Small towns you'd settle down - Western US

[mikEXpat]

I'm plotting points on my map of places in the West I might consider settling down for a few years. Many of you have traveled extensively in this region, maybe you've got some ideas.

States: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, California, Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado. Maybe even Texas... or Canada! I know...not all the West, but you get my gist.

I'm thinking these are the basic qualifications for somewhere I'd consider home, for a bit:

• Not a city. Fewer the street signals the better.
• Nature is part of the town. If the parks and trees are being taken care of, they care.
• Small town feel but educated citizens. A college or two nearby would be great. Love them young people.
• Economically stable. I'd need to find work. I'm a teacher by trade and a salesman by night. ;-)
• Safe. Or at least guns holstered.
• The weather is OK...Rain means green. That's good.
• Not too dry. The desert is too much for me all year long.

These are some places I'm thinking about:

• Arcata, CA - I studied at Humboldt State
• Ashland, OR
• Oakhurst, CA

I haven't been to many places...thus the reason I'm posting this. 

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks always,
Mike (FindingHome)

 

[highdesertranger]

well in my book those are not small towns. in my book small towns are less than 500 pop. actually less than 200 is better, less than 100 even better. I also don't want to be anywhere close to a university town. so I guess are definitions are different. highdesertranger

 

[VanForNow]

I haven't traveled extensively in all the Western states, but I was impressed by northern New Mexico. Taos sounds like it matches your description of an ideal small town. I saw a lot of people camping or living simply on the sagebrush prairies outside of Taos.

I also liked nearby Santa Fe, which is larger, with a lot more to offer in terms of entertainment, shopping and culture.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

These are some places I'm thinking about:

• Arcata, CA - I studied at Humboldt State
• Ashland, OR
• Oakhurst, CA

I haven't been to many places...thus the reason I'm posting this. 

Just some places on my list (that I have visited and like):

• Cascade, ID;  West of Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness (wilderness area surrounded by wilderness areas).
• Anaconda, MT; SW Montana, near Butte.  In the middle of four NF.
• Wold Creek, MT; near Gates of the Mountains.
• Grand Marais, MN; on Lake Superior, by the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.
• Sundance, WY; on western edge of Black Hills.  Not too far from Spearfish, SD (but way too close to Sturgis, but thats only a couple of weeks a year).
• Lander, WY; on eastern edge of Wind River Range.  Close to four wilderness areas.
• Pinedale, WY; on western edge of Wind River Range.  South of Jackson, WY.  Close to Grand Teton NP.

As you can see, my idea of small town is different than yours.

 -- Spiff

 

[WheelEstate USA]

I would take Pecos over the tourists of Taos...but both get snow which I have no use for.
Oregon has some nice small towns but high auto insurance and you must take both written and driving tests no matter where your license is from.
I'm an Az guy and we have different climates and lots of small towns well above the desert in lush forests. Even have some ski slopes. Dern sure cheaper than Calif overall.

 

[MrNoodly]

I know a great place like that, but I'm sworn to secrecy about it.

 

[MrNoodly]

States: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, California, Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado. Maybe even Texas... or Canada! I know...not all the West, but you get my gist.

Not Utah or New Mexico, huh?

 

[bseek]

Oakhurst is dry and brown most of the year. Fire is a real concern there. And I wouldn't call it economically stable.

 

[roadtripous]

Ashland, Oregon is a little on the expensive side compared to nearby places. Bend Oregon also. You might want to look into Grants Pass, Gold Hill, Merlin, Canyonville, Roseburg and Cottage Grove. All those towns are in Oregon.
You can't go wrong with most of the areas from the western slope of the Cascade Mountains to the coast. From Ashland to just south of Eugene.

 

[mikEXpat]

I haven't traveled extensively in all the Western states, but I was impressed by northern New Mexico. Taos sounds like it matches your description of an ideal small town.  I saw a lot of people camping or living simply on the sagebrush prairies outside of Taos.

I also liked nearby Santa Fe, which is larger, with a lot more to offer in terms of entertainment, shopping and culture.

I went skiing in Taos. I thought it was a bit depressing. Beautiful. Just a strange feeling. Santa Fe might be nice. The weather looks great.

 

[MrNoodly]

"Not a city" and "need to find work" are sort of at odds with each other. Small one-stoplight towns exist in a delicate economic balance, with a significant portion of the citizens commuting to more populous areas, where the jobs are.

