Where do You Want to Retire... and Why?

buggravy said:
As much as I love California, every time we visit my wife's family in Eagle, CO the pull this way grows a little stronger. This place would take very little getting used to.
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Eagle ticks a lot of boxes. The banana belt of the Vail valley. Commitment to mt. biking. Proximity to big mt. outdoor adventure, an airport, a major Interstate highway... But still a core of ranchers to keep the place honest. I am sure the Silverado drivers look kindly on the Range Rover set.
 
herzalot said:
Eagle ticks a lot of boxes. The banana belt of the Vail valley. Commitment to mt. biking. Proximity to big mt. outdoor adventure, an airport, a major Interstate highway... But still a core of ranchers to keep the place honest. I am sure the Silverado drivers look kindly on the Range Rover set.
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I think that sums it up pretty well. My brother-in-law (an actual Silverado driver) who grew up in Red Cliff and has lived in Eagle for 15 years bemoans the Vailification of the valley, but for me as a city slicker of 20 years with a small mountain town upbringing, it does, as you say, tick a lot of boxes. I would accept seasonal mtb riding as the price of admission for the ease of access to snow sports and trout fishing. Pulling up to, and parking literally in front of a small movie theater in a quaint downtown in the snow tonight really made me long more for a different and simpler way of life. I mean, wherever you go there you are, but Eagle has always felt instantly comfortable and natural for me.
 
DangerDirtyD said:
...unincorporated San Bernardino County within the City of Chino Sphere of Influence because that is where I am when I go there.
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Better retire fast, because within ten years all of that is going to be apartment buildings... with low income housing that will be paid for with your higher rent!

California Opens State Boards to Illegal Immigrants and Other Non-Citizens

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(Note that these statistics are prior to the last wave of tax increases)
 
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BonsaiNut said:
Better retire fast, because within ten years all of that is going to be apartment buildings... with low income housing that will be paid for with your higher rent!

California Opens State Boards to Illegal Immigrants and Other Non-Citizens

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(Note that these statistics are prior to the last wave of tax increases)
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These are actually pretty small numbers in the California scheme of things, but for a small place like Idaho it’s easy for 50,000 people to seem overwhelming. I’m not prone to over interpreting this data, except to say that the most desirable parts of California are no longer attainable by most Californians, and that the less desirable parts are no less desirable than Texas.

Once you get east of Prado dam, you might as well keep driving to Houston.
 
buggravy said:
I think that sums it up pretty well. My brother-in-law (an actual Silverado driver) who grew up in Red Cliff and has lived in Eagle for 15 years bemoans the Vailification of the valley, but for me as a city slicker of 20 years with a small mountain town upbringing, it does, as you say, tick a lot of boxes. I would accept seasonal mtb riding as the price of admission for the ease of access to snow sports and trout fishing. Pulling up to, and parking literally in front of a small movie theater in a quaint downtown in the snow tonight really made me long more for a different and simpler way of life. I mean, wherever you go there you are, but Eagle has always felt instantly comfortable and natural for me.
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I’ve only been to greater Vail once, and was kind of underwhelmed. the noise from I-70 was kind of intrusive. Granted we stayed at Vail, in the summer, so it was super quiet. I’m sure there are places to escape the road noise?
 
tick said:
I’ve only been to greater Vail once, and was kind of underwhelmed. the noise from I-70 was kind of intrusive. Granted we stayed at Vail, in the summer, so it was super quiet. I’m sure there are places to escape the road noise?
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I agree. Vail is a glorified truck stop on I-70 and does not provide a real mountain town vibe in any way. Eagle is actually a real town with ranching roots, and the valley is wider there, so I-70 is not as prominent a feature. Still, neither Vail nor Eagle is a mountain resort town a la Steamboat Springs, Breckenridge, Telluride, Crested Butte, Park City - with a ski area in walking or short shuttle distance.

But those "resort towns" are not real desirable places to live and work, unless you like seasonal, high turnover situations.
 
tick said:
I’m not prone to over interpreting this data, except to say that the most desirable parts of California are no longer attainable by most Californians, and that the less desirable parts are no less desirable than Texas.
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So you don't think public policy has anything to do with the desirability of California as a residence? :)
 
DangerDirtyD said:
About that Prop. 13 though...
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Split roll coming for commercial real estate in 2020. Just going to accelerate the speed with which businesses pull out of the state.

California: "If high taxes are the problem... let's just increase them!"

DangerDirtyD said:
As long as they come to make and buy cheeseburgers, I should be fine.
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Next time you are out of the state, check to see what you pay for a McDonald's Quarter Pounder with cheese combo meal.

California average: $8.56
North Carolina average: $6.96

Note... that's BEFORE sales tax.
 
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Drove through Prescott on the way home from a week in Flagstaff... great little town! They seem to have a love/hate relationship with tourists that we picked up on. Half the people we interacted with in shops were super nice, the other half surly and definitely did not want to be there.
Can honestly say, I had the best burger ever at PBC, and one of the best brews with their Petrified Porter. YUM!

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Small update. My brother in-law moved to Heber Valley, UT (45 minutes southeast of Salt Lake City, basically over the hill from Park City) in August. My wife's folks made a few trips during the move and fell in love with the area. They have lived in Big Bear in a beautiful home for the past 25 years and were very done with the growth and the issues caused by it. They sold their home in one day and promptly moved to Heber too.

