well. Very interesting, funky little ex-mining town now getting populated with second homes and some tourism. Your local snowboarding option would be Snoqualmie Summit and Alpental ski areas to the West...you are about 90 minutes from Seattle. Your road riding options would be from Roslyn to the East, lots of snowmobiling, hiking, horseback riding, camping options in the area as well. Cle Elum, another option, is just a few miles away. In general I suspect you would find a little less to do than in Bend.

However, if boarding is your priority I don't think the snow/slopes are the quality of Crystal, Mt. Baker or Mt. Bachelor.

FlowerBlossom

Depends too if you're picky about the snow. Snow around here tends to be heavy, getting lighter more inland. Lots of trade-offs to consider. Most places with restaurant jobs might also have higher cost of living. All nice places, though.

KingTermite 

I haven't spent any time in Idaho, but driving through when I moved out here 6 months ago it looked very nice. Yes, they had plenty of mountains too.

EasyEd

The puget sound area has a lot to offer. I would stay out of King county (Seattle) though. A little north to Snohomish or Skagit county's is probably a good compromise. Good size cities, not too huge, close to mountains and beaches. I like it. Economy is good.

2wheeled

Maybe Leavenworth might be worth checking out. Great hiking, mtn biking and Steven's Pass is just a hop, skip and a jump from there.

https://www.leavenworth.org/

East Hill

Hi EasyEd!

Welcome to BF!

East Hill

dbikingman

I might suggest you look further east then what has been mentioned. Those locations and Bend are nice. Bend, I believe has the longest ski season. But, the cost of living is higher. Are you willing to live in a rural area or what are your other requirements. Spokane and north has some great senery close to several ski areas. I don't know much about Idaho, but I believe typically the wages are lower then in Washington. Spokane has a wide assortment of restaurants if that is the work you are looking for and if you are in a chain restaurant then you might be able to find the same restaurant to work in. Just additional info for you.

sneekyjesus

bikingman, Idaho has been the focus of my idea along with Montana and Wyoming because of the mountain ranges that pass through them and the quality of the snow. i wouldn't mind living in a rural area as long as it had access to reasonable housing and work. Concerning Idaho in particular, I just received this email after posting some questions on craigslist:
Idaho is the worst place to work. We know of many people just hanging on
here, working typical crapy Idaho jobs paying lousy wages and with no benefits.
Just ask all the police officers who have transfered out of Idaho to
Washington, Oregon or Montana. Just ask all the teachers who have transfered out of
Idaho so they can make a livable wage. Don't let Idaho be the trap it is for
so, so many. Once you get stuck here, it is very hard and expensive to
leave. Some people get lazy and just put up with it. We will be moving out of
Idaho for that one reason alone, not to mention high taxes, high rents, high
crime rates and a long list of health reasons. Remember this. . . . Idaho is
controlled by the rich, iron fist of the Republican party . . . the same rich
party that forced RIGHT TO WORK down the peoples throats, and that equates to
lousy jobs. RIGHT TO WORK, WRONG FOR AMERICA! Do yourself a favor and go
someplace, anyplace else and make a good life for yourself. I have seen it
over and over for the thirty years we have been stuck here. We are planning
our escape from this crazy place and then we will look back on it as ....IDAHOLE
..YESTERDAYS MASHED POTATOES. Just our .02cents

BengeBoy 

Sneekyjesus,

I would suggest you figure out what kind of community you really want to live in:

1. Truly rural. In the West, that likely means jobs are scarce. Often it's a former mining or logging town and jobs are tough, unless they are close to or making a transition to....

2. Tourist town. Lots of these. More jobs, more to do, but higher cost of living. If you have a service job, you'll either have to find a roomie, live modestly, or commute in from a more rural area (or possibly all 3). But plenty of opportunity to "move up" over the years if you have outdoor skills or are smart/reliable/hard-working enough to become a restaurant or shop manager or owner.

3. Medium-sized city with access to the outdoors (e.g., Spokane, Bellingham, Bozeman, Missoula). More jobs, more to do, maybe a bit bigger place than you're thinking about..might need to drive further than you originally hoped. But you can "live in the city" during the week, and be in the outdoors on the weekend.

4. Bigger city. Seattle, Portland. Same as number 3, with a bit more of a drive.

Life is a trade-off. I don't know of many rural places with plentiful jobs, high wages for unskilled workers, low cost of living and great outdoors activities. You're going to have to make that trade on your own.

Finally, your final comment that you passed along mentions a lot of facts, among them: right to work laws, Republican control of local communities, wage rates, tax rates, cost of living, and public sector salaries in Idaho vs other states. All of those are factual statements that can either be verified or refuted in a day's worth of research on the Internet.


BB

sneekyjesus

I've been assuming I'd have to make a tradeoff, which is why I've been wavering between tourist towns and medium-sized cities. I really need to find out which of the medium sized cities are closest to accessible skiing, on or off resort and provide access to good road cycling, or which tourist towns are recommended.

donnamb 

Bend has all of these things.

Dogbait

Bend is a city of about 77,000. there are a lot of restaurants, both in town and at the various resorts, if you want to work in the food industry. There are many Cycling opportunities, both on and off road.

And the local scenery is nice. This is Mt Jefferson seen from Smith Rock State Park, about 20 miles north of Bend.

Bekologist

it's all good, sneekyjesus. try Bend, you'd like it.

sneekyjesus

a lot of people are hyping bend. no ones really defending idaho, or for that matter wyoming and montana and some of the smaller cities and towns. i'll be doing the transamerica trail next summer, east to west, so when I get to the northwest I'll start looking at some of these places that have been recommended. thanks for all the input so far everyone

donnamb 

It's the economy.

sneekyjesus

Well, I'm not looking to start a career, surely there must be a lot of tourist towns with adequate part time jobs.