And, often, the kind of small towns you describe, near universities and nature, safe, pleasing climate, with well educated people, are exactly the type of places that also attract rich people, who buy up land and lots for getaway homes. The type of things you want are the same things they want. Now, if you wanted, say, a waterless pile of rock, thorns annoying insects, near a toxic waste dump, with nasty weather, far from supplies and people, there ain't gonna be anyone pricing you out of the market.

The general rule is that pleasing places cost more because they're where people would prefer to live. And when people want to live there, jobs happen. The inexpensive places are inexpensive because their flaws keep people and jobs away.

 

[HarmonicaBruce]

I've thought about moving to Bruce South Dakota.  But, I hate cold weather.

 

[Svenn]

• Small town feel but educated citizens. A college or two nearby would be great. Love them young people.

Here's a map of how educated each county is.  Then a map of 2012 pres race results.  Combine them?  

These types of searches are always hard because everyone's lifestyle is so different.  As someone who's always lived in a very, very tiny town in Oregon, I can tell you that a lot of people idealize small towns and after they realize the inconveniences, they move away.  I have to stay for work.  
 
I included the pres race map because you don't want to be around 'too' many people of the same kind.  Even though I'm from a tiny logging town, it's western oregon so it's not as homogenous as the insufferably stubborn rural folk in eastern oregon.  

My vote goes for coastal nor cal, sun is brighter than the PNW and you're within striking distance of SF.

 

[peripatetica]

Coastal northern Calif., absolutely!

Peripatetica

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

I think there's a lot to be said for living in a college town (by which I really mean a small city).

It probably has a good hospital.  There will be a good library, and probably a Barnes & Noble bookstore.  The social life on campus will probably include public lectures, music programs, etc.  Good restaurants, nightclubs, etc.  to cater to the students.

Pick the RIGHT small western college town and you won't have to drive far to get into the great outdoors.

Basically, what's missing from a mix like that?

 

[cyndi]

Truth or Consequences, NM and the Hill country in TX are on my list. Maybe Rockport, TX, or there abouts. That's a resort area and might be out of my budget.

 

[Howiet]

.  Even though I'm from a tiny logging town, it's western oregon so it's not as homogenous as the insufferably stubborn rural folk in eastern oregon.  

I be one of "them".  Stay one your side of the rock pile and we"ll both be happy

 

[akrvbob]

Prescott, AZ.

No college, but it's 1 1/2 hours from Flagstaff which has a big one. I'd include Flagstaff but it's too cold for me.
Bob

 

[USExplorer]

Those places in the West that are temperate year round, not overcrowded, and with the culture you may have come to expect, are far too expensive to put down roots for most members here.
Most prosperous small towns have a single industry that keeps them alive, whether it be oil, tourism, logging, or agriculture. If the industry suffers, so does the town, and many such towns are suffering greatly nowadays.
IMO a better choice for the West would be to pick two places to call home.
Also don't rule out the East. Most Eastern states have an abundance of small towns, many in very scenic natural areas.

Here is a chart of the states by urban population: https://priceonomics.com/the-most-urbanized-states-in-america/ Those states near the bottom have far more of a small town/small city culture than those near the top.

 

[mikEXpat]

Those places in the West that are temperate year round, not overcrowded, and with the culture you may have come to expect, are far too expensive to put down roots for most members here.
Most prosperous small towns have a single industry that keeps them alive, whether it be oil, tourism, logging, or agriculture. If the industry suffers, so does the town, and many such towns are suffering greatly nowadays.
IMO a better choice for the West would be to pick two places to call home.
Also don't rule out the East. Most Eastern states have an abundance of small towns, many in very scenic natural areas.

Here is a chart of the states by urban population: https://priceonomics.com/the-most-urbanized-states-in-america/ Those states near the bottom have far more of a small town/small city culture than those near the top.

I have to be honest. I love California. And this quote from the site you gave me pretty sums up my approach for spending so much time in this state.

In fact, California, for all it’s farmland and tiny mountain towns, has the lowest percentage of rural residents of anystate. 95% of Californian live in a Census-classified urban area. Urban areas comprise only 5.28% of the state -- which means that almost all of California’s residents are packed into less than 6% of the geography. 

This, in my opinion is why most people who have lived or grew up in those small percentages don't like living in California. I don't believe a vandweller would say any state is any more expensive than the other. Really. We're talking hundreds of dollars per year, not thousands. So if a few hundred dollars a year is going to break you, then, well, I guess another state would be better.

Yes. I asked for the dream. Will I get it? Yes. I will. That's just the kind of guy I am. Maybe it's Prescott, AZ. Maybe it's one of the many places mentioned here. But you know, the dream is to be happy and content wherever. I know that will happen. 

Thanks. You gave me some good brain fuel.

Mike