We have visited twice and the area just outside of town ticks off all my boxes - but none of my wife's boxes (except maybe being close to her parents). Some of the possible negatives -

  1. The California migration is VERY evident and home prices are skyrocketing. Hillside Heber land with utilities quickly gets up to $200K an acre
  2. The general valley area is slated for a NEW, massive ski area with some 20K units planned and approved for build-out
  3. The same area has approvals for over 100K units (per the local R.E. literature)
  4. High density housing is starting to pop up all over the valley
  5. Schools built just five years ago are already 30% over capacity and this year's bond issue for new school was soundly defeated
However, compared to general OC areas, the land is wide open, the homes are super affordable by our standards, riding is AWESOME, open gravel roads are everywhere and it seems every home has a deer or elk mount in the living room and a snowblower in the garage.

I would gladly move there for my last 20+ years as I can't see it getting "SoCal crowded" in that time.
 
BonsaiNut said:
So you don't think public policy has anything to do with the desirability of California as a residence? :)
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For some folks, sure. Then again the public policies in other places are undesirable to other folks.

in the 70’s OC homes were cheaper than the national median. That couldn’t last.

California has never had to try to attract business. Even now, with all the out migration, the population is still growing. The southern states compete hard for business because they have to. California, like it or not, can give the finger to one industry after another and get away with it. Medical devices and aerospace are almost completely gone, and the less glamorous parts of Hollywood too. At some point it will go too far, and the policies will change because they have to. But we haven’t reached that point yet, obviously...
 
my wife is thinking sisters Or. If I go that way it would be just over the Wa boarder. Wa no income taxes, Or no sales taxes. Me I like La, Tx etc where everything is cheep and they complain about the sales tax of 6 to 7 percent. I was in ~Mo 2 weeks ago and I went to the highest price gas station and paid ~2.35 a gallon. If you search a little you will find it under 2.00. So Cowifornia is stealing about $31 dollars per tank to pay for pensions and give-aways. I drove across the entire state north to south, south to north and their crappiest roads are better than our best. I just need to say no to Cowifornia corruption.
happy trails to honest places
 
Mikie said:
I can bag on California all day (and privately do) but the intention of this thread originally was to learn what others know about other states related to mountain bike towns affordable to live in... :)
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Well... we're heading to North Carolina, but we'll be closer to Charlotte. Trading a big lake for the hills... though I expect the biking in and around Asheville is awesome. I'll get back to you on that :)

I found a trail for @mtnbikej and @Faust29 !

Big Fuggin' Heartbrake Trail

And an award for best trail name:

Fonta Flora Barnburner
 
herzalot said:
I agree. Vail is a glorified truck stop on I-70 and does not provide a real mountain town vibe in any way. Eagle is actually a real town with ranching roots, and the valley is wider there, so I-70 is not as prominent a feature. Still, neither Vail nor Eagle is a mountain resort town a la Steamboat Springs, Breckenridge, Telluride, Crested Butte, Park City - with a ski area in walking or short shuttle distance.

But those "resort towns" are not real desirable places to live and work, unless you like seasonal, high turnover situations.
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My wife and I started dreaming about the fantasy of retiring to Steamboat after our first trip in 1990 but over time, prices skyrocketed and I decided as much as I like to snowboard in fresh powder, I didn't want to live in snow 4-5 months out of the year. If I did, a snowmobile would be my first purchase.

Bend and the surrounding areas became option #1 when I actually started getting serious but after (3) trips to the area, all I saw was "California 2.0" as it pertained to overbuilding, traffic and cost of living overall. We went thru Sisters this past Summer and holy-moly, it's blowing up now as well. It was crazy.

We'll be going to Prescott. Maybe in 2020 but Summer 2022 at the very latest. The "locals", most of whom are from somewhere else themselves, love to complain about all the rich Californians moving in on the Prescott Facebook pages....all the same things I see on the Austin, Bend, Boise, Portland, Seattle, Coeur d Alene, Las Vegas and St George pages. We have had nothing but great interactions with the locals; it's what sold my wife on the area from our first trip to the area. Being able to find multi-acre sized lots to avoid living 15 feet from your neighbors is another bonus.
 
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BonsaiNut said:
Well... we're heading to North Carolina, but we'll be closer to Charlotte. Trading a big lake for the hills... though I expect the biking in and around Asheville is awesome. I'll get back to you on that :)

I found a trail for @mtnbikej and @Faust29 !

Big Fuggin' Heartbrake Trail

And an award for best trail name:

Fonta Flora Barnburner
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Yup, and Asheville is a pretty swell town in and if itself. I could easily relocate back to Western NC when the time comes as well.
 
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OTHRider said:
Small update. My brother in-law moved to Heber Valley, UT (45 minutes southeast of Salt Lake City, basically over the hill from Park City) in August. My wife's folks made a few trips during the move and fell in love with the area. They have lived in Big Bear in a beautiful home for the past 25 years and were very done with the growth and the issues caused by it. They sold their home in one day and promptly moved to Heber too.

We have visited twice and the area just outside of town ticks off all my boxes - but none of my wife's boxes (except maybe being close to her parents). Some of the possible negatives -

  1. The California migration is VERY evident and home prices are skyrocketing. Hillside Heber land with utilities quickly gets up to $200K an acre
  2. The general valley area is slated for a NEW, massive ski area with some 20K units planned and approved for build-out
  3. The same area has approvals for over 100K units (per the local R.E. literature)
  4. High density housing is starting to pop up all over the valley
  5. Schools built just five years ago are already 30% over capacity and this year's bond issue for new school was soundly defeated
However, compared to general OC areas, the land is wide open, the homes are super affordable by our standards, riding is AWESOME, open gravel roads are everywhere and it seems every home has a deer or elk mount in the living room and a snowblower in the garage.

I would gladly move there for my last 20+ years as I can't see it getting "SoCal crowded" in that time.
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I like heber, but you underestimate the construction industry’s ability to fill a place up. And Utah taxes on retirees will make you want to go back to Cali.
Granny’s has good shakes.
 